EVANSVILLE, Ill. — Yates Center sophomore Hadley Splechter and junior Colin Bedell went to Evansville, Ill., on Saturday for the Cross Country Coaches National Youth Championships.
“We qualified after we were top-15 in the state meet,” Splechter said.
The duo went as a part of the Kansas City-based Brocaw Blazers.
“It was great to run with Colin,” Splechter said. “It is awesome to run with someone you know so well.”
Both runners ran in the 15-16 age group which contained 89 runners. Splechter placed third in the age group with a time of 16:33 and Bedell was 21st with a 16:59.
“Looking back at it, I wish I would have known how close I was to first, because if I would have known earlier, I could have made some moves and maybe won,” Splechter said. “That is easy to say after the race, it is a completely different story during the race though.”
Last year, Splecther ran in the 13-14 age group and took eighth.
Their performance helped lift the Blazers to a first-place finish in the 15-16 age group.
The 17-18 age group also ran with the 15-16 age group and Splechter took 14th and Bedell was 40th out of a total of 147 runners.
“When you go up with a group that it is really fun,” Splechter said. “I know a lot of them from doing a camp (in Colorado) with them this summer, so I got to hang out with a bunch of old friends and do a sport that we all really care about. It was a really good time.”
Splechter, Bedell run at nationals
