When the final results were posted, Coach Julie Jones had to have other double check what she was reading. The others saw what she did, though, and that was the Southeast High School boys cross country team in third place, qualifying them to the State Cross Country meet in Wamego.

“They were all deep in their ‘pain cave’ as Coach [Laney] Lawson likes to say. You score five guys, and we only have five guys. So there’s no day off for them when it comes to a race.”

Tucker Sutton was predicted to finish fifth; he finished sixth, holding off a Colgan runner. Hudson Locke was expected to finish seventh; he finished eighth. Chris Archey was expected to finish behind Locke in eighth; he finished ninth. James Maxton was expected to finish 22nd; he battled his way to 19th. Henry Burns was expected to be 75th; he finished 63rd.

“They showed why it takes all five runners. Tucker wasn’t feeling well but gritted it out; Hudson has battled a health situation all season, which easily leads to a mental or confidence battle, but he pulled through when it counted; James looked ready to tap out at mile two but ran his guts out in that third mile; Henry didn’t finish well, but he’d already put himself into a great position early on that it didn’t matter,” Jones said.

All of that to say the team beat Lyndon High School by 10 points to grab third, punching their ticket to State.

“It means everything to qualify as a team. To be able to accomplish something that you’ll remember for the rest of your life, with an awesome group of teammates and coaches, is very special,” Burns said. The senior has been a part of a team that has had the opportunity to qualify for the last three years.

Fellow senior Locke had wanted to qualify as a team his entire high school career. “I knew I was going to qualify individually, but going as a team makes it so much more special. I love this team, and all of the work we put in really paid off.”

On the girl’s side, the expectations were not as high, as they’d struggled to field a team this season.

“We had Molly [Alartosky] join, giving us five, and she’s been a wonderful addition. She wasn’t able to finish because of a hip injury she’s been battling, but I know all the girls appreciated her toeing the line to give it a go,” Jones said.

Journee Rimmer lead the team with a 15th place finish, qualifying her to State. As simple of a statement as that is, there was much surprise in the result.

“I like to be honest with my runners, so I told her it was very likely the last race of her career, so run a race you can be proud of,” Jones said. “I’ve never been so happy to have someone prove me wrong in my expectations.”

Rimmer is in her senior season and is now the fourth girl in Southeast High School history to qualify to State.

“It felt surreal, considering I wasn’t at all supposed to have a chance at qualifying. Coming into this race, I was thinking it was my last. I’m very happy, though. I’m glad I’ll have a chance to run at State next week, and I can’t wait,” Rimmer said.

Avery Locke finished 36th in 26:48; Jackie Robinson was 39th in 27:20; Abby Shoemaker was 57th in 31:09.

The boys will race at 10:35am this Saturday at Wamego, while Rimmer will race at 12:20pm. 

📸 by Julie Jones- boys team (L-R): James Maxton, Chris Archey, Hudson Locke, Tucker Sutton, Henry Burns

📸 by Julie Jones – Journee Rimmer