Wilde sets Liberty North school record at Tim Nixon Invite

Sage Wilde kicked off his junior season at Liberty North by sending a message to the rest of Missouri last Saturday.

Wilde finished third in the Class 5 state meet lsat year behind senior teammate Ethan Lee and then sophomore Andrew Hauser from Rock Bridge who won the state title. Wilde finished 14 seconds behind Hauser, but he began this season with an impressive race and time.

At the Tim Nixon Invitational in Liberty, Wilde dominated the field in the gold division. He won the 5K race in a time of 14:54.4 – 46 seconds ahead of the next runner.

Wilde’s time set a new school and course record, according to the team’s Twitter account. 

Last year, Wilde never broke the 15-minute barrier. His best time came at the state meet when he ran a 15:06.6.

Not to be outdone, Houser and Rock Bridge senior Ian Kemey ran impressive times at the Granite City Invitational in Illinois. Kemey won the race and Houser finished third, running 14:34.2 and 14:47.5, respectively, but the race was 3 miles – 1/10 of a mile shorter than the tradition 5K.

Regardless, these three have set themselves up to be the cream of the crop in Missouri’s Class 5 division. They are slated to compete against each other Sept. 24 at the Gans Creek meet in Columbia, Missouri.

Wilde led the Eagles to a team victory at the Tim Nixon Invitational. They scored 38 points, beating reigning Kansas Class 6A state champ Olathe South, which was a bit shorthanded, for the title. 

The Eagles’ top five runners all finished in the top 15. They were senior Grayson Tapp (3), senior Jorge Perezruiz (8), senior Asher Corp (11) and junior Collin Kleinhen (15).

Olathe South scored 81 team points – edging out Liberty by one point. Leading the way for the Falcons was senior Bennett Meoli and senior Cole Burkholder, who placed sixth and ninth, respectively. Junior Conner Doherty and sophomore Dylan Path finished 13th and 19th.

Liberty was led by a pair of top-5 runners. Senior Myles Thornburg placed fourth with junior Peyton Willbanks one spot behind him.

All three teams are scheduled to run Saturday night at the Olathe Twilight meet. The varsity boys race is set for a 9 p.m. start.