Slade Keller and Garrett Hopke medaled at state again for Van-Far this year and brought teams with them.
After the boys brought a team for the first time in school history last year, they made it again and a Van-Far girls team also competed Saturday at the Class 1 state meet for first time in school history. Keller finished 14th with a school-record time of 16:47.1, and Hopke was 16th with a time of 16:51.0 to lead a boys team that finished fifth with 159 points that was one spot shy of the team podium behind fourth-place Lutheran (Kansas City) and its 143 points. Tyler Carlyle was 62nd with a time of 17:55.7, Jaydon Hug-Hernandez was 87th with a time of 18:22.7 and Harrison Wright was 108th with a time of 18:51.0.
The Van-Far girls were 12th out of 15 schools with 279 points. Khloe Wallace was the top finisher with a 56th-place time of 22:05.2, Elliott Utterback was 90th with a time of 23:05.1, Mylee Keller was 98th with a time of 23:10.5, Jordan Trainor was 138th with a time of 25:34.1, Emily Smith was 151st with a time of 26:37.7, and Kylee Gibson was 158th with a time of 27:53.0.
Read the full story in the Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, edition of the Mexico Ledger.
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