Kodi Downes finished 3rd in the 3A boys state XC race, and Jordyn Picolet finished 7th in the 3A girls state XC race Saturday at Wamego.
Kodi Downes off to a good start
Kodi ran the 10:40 am race, and it was an exciting one. Dylan Sprecker had established himself in the first spot shortly after the mile mark, so it was a race for 2nd after that point. Kodi and Clay Shivley traded the two spot throughout the race, with a trio of runners right behind them, threatening the whole way. Shivley looked to have the two spot in hand, but Downes gassed it to the finish, closing the gap from four to five seconds to under one in the last quarter mile. If the race had been ten yards longer, Kodi would have caught him. Kodi is really tough on the uphills and that's where he made his moves. He had that burst at the end that we haven't seen in him before, so that is something that he will continue to work on. His season has just been amazing. Kodi shaved nine seconds off of his time from a year ago at state.
Camryn Frazier, Cahaya Dody, Abigail Bachura, Ally Hower
Jordyn capped off the day with the final race at Wamego on Saturday, and it was a heck of a performance! Jordyn was see-sawing between 10th & 11th place from the mile mark to the two mile mark. And then she started picking girls off: one by one. She gained about 15 seconds on the girls in front of her in the last mile. Jordyn has always been good in the middle mile, and today she was even better in mile three. In each of her three state races over the past three years, she has risen to the occasion and given a great performance and run a great race. Jordyn dropped her time from state a year ago by 40 seconds and improved her place by one spot from a year ago.
Jordyn with her 7th place medal
Kodi with his 3rd place medal
Coach Gant
Photos by Myles Gant; Story by Coach Gant