The brother – sister duo of Cooper Schroeder and Alaina Schroeder, Manhattan,  captured top honors in the 5K portion of the Coors Freedom Run in Junction City.

Cooper Schroeder, 15, finished first in 17:22. ” I come out here just to have fun..” Schroeder added he tries to run 35-40 miles per week.  His sister Alaina Schroeder, 19, was the top female finisher in 18:05. On her run, ” It was fast. It was really flat. After the first mile I didn’t have anyone to really run with so I just tried to get into a groove and stick with it, and then book it out at the end.”

Alaina finished fifth overall in the race.

—

In the 10K portion of the Freedom Run, Chris Melgares, 19, Manhattan, finished first in 32:38. He just tried to start the race conservative. “It’s kind of early in the year for a fast 10K so I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t burn out too early. It went pretty well. I felt pretty comfortable the whole way.”

The top female finisher in the 10K was Dani Hoover, formerly of Junction City. On being the top finisher Hoover noted it felt good. She was chasing another woman in the race. ” And finally caught her the last mile.” Hoover explained, ” I guess I just tried to run even pace the whole way and channel some of that hometown energy.”

—

Both races started and ended in downtown Junction City.