Cloudy with a chance of qualifying☁️
Up next: Nike Cross Regionals Heartland
I only had the privilege of racing at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls, SD, once in my high school career, and I’m hoping it goes better for the athletes on Sunday than it went for me back in 2017. If I had to give any advice, it would be to limit how many protein bars you eat in the days leading up to the race, no matter how good they are. Trust me, it’ll bite you eventually, possibly fifteen minutes before the gun goes off.
Since I’ve been following cross country in the “Sunflower State,” Kansas kids have held their own in an incredibly tough region. Since NXR and the qualifying process came to fruition, there has only been one ever Kansas athlete to win the region, and that was Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Molly Born, who did so in 2016. The Cougars are also the only Kansas school to ever send a team to Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, OR, as the boys’ team went in both 2004 and 2007. Since 2013, the state has had seven individual qualifiers punch their ticket to NXN, a list that includes Andover’s Ryan Kinnane, Washburn Rural’s Jaybe Shufelberger, Molly Born, Lawrence Free State’s Emily Venters, Girard’s Cailie Logue, and Blue Valley West’s Stuart Mcnutt, who qualified twice. Last year, St. Thomas Aquinas’ Logan Seger and Shawnee Mission North’s Micah Blomker would have gone on the boys’ side, as well as Olathe North’s Anjali Hocker Singh on the girls’ side, but there was no championship race in Portland last fall.
This year, Kansas is back and ready to show the region that we’re fast and getting faster as the years go on. There are a couple of different athletes I feel have a strong shot at qualifying if everything goes according to plan, and the list starts with the two Rim Rock Farm course record holders, Shawnee Mission East’s Wyatt Haughton and Salina Central’s Katelyn Rupe.
Haughton is entering the field as the fastest boy in the region and as a true contender for both the regional title and a trip to Portland. So far this season, he’s run under fifteen three separate times, on a wide variety of courses, and has gone undefeated against in-state competition. One of his deadliest traits is his ability to open up in the last stages of the race, and only so many athletes have the capabilities to match that, let alone hang on through the homestretch.
However, it won’t be a walk in Yankton Trail Park, as some of the other athletes toeing the line with him are fast, experienced and eager. A few, but not all of the names that are hungry for the top five spots are Simeon Birnbaum, Ford Washburn, Colby King, and Jackson Heidesch. Lets’ start with Birnbaum and work our way down.
Simeon Birnbaum — Rapid City Stevens
During his junior track season, one could argue that Birnbaum had a decent season. With PR’s of 3:59.51 in the mile and 1:51.03 in the 800m, the guy for sure had speed. If that wasn’t enough for him, his fastest time of this cross country season came back in September on the same course he’ll be running Sunday, where he ran 14:47.80 for the win. Since, I can only find three other races that he ran, but they range between 15:02-15:30, so I’d say he’s still fit. The Oregon commit is familiar with the course and would love to get the win on his own soil.
Ford Washburn — Iowa City
He’ll be moving to Flagstaff, AZ next fall, but for the time being, he’s repping Iowa City this season, and he’s doing it well. Washburn has lost just three races this year, and each of the three he’s finished behind Heidesch of Dowling Catholic. When he isn’t racing him, he’s 6-0 with a 14:50.49 PR and multiple sub-fifteen performances. Look for Washburn to be at the front of the pack with the rest of this group.
Colby King — St. Thomas Aquinas
A name that I’m pretty familiar with at this point, and someone who does not shy away from a challenge. King has had a great senior season, setting program course records in every race he’s competed in this year, highlighted by a 14:50.60 at Olathe Twilight. He also solo’d a 15:20 on a very windy day at the EKL Championship, and he ran 15:16 at Rim Rock for a state title. Let’s just say, he’s gritty and a fighter, and he is more than in the mix to finish in the top five.
Jackson Heidesch — Dowling Catholic
The lead man for Dowling Catholic, a team that is in the running for a top two finish, is a state champ and someone who is used to being at the front of races. In the seven races on Heidesch’s MileSplit, he won six of them with his one loss being a runner-up finish at Griak. He also ran his slowest time of the year that day, which was a 15:33. He’s run this course twice before, and this time he’s coming into the race as one of the top dogs of the field, and I’d be surprised if he isn’t up in the front.
Don’t forget, athletes like Noah Breker, Manny Putz, Sam Scott, Sawyer Clarkson, and our very own Micah Blomker are also in the field. Breker, Scott, Blomker and Clarkson all finished in the top ten last year, and have been running well all season. It’s a shame that only five of these guys will get to move on to Portland, because they all have the capabilities of finishing high at the national level. When it comes to the team race, I would expect the Minnesota quartet of Wayzata, Lakeville North, Mounds View, and Stillwater to lead the charge, but Iowa City and Dowling Catholic have the weapons to ruin the chance for a Minnesota sweep. Don’t forget Shawnee Mission East as well, especially due to their trio of Haughton, Peters, and Ptacek. Remember, anything is possible, and PR’s and accolades are irrelevant after the gun goes off.
Just like Haughton, Rupe is also in the chase for a coveted top five spot, but she’ll be introduced to something she hasn’t been used to this season, and that’s people to run with. Don’t get me wrong, and let me make this clear, Rupe has raced incredibly skilled athletes during her senior season, and a lot of them are going to continue to perform well and improve over the course of time, and this is in no way a dig to any of them, and I can’t stress that enough. But Rupe is simply on a level above the rest of the state. She’s shown complete dominance the entire time, and has gone sub-eighteen all but once, and has run under 17:30 the past three races. Her most impressive of the three? Her course record at Rim Rock Farm two weeks ago, where she ran 17:13.84. That obliterated the course record that was set by the legendary Molly Born. She took off nineteen seconds like it was nothing and didn’t even look phased after she crossed the line. It was almost like she’d gone for a leisurely jog. This weekend though, she’ll be going into the race without the fastest time in the field. In fact, there are four girls this season who have run faster than her, and maybe that’s just what she needs.
Abbey Nechanicky — Wayzata
I could use a lot of words to describe Nechanicky, but I think “beast” would summarize her skill relatively well. Since the first race of the season, the Colorado signee has averaged a 17:02 5k through seven races, breaking seventeen the last four times. I hate to pick a favorite to win, but it’s hard to select anyone else but her. With how impressive the field is, it proves how dominant she has been. With her leading the charge for Wayzata as well, I’m predicting that the rest of the field is going to base their tactics off of her.
Paityn Noe — Ballard
Noe raced nine times this year, and lost just once to Nechanicky, winning the other eight competitions. She’s been under eighteen in every race but one, along with sub-sixteen twice, most recently when she ran 16:48.58 to win an Iowa state title. Noe is presumably going to be up towards the front of the race, if not side-by-side with Nechanicky through a lot of it.
Ali Bainbridge — Sioux Falls Lincoln
Bainbridge has already got a preview of the course, as she won the NXR Heartland Preview in September in 17:10.70, the fastest time of her season. Since that race, she’s been sub-eighteen three out of the four races and has won each one except Griak, where she took 4th. She knows the course, and she’s running on her home turf. She’s also used to the conditions that encompass every NXR Heartland race, which is typically very cold and windy.
Besides Rupe, these are the three girls that are going to make their presence known on Sunday, and three of the girls that will be dictating the pace early on. But just like the boys’ side, there are more than these athletes that will jockey for a top five spot. I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Anjali Hocker Singh, who took 5th a year ago. This season she hasn’t quite hit the times she did as a sophomore, but she’s certainly displayed the dominance following Griak. I can’t forget Shawnee Mission South’s Hannah Gibson or Olathe West’s Charis Robinson as in-state favorites. I also can’t leave out the additional nineteen athletes who have run under eighteen this season. I don’t know much about the rest of those athlete’s seasons, and if they’ve been consistently near their PR’s, keep that in mind as well.
The team race is going to be tight, and there are a few different players. As they always are, Wayzata is the team to beat in my opinion, regardless of what our virtual meet displayed. Their experience is a heavy factor playing into their advantage, but their pack time is their biggest weakness. Dubuque Homestead and Olathe West both display roughly sixty second pack times. They don’t have a runner to match Nechanicky, but they make up for it with their depth. Minnetonka is also in the mix, with their pack time in their favor, but their five is a little farther back than they may have hoped, at least when it comes to contending compared to the three teams I’ve mentioned.
For those curious, here are the teams and individuals that are competing in the championship race this Sunday.
Girls
Katelyn Rupe — Salina Central
Hayley Trotter — Clearwater
Washburn Rural
Olathe West
Shawnee Mission East
St. Thomas Aquinas
Olathe North
Boys
Logan Beckman — Spring Hill
Kaleb Glazier — Maize
AJ Vega — Mill Valley
CJ Meyer — Wichita Collegiate
Landen O’Neil — Andover Central
Lenny Njoroge — Topeka West
Gabriel Onelio — Arkansas City
Micah Blomker — Shawnee Mission North
Ryan Son — Wichita East
Henry Born — Shawnee Mission Northwest
Parker Walion — Gardner-Edgerton
Jackson Esquibel — Shawnee Heights
Kory Sutton — Shawnee Heights
Kapaun Mt. Carmel
Shawnee Mission East
Olathe East
Blue Valley Southwest
St. Thomas Aquinas
Garden City
To all of you competing, KSXCT&F wish you the best of luck! For our college fans, we’ll dive into both the Heart of America and KCAC Conference championships next week, along with Midwest Regional for our D1 runners. We’ll also preview the DII Regional in Joplin, and of course, recap the NXR results.
Calling it rn sme sweeps nxr perfect score. Don’t call it a 1-2-3 punch. We are a 1-2-3-4-5 punch🤝😤