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sending a 2A boys and entirety of 1A recap to your inboxes literally at the last possible moment
If I had to use four words to explain the mindset of defending champion and Stanton County senior Kamryn Golub, I’d say that he’s “comin’ back for more.” The defending state champion ran 16:08.00 at the 2A state championships at the Sand Plum Nature Trail in Victoria, KS. Golub was part of a storm of maroon and gold as the Trojans swept the individual and team titles on both the girls’ and the boys’ sides. This year, Golub is without Stanton County’s 2-5 runners who all graduated, but is still slated to be the favorite in 2A. His time from last fall puts him twenty seconds ahead of the next returner, and in a solid position to defend his title. On the track this spring, Golub added another top three finishes at state to his resume, finishing as the runner-up in the 3200m. His medal collection currently sits at four, made up of two third place finishes (20’ XC & ‘21 3200m), a runner-up finish in the 3200m in May, and his state title from last October. Keep your eyes on Golub, because he’s within ten seconds of the sought-after fifteen minute 5k.
When I was ten, I was at my friend’s house, and we were watching the 2009 NBA draft, and a man by the name of Ricky Rubio had just been drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves. To this day, I have always thought that the last name “Rubio” was perhaps the coolest last name you could have. Why? Some credit my obsession with precious gems in elementary school, and I enjoyed that the surname had the word “ruby” in it whenever you said it out loud. Is this irrelevant and not important to the current topic? Yes.
Perhaps the biggest threat to a successful title defense for Golub is Mission Valley’s AJ Rubio, entering his senior year after a successful junior campaign that saw him break seventeen for the first time in his career. Rubio is the only other boy besides Golub to enter with a time under 16:30, and one of nine under seventeen. This spring, Rubio wasn’t too far off from his PR’s in the 1600m and 3200m, and showed consistency throughout the season. He’ll look to stay in the top three finishers again, and hopefully get as close to the front as possible.
Jonah Godina
If I had to guess, I’d say that the front man for Trinity Catholic has some big aspirations for his senior year, and rightfully so. Heading into the season, he owns the third fastest time out of all 2A returners, and his team is in a very strong position to contend for a team title. Godina is still riding the wave from the state meet in May where he took 2nd in the 1600m and 4th in the 800m, two events that he PR’d in during the season. He never finished outside of the top fifteen during the Kansas season, and is looking to keep it that way.
Andrew Harder
Is there any better way to enter your senior year of cross country than as the defending champion in both the 1600m and the 3200m? Out of everybody, Harder may have the most confidence coming into the 2022 season, and can you blame him? Heading into the track & field state championships in May, Harder didn’t own the fastest time in either of the events he was entered in, and promptly showed zero regard for the ranking system and snagged both titles. Not to mention he was the only boy in 2A to break ten in the 3200m. I’d pay little attention to his ranking heading into this fall, because he’s a wild card.
Brady Wells
The only non-senior in the returning top five improved throughout his freshman debut, entering into the 16’s at the state meet, on his way to a 3rd place finish. Wells didn’t run track this spring, opting for baseball instead (correct me if I’m wrong), but still returns as one of the top contenders in 2A. With three years left, Wells can be as fast as he wants, and he will have a great opportunity his sophomore year to do just that.
Like I mentioned earlier, Trinity Catholic is the team to beat right now, but Central Heights is not far behind. Godina and his teammate Brendan Kiser lead the Celtics with a 1-2 punch, with 2021 PR’s of 16:39.50 and 16:57.00. Julien Wannamaker is less than a minute back at 17:47.30, with Anthony Clennan and Garrett Hageman equal with one another at 18:55.40. If they can work their way up towards Wannamaker, and lower their two minute pack time, this squad will be harder to catch. After placing 5th a year ago, they’ll look to take advantage of the massive graduation numbers that hit the teams ahead of them.
In 2021, Central Heights took 6th with four freshmen, and one sophomore and junior, and this year they’re back for even more. Led by standout Connor Burkdoll, the Vikings are looking to do what they almost achieved last fall, and win a state title in the process. Burkdoll sports a 17:07.20 PR in his first year in high school, with the next four scorers within eighty seconds of each other. Cody Hammond (17:30.89), Owen Miller (17:44.40), Christian McCord (18:54.60), and Nicholas Schultze (18:56.10). As the Celtic’s try to bring their four and five closer to their three, the Vikings will need to do the same to strengthen their chance of a title.
McLouth, Bennington, and Berean Academy are all eyeing the final spot on the podium, and are much closer with one another than they may like. Each of three have a strong front runner, as Henry Cloyd (17:11.40), Thayne Trout (17:15.20), and Andrew Harder (16:41.60) respectively lead the way for their teams. The battle between the three is going to be neck and neck (and neck), and it could go anybody’s way.
Non-broken legs, who needs em’? Defending champion and one of the toughest athletes I’ve seen, Emma Weiner is back for her junior year and wants another state championship. For those of you that have zero idea what I’m referring to in my first sentence, the Golden Plains sophomore (now junior) won her first state title with a broken fibula! What she thought was a sprained ankle was a tad worse, but that didn’t stop her!
This spring, after some well-needed recovery time, Weiner picked up where she left off as she won the 3200m title, along with her first sub-twelve run of the season. She took second in the 1600m in 5:37.03, putting her at six state medals in her first two years. She’s never placed lower than third in a state championship, winning a state title three of the six times (‘21 1600m, 21’ XC, ‘22 3200m), and taking second or third the other three contests. It’s more of the same as she enters her third cross country season, roughly thirty seconds ahead of the next fastest returner. Plus, she’s the only returner with a time under twenty minutes coming into the season, which always helps!
One of the top threats to challenge Weiner happens to be Jane Letourneau, a senior at Beloit-St. John. The five-time state medalist had a very consistent track season, highlighted by a 5th place finish in the 3200m at state. As she begins her final year of high school cross country, she is capable of a variety of successes, whether that be breaking twenty in the 5k, or improving on her highest finish at state (6th) as the championship moves back to Wamego.
Alivia Bacon of South Sumner a.k.a South Haven + Caldwell is getting ready for the second half of her high school career, which has already seen her qualify for state six separate times, and earning three medals in the process. She took 7th a year ago and joins Weiner and Letourneau as the only girls under twenty-one minutes.
Macksville senior Madison Butler took 4th in both the 1600m and 3200m down at Cessna in May, which pairs almost perfectly with her 5th place finish in Victoria last fall. In terms of consistency, Butler has been exceptional in that regard. She’s qualified for state seven times, three times in cross country (‘19, ‘20, ‘21) twice in the 1600m (‘21, ‘22) and once in both the 800m (‘21) and the 3200m (‘22). Even more impressive than a perfect record at regionals, she is also perfect at winning medals, doing so all seven times she has gone. With one more time around the horn, I doubt she has plans to break her streak.
Just a freshman, Meade’s Maya Doney has already asserted herself as a well-known competitor in 1A, taking 6th in both cross country and in the 3200m. Being a freshman can sometimes be a daunting position, especially when you’re capable of running with the best of the best, but Doney has adjusted quite well. Just like the girls I’ve already mentioned (and the ones that I didn’t), she is in a great position to improve her PR (21:01.40) and claim another state medal.
Just to clarify for any readers who may be unfamiliar with the difference between 1A and the five other classifications; instead of scoring five runners, only four runners are scored at this level, and the fifth runner would be the tie breaker instead of the sixth.
Last year, Doniphan West had their quest for a three-peat spoiled by the ladies of Quinter, but this year they are back and ready to get back on top. They lost three-time state champion Elle Williams to graduation, but remained in prime position to contend for what would be their third title in four years. With Claire Cole (21:14.81) leading the way for the Mustangs and Lena Leatherman helping her out (22:44.56), Doniphan West has a strong start. Aly Gobin and Lilly Clark, each running 24:46.40 and 25:08.47, are each just ahead of their respective Kiowa County counterparts, who are one of many trying to chase them down.
Kiowa County, Classical School of Wichita, Pretty Prairie are the next three up, fighting for what would be the two remaining podium spots. Audrey Bunce leads Kiowa County, who has the quickest pack time of the three teams, and in another position for a top ten finish. Breah Yourdon and Sadie Nisly lead their quartets as they battle it out for a spot on the podium. Similar to the boys in 2A, these three teams could finish in a variety of different orders, but we won’t truly know until the dust settles, and the numbers are tallied.
Blake Yoder was the first non-senior to cross the line last fall, doing so in a shiny new PR of 16:48.30, which put him in third behind Corbin Ricke and Christian Darrah. This year, Yoder is one of two boys with a sixteen-something 5k time to his name, and is definitely a contender to become the new king of 1A. This past spring, Yoder attempted the 1600m/800m double at the state championship, coming away with a 3rd place finish in the 800m. With two medals already to his name, the Central Christian junior has the chance to be the second state champion from his team in three years, with Collin Oswalt winning the title in 2020. However, it will not be a cakewalk for Yoder, as Meade junior Logan Keith is fresh off of a pair of state titles and is looking for another one.
Keith had a phenomenal track season as he won both the 3200m and 800m state title, along with staying undefeated in 2022. He won all six 800m contests and his four 3200m races, making him a perfect 12/12. Keith had never broken 10:30 before in the 3200m, but that didn’t stop him as he set a twenty-seven second PR en route to his first state title of the weekend. If he had that much improvement in the spring, I’m curious to how much more he is going to have this fall. All I can say is that I think these two are going to battle it out and have some great races!
Rounding out the top five returners are Graham Bales (Osborne), Jonathan Hamel (Stockton) and James White III (Pretty Prairie). Let’s start with Bales, who didn’t race on the track after the 82nd Beloit Relays on April 29th, 2022. I don’t know the reasoning for his sudden absence, but after finishing 12th last fall, and 18th the year before, I’d expect another improvement in his finish, possibly into the top three. Hamel’s last race was the 2021 cross country state championship where he took 7th and set a PR of 17:16.50. It was his fourth time in the seventeens', and unlikely his last. White III is the lone runner of the trio to have what seems to be a full track season under his belt, setting PR’s of 11:13.80 in the 3200m and 4:59.05 in the 1600m in the process. The incoming junior improved throughout the spring and returns as a contender for a high finish.
If there are any “anti-Meade” readers out there (which I hope there aren’t considering they are only high schoolers), I hate to break it to you, but they are bringing back their entire seven runners from state a year ago, and are looking to win their third in a row. Their start of the show Keith is a great lead runner to have, but it helps when your next three teammates are less than eighty seconds behind you. Jobjosiah Muthiani, Brock Keith, and Anthony Godfrey are all within twenty-one seconds of each other, hypothetically coming across the line in 17:52.20, 18:07.40, and 18:13.20. They are a dangerous quartet and seem to be showing zero signs of relinquishing their spot on top.
After falling to Meade by just nine points last fall, Quinter is back as well and is looking to do what they were so close to a year ago. The one disadvantage that they’re facing that they didn’t have to deal with in 2021 is the absence of Eli Gruenbacher, who graduated in May. Luckily, everybody else is back for another shot, and are still in range of Meade despite the loss. Matthew Elder, Stewart Bowman, Micah Simon, and Bradley Bogert are hovering around sixty seconds for their pack time, which is considerably dangerous. Elder, Bowman, and Simon have run 18:00.10, 18:09.90, and 18:18.30, and Bogert is just over forty seconds behind. and has the capabilities of getting even closer. For now, Meade is the favorite, but don’t count out a hungry Quinter team.
Fighting for third could be a number of teams, but based off their returners, Osborne, Beloit-St. John and Ingalls are the next three programs up. All three have a strong number one, with Bales leading Osborne, and Jonas Letourneau and Brendan Ellis up front for the Bluejays and the Bulldogs. The most important factor for each of the three teams is *shocker*, the gaps between their four and their one. I know I’ve said this a lot, for a lot of different teams, but I’d say it continues to ring true in all cases. Regardless, Osborne has the slight upper-hand on the other two, but they know there are teams close behind.
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