Comet runners gear up for regional championship

Cottey’s Christi-Ann Beatty competes in the Ollie Isom Invitational, Monday.

Submitted photo

In their final meet before the Region 16 championship, the Cottey Comets cross country team competed at Monday’s eight-team Ollie Isom Invitational, hosted by Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas.

Cowley (Kan.) Community College netted first-place, while host Butler finished runner-up. The Comets placed eighth at the event, which featured top JUCO competition. Cottey, however, was without its top runner, junior Victoria Kehler, as the Vancouver, Washington., native was resting for next week’s regional championship.

Cottey’s top time was clocked by junior Christi-Anne Beatty, who set a personal best (22:32) while placing 52nd out off 88 runners. Comets freshman Hannah Cameron placed 76th with a time of 24:51; Maria Huertas, 80th (26:37); Sophie Wiess (28.40); and Keahlani Keene, 87th (29.10). Cowley concluded the girls event by sweeping the top three spots.

“It was nice to see how the team would react without Victoria,” said first-year Comets coach, Anthony Skiles. “We saw some of the best (JUCO level) teams in the nation.”

“We are young, and for us to see where we are ranked against other schools in the same classification, helped direct us in how to improve ourselves,” said Keene, a sophomore who hails from Acoma Pueblo, N.M.

Skiles said he was impressed with how his squad fared without Kehler.

“Hannah worked very hard to finish second on the team,” noted Skiles. “Every race has different ways to test a team, and these races really tell us who we are as a team. We have a bright future if we keep up the hard work.”

Up next

The Region 16 championship, Friday, Oct. 27 at Frank E. Peters Municipal Golf Course in Nevada, as Cottey plays host to Region 16 rival, MCC Longview. The race is slated for 5 p.m.

“Come out and support the Comets,” said Skiles.