By EARL WATT
Leader & Times
Freshman Daniela Cerda turned in a seventh place finish in Wichita Saturday, and senior Halle Payton came in 17th. Both finishes were good enough to earn tickets to compete at the Class 6A State Cross Country meet in Augusta Saturday.
Cerda turned in a time of 20:14.10 in the 5K run for her seventh place finish. The top 10 runners qualify for state.
Payton’s 17th place with a time of 21:42.20 qualified since she was one of three runners form a non-qualifying team that was not in the top 10.
Sophomore Hallie West came in 25th with a time of 22:36.00, and junior Pamela Bolivar Jiminez came in 35th with a time of 23:50.30. Sophomore Ava Maxwell was right behind Jiminez in 36th place with a time of 23:56.
Senior Reece Hay came in 38th with a time of 23:58.20, and junior Gabriela Ramirez rounded out Liberal’s runners in 44th with a time of 25:22.70.
Dodge City won the regional title. Derby came in second, and Wichita East took third. Garden City finished fourth, and Liberal took fifth. Campus finished sixth.
Senior Edwin Murillo Amaya led the Redskins with a 15th place finish with a time of 17:28.90.
Seniors Aaron Barboza and Alex Lopez finished 23rd and 24th with times of 17:42.80 and 17:43.80 respectively.
Junior Aidan Bernhardt-Purdy took 36th with a time of 18:18.10. Senior Izek Olivas finished 44th with a time of 19:03.80. Sophomore David Villa finished 48th with a time of 19:21.00, and sophomore Bryan Ortega rounded out the field of runners for
Liberal in 49th with a time of 19:26.30.Derby, Wichita East and Dodge City qualified for the state meet. Liberal finished seventh.