Goodbye league and hello regionals!👋
a recap of some of the league meets as we hit regional weekend
Owls, Blazers win Sunflower League🌻
For most Sunflower League schools, Saturday’s meet was their second out of hopefully three races at historic Rim Rock Farm this fall, as qualifiers will be back at the end of the month for the state championships.
Just as they’ve done in their last five races at Rim Rock Farm, the Owls won the team title, this time their fifth consecutive league title, winning over Olathe North 41-70. Led by senior Bree Newport in 18:49, the three-time defending 6A state champions put four runners in the top ten, and all seven within the top 25. Upperclassmen Kalyn Willingham, Liz Browning and Kate Miller placed 6th, 8th and 10th, running 19:07, 19:15, and 19:22. Lily Brewer rounded out the squad’s top-five, finishing in 14th in 19:30.
Olathe North were runner-ups, scoring a respectable 70 points, while Shawnee Mission edged out Olathe South for 3rd by a mere three points, 113-116.
Anjali Hocker Singh, the three-time individual 6A state champ won her third straight league title, cruising to a 50 second win, running 17:50 in the process. Followed by teammates Makenzie Crum and Shea Johnson in 7th and 9th, the Eagles comfortably placed second as a team.
Olathe South’s Amy Gotfredson, Shawnee Mission East’s Lida Padgett and Mill Valley’s Charlotte Caldwell joined Hocker Singh and Newport in the top-five, running 18:40, 18:58 and 19:03 on Saturday morning.
For the first time since 2017, the Trail Blazers of Gardner-Edgerton won the league title on either side, as the boys won over fellow 6A contender Lawrence Free State, 87-89. Olathe East and Shawnee Mission North were not far behind, scoring 96-98 for 3rd and 4th.
Senior Parker Walion was the fastest to blaze the trail, taking 7th in 15:57. A 13-14 finish by Nick Kilonzo and Cade Halton made it three Blazers in front of Free State’s number two, but through each team’s top four runners, it was just 58-62 in favor of Gardner. As athletes and fans of each school were holding their breath as the results were being totaled, it was Robert Falkner’s 30th place finish that was able to hold off Free State, despite Cristian Willis taking 28th just ahead of Falkner. Both squads will get another chance to battle in less than two weeks from now at the state championship. It’s worth noting that Jake Loos, a typical Firebird frontrunner, was back in 67th in an uncharacteristic 17:45.
Shawnee Mission North senior Micah Blomker won his first Sunflower League title, running 15:07, the second-fastest time in course history, and one of only two performances under 15:10. Blomker didn’t have too much to worry about, winning by 17 seconds over Shawnee Mission South junior Max Larson. Free State’s Blake Wohler, Olathe South’s Dylan Plath and Olathe West’s Gunnar Hornung went 3-4-5, with the trio running 15:24, 15:39 and 15:44 respectively.
Central Plains Chaos🌾
For just the third time this season, Kingman’s Mary Pearce was taken down, this week by Chaparral sophomore Cady Hemphill, pulling away by just enough, winning 20:58-21:04. This is Hemphill’s second win of the year, and she continues to look more dangerous as the postseason creeps closer. Hemphill ran 20:19 late last month, and she’ll look to her first cross country state championship next week, taking on the challenging depth of the Wichita-Trinity regional. For Pearce, she’s got a challenge of her own in Great Bend, going up against Norton Community, Holcomb, and Southwestern Heights next weekend.
On the boys’ side, Medicine Lodge’s Davis Miltner kept to his winning ways, winning his third race this fall. Miltner has still yet to finish outside top-two spots, finishing runner-up at both the Skyline Invitational and the Pratt Invitational. Cheney’s Stratton and Cash Young went 2-3, running 19:04 and 19:34 to lead the Cardinals to a runner-up finish.
Another fast week in the capital🏛️
After a speedy Topeka City Championships last weekend, a mix of 6A, 5A and 3A schools made the drive back to Cotton O’Neil Kanza Park, for 2023’s version of the Centennial League Championship.
Improving on her runner-up finish a week back, Washburn Rural junior ran 17:33 for her second consecutive league title. Fink solo’d much of the race, finishing by over half-of-a-minute in front of Junction City’s Lorna Rae Pierce. It was a top five made up of only blue, as fellow Junior Blues Emily Graf and Rylee Ismert went 3-4, running 18:28 and 18:39. Anna Fontaine of Junction City was 5th, running 18:47 as the last girl under 19:00.
Make it back-to-back-to-back for Rural, keeping the trophy in Topeka for another year by beating both Manhattan and Junction City by a final score of 39-52-73.
A year ago, senior Lucas Holdren was the Centennial League champ, but in the junior varsity race. His fastest time of the season was 17:38, which came just a week later on his home course at regionals. This year, Holdren won the varsity Centennial League title, in an unofficial course and meet record, a blistering 15:12. Emporia’s Daghyn True was runner-up, running 15:51. Junction City’s Ethan Fontaine, Rural’s Brooks Kehoe and Manhattan’s Cooper Sturm rounded out the top-five, running 16:01, 16:10 and 16:10.
While the individual title went to Manhattan, it was the Blue Jays of Junction City winning the team title, 41-45 over their neighbors. Led by Fontaine in 3rd, Tim Testa’s squad packed five more runners in 8-9-10-11-12, with Ty Raulston, Anthony Testa, Everett Pickler, Jackson Pilling and William Dee displaying nothing short of team dominance. With an average of 16:20 and a 1-5 split of 26 seconds, there wasn’t much anyone else could do to stop them.
Esquibel, Miller 🤝 winning week after week
For the past couple of weeks, Topeka-Seaman sophomore Ryin Miller has put up back-to-back-to-back-to-back masterclass races, winning the Crimson Division at Rim Rock, followed by the Seaman Invite, Topeka City Championship, and her most recent win at the United Kansas Conference. Miller produced her third sub-18:00 performance of the season, winning in what looked like a comfortable 17:54.7. As of late, the sophomore has been on an absolute terror over the last month, and is a name to keep an eye on in the 5A ranks.
For Esquibel, I can’t see many scenarios where he isn’t the favorite for the 5A title, and his win a week ago only helps build his case. Last week, he won his fourth straight race and sixth this season, running 15:40.0 to claim his third UKC title (first in XC). He held off everyone with ease, winning with 42 seconds to spare.
In the team race it was a dusty day for De Soto as they had to bring out the brooms. Led by sophomore Addison Gillespie (19:37.8) in second, the ‘Cats put four in the top ten, managing to hold off Seaman 34-39. On the boys’ side, Luke Swarts (16:22.0) and Vance Krudwig (16:32.4) helped complete the sweep, as their 3-4 finish made for a 43-74 victory over Seaman.
AVC(TL), Easy as 1-2-3
The Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League has four divisions, I, II, III and IV. Made up of schools of all different shapes and sizes, here’s how each division looked in their conference championships.
DI — Leading her Maize South Mavericks to the team title, sophomore Izzy Ponce nearly broke 20:00, winning over Derby’s Piper Hula, 20:01.1-20:24.4. Followed by a 3-4-5-6 finish from the other four scoring Mavericks, Maize South won 19-58 over Salina South, with Maize coming in 3rd with 77.
On the boy’s side, Kaleb Glazier of Maize had a smooth day, winning in 15:50.8 and having nearly 20 seconds between him and Nathan Mortensen (16:09.6), the runner-up from Campus. Winning 27-65 over Maize South, their AVCTL DI title should be a good confidence booster as they head into their first 6A competition of in recent memory.
DII — Seven races, six 1-2 finishes for Katelyn Rupe and Kaylie Shultz. Rupe, for the seventh time this season, won in dominating fashion, marking her third trip under 17:35 this year. Andover won the team title however, led by Madelyn Wallace in 3rd (19:01.2). The Trojans beat out Valley Center 30-58
Valley Center’s Brock Moses won his own AVCTL title, taking first in DII. Moses clocked 16:08.1, a huge PR for the junior who adds another name into the 5A mix. Arkansas City’s Owen Seaton ran 16:23.4 for second. Eisenhower and Andover Central tied for the team title with 72 points apiece, but Eisenhower’s sixth runner got the job done.
DIII — The 4A favorite Brett Jacobson kept to her winning ways, running 19:36.0 for a comfortable victory over Buhler’s Corbin Starkweather’s 20:31.0. Buhler didn’t have much trouble winning the team title, putting up 24 points to Winfield’s 60.
It was a sweep for the Thunderbirds, as Dylan Hunter picked up the win in 16:18.0. Behind him was teammate Blake Logan (16:26.0). The team race went to Buhler as the 4A favorites kept it smooth, going 3-5-6-7-12 for the 33-71 win over Circle.
DIV — It was a Rose Hill 1-2-3, led by Kimberlin Lovell who picked up the win in 20:37.0 while Emerysn Herod was runner-up in 21:26.0, leading the Rockets to a 24-63 win over Wichita Collegiate.
In very dominating fashion, Wichita Collegiate junior Will Meyer won in 16:12.0, over Andale sophomore Jack Cutler in 17:38.0. Wellington snagged the team title away from Collegiate, winning 48-55.
There were quite a few league meets last week, unofficially over 40 of them (if my quick math is right), and there was plenty of more action across the rest of the state’s leagues. Go ahead and check them all out as you get ready for tomorrow’s regional action!