PREP CROSS COUNTRY: Jaycox, Landwehr lead Trojan harriers Saturday at large meet in Sioux Falls

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Stephanie Jaycox and Nathan Landwehr were Worthington’s two leading finishers Saturday as the Trojans traveled to Yankton Trails Park and competed in a large early-season South Dakota cross country meet in Sioux Falls.

There were 13 complete teams in both the varsity girls’ and boys’ races and, with unlimited entries, there were approximately 150 finishers in each event.

“This was a big meet,” exclaimed WHS head coach Ken Henkels. “At the start, it looked about like the size of the state meet, as the runners were spread over a wide distance. It was a good experience for our kids and was really a fun course to run, as it was mostly flat and we had several season-best times.”

Leading the WHS girls was junior Stephanie Jaycox, who clocked a season-best time of 17:40 and finished 35th in the 4,000-meter race.

Nathan Landwehr, also a junior, was Worthington’s first boy finisher, running the longer 5,000-meter course in 19:07 and placing two spots ahead of promising eighth-grader Amanuel Fissiha (27th, 19:13).

Completing the scoring for the Trojan boys were freshman Matthew Jirele (35th, 19:44), junior Gordy Moore (51, 20:43) and junior Ian Stewart (54, 20:47).

“Each one of our top five ran good races,” praised Henkels. “We are getting nice competition within our squad, as the finish order has been a little different in all three of our meets so far.”

The Trojans were eighth in the boys’ team standings with 180 points, while Cheyenne-Eagle Butte (S.D.) won the team title with 59 points.

Worthington was 10th in the girls’ team standings with 265 points. Spearfish (S.D.) won the meet with an impressive score of 35.

Eighth-grader Meredith Moore (44th, 18:10) and freshman Alecia Darling (45th, 18:12) were the second and third finishers for the Trojan girls, while senior Jenny Majerus (87, 20:34) and sophomore Ariana Lopez (91, 20:47) completed Worthington’s scoring.

Seniors Kari Suby (93, 21:05) and Kinzie Myrom (97, 21:17) also finished among the top 100, while freshman Hope Reeves (105, 22:56), junior Mariah Haffield (108, 23:33) and sophomore Tyree Murray (109, 24:20) completed Worthington’s 10-runner girls’ roster for Saturday’s meet.

Freshmen Oliver Wolyniec (86, 22:41) and Zach Clark (88, 22:48) were WHS’s sixth and seventh runners, respectively, in the boys’ 5K event, while sophomore Desalegn Zemenfes (93, 23:10), freshman Troy Feller (106, 24:32), junior Thomas Burns (107, 24:20), junior Caleb Wede (111, 26:52) and freshman Levi Blanchard (114, 27:36) also completed the 3.1 mile distance for the Trojans.

Worthington is running at the Marshall Invitational today and senior ace Mubarik Musa, who has been nursing a knee injury, is expected to compete for the first time this season. The 11-team event will be run at Independence Park on the east side of town.

The Trojans will host the 44th annual Turkey Trot at Prairie View Golf Links Thursday.

Tags: cross country, sports, prep, worthington, trojans