Warriors Conquer Kansas City

Warriors+Conquer+Kansas+City

Jack Hogse, Staff Writer

West High runners have already dominated the South Bay, so they decided to take their talents across the country. On October 1st, our runners traveled East in the hopes of taking home the Kansas City Classic trophy. As it would turn out, two national flights, multiple bus rides, and a fun family reunion afterwards, all paid off.

This meet was one of the biggest in the nation and teams from all over the country came to run alongside one another. Many of the schools there vied for the chance to attend and only the top teams were able to be a part of this impressive event.

Both the Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity crushed the competition in their respective races. As far as the team and the coach were concerned, they did the best they could. Ryan Vo (11) said, “I would gladly leave the state again for Cross Country, it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been a part of.”

The results were announced shortly after the races were finished, with West High taking first place amongst some of the fastest schools in America. Although they had never seen or practiced on this new course, the Warriors were still able to come out on top with winning scores of 42 for Varsity and 36 for Junior Varsity.

After the races were over, Coach Druten let the boys finally relax. They played golf, got to see the sights, and even meet the coach’s family there in Kansas City. “They were some of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and I think my time spent there was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.” said Andrew Hazzard (11).

Despite all this, luck wasn’t really on their side when it came time to actually getting home. After saying their goodbyes, all they wanted to do was to get to sleep in their own beds. Unfortunately, the boys ran into some trouble when both their flights were overbooked and delayed. They were finally able to get home at 4:00 AM on Sunday. “I’m just glad we are finally back in Torrance,” said Rory Abberton (11). “As long as we made it back safely and with enough time to rest, I couldn’t care less.”

The boys had been through a lot over the past several weeks, preparing for this race, flying halfway across the entire United States, and coming back only to run more the next day! They fought hard for this victory, and the best way for you to show your appreciation for that hard work would be to come out and support them at the Pioneer League meet #2 at Columbia Park on October 13.