Congratulations to William Wilson for pushing himself and qualifying for the 2A State Cross Country meet in Wamego on Halloween. He qualified with a personal best of 17:59:41 and a 13th-place finish. KSHSAA has set his start time for 10:35 am on the Wamego Country Club course. Admission for supporters is $10. SJSHS and the Sterling community wish Will the best of luck!
Will was not the only Black Bear Cross Country runner to compete at regionals. Here is Coach Simpson's review of both the girls' and boys' performances.
The girls ran first. Five full girls’ teams were in their race, and we were predicted to finish 4th, 18 points behind Oakley. It’s a huge task to make up that many points- not impossible but hard. Each girl ran an excellent race. Rhys and Jaelynn were 2 and 7 seconds off their bests, and the other three ran personal or season bests. We wanted to finish with a spread of less than 2 minutes (did it), with a majority of the team under 24:00 (did it). We beat runners we weren’t supposed to beat and didn’t let any extras pass us. But in the end, it just wasn’t enough. Oakley’s 1-3 runners were all in front of all 5 of us. We finished in 4 th by 8 points (Hoxie 26, Plainville 66, Oakley 67, Sterling 75, Washington County 114. I’m incredibly proud of the girls- each of them fighting through something difficult to finish the race. It was Katie’s last Cross Country race. Her time was the fastest since November 2024, and she tapped into a competitiveness she didn’t think she had left. She took her role as team leader seriously. Thank you, Katie.
The boys' race started immediately after the girls. I loved having eight on the team this year-it has been a long time since we have run a full team and had an alternate to fill out our roster. They finished in 6th place- higher than predicted. (Moundridge 67, Oakley 78, Trego Community 89, Marion 95, Classical School 123, Sterling 127, Sacred Heart 136, Clifton-Clyde 139.) Ben ran his best race of the season; not just in terms of time. He was confident and competitive. It was the perfect race to finish his Cross-Country career. Isaac was frustrated with his finish; his legs felt heavy on the hilly course, so I know he was disappointed, but he had a great season, and it's been one of the greatest pleasures of my coaching career to be a little part of his story and growth.
7th-grade Welty is a whole different kid from 12th-grade Welty. I couldn’t have predicted he'd become the leader he is. The rest of the team is very young- Ian, Daniel, and DJ all finished their first high school season yesterday, and Clark just his second. Several learned important lessons this season and discovered things about themselves that should serve them well next year. If this group (Will, Noah, Ian, Daniel, Clark, DJ, Michael, Jaxon) decides to put in consistent miles over the summer, this team can go to state next year.