Kansas XC Week 4 Recap
Here we go, our inaugural newsletter. A big thank you to you guys who are reading this, the people who got on board before you even knew what this was going to be. Let's get into it.
This thing that you are reading is just the beginning of the future of media coverage surrounding both track and field and cross country in the state of Kansas. For the next few months, we’ll take a dive deep into the grueling sport of cross country. In the Spring we get to cover anything, and everything track and field. I’ll be honest with you up front. I’m not an English major and I have no plans to be, so bear with us while we try and get this operation up and running.
Before we get started, I want to give a shoutout to Kyle Merber, former professional runner for Hoka One One and current track and field media super stud and superb writer of The Lap Count . I highly recommend subscribing to his weekly newsletter where he gives his insight on track and field/running, but on an international level.
One more thing before we dive in. Our goal is to cover every single meet that happened the week prior, no matter the size. If we do happen to miss a meet and you have the results, don’t hesitate to message us on Twitter or email us and we will make sure to cover it in the next edition.
Monday, September 20, 2021
Starting with the first day of the week, we’ll take a look at the lone meet that took place on September 20th, the St. John Invitational in Stafford, Kansas. Quade Smith, a freshman of St. John-Hudson High School edged out Peyton Ryan, a sophomore from Central Plains by a second, 18:45.50 to 18:46.20. Let’s all give a round of applause for Smith’s first high school win, we are just guessing it’s a pretty big deal for him. Thirty-four seconds back of Ryan, Cedric Wilson of Sterling took third with a 19:20.90. Only two schools, Haven and Larned had five runners to score, with Haven scoring 15 and taking the win over Larned who totaled 47.
In the girls’ 5000m, Faith Ekart, a sophomore out of Sterling, ran 21:16.90, ultimately finishing by herself. Thirty-six seconds back of Ekart was the senior from Haven, Taylor Hoskinson (21:52.90), and close behind her was Madison Butler (21:56.00), a junior out of Macksville. Ekart’s winning time moves into #11 in 2A and should give her some confidence going into the final month of the season. In the team race, it was Minneola High School coming out on top in a competitive battle, beating Kiowa and Macksville 26-29-34. Hodgeman County finished in fourth with 47 points.
This meet had multiple ranked girls’ teams, starting off with the meet winners, Minneola, who is receiving votes in the 1A rankings. Kiowa County is receiving votes, and Macksville is ranked #5 in 1A.
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Luckily for us, there was double the amount of meets this afternoon compared to the day prior. We’ll get it going with the Tonganoxie Invite. What an awesome nine days it has been for Grace Hanson, the junior from Piper High School. On September 16, Hanson won the DeSoto Invitational with a 19:44.07. She then followed that performance up with an 18:45.90 win at the Tonganoxie Invite five days later. Finally, she ran AGAIN the following Saturday at the Gold Race at the Rim Rock Farm Classic, finishing fifth in a time of 18:23.50 against an extremely competitive field. It isn’t talked about enough, but a lot of these runners from smaller schools across the state are all competing in schedules just like this. Let’s give them credit where credit is due. Now that I’ve said my piece, let’s jump back to the race. A minute behind Hanson was Heritage Christian standout, Hannah Thong, and junior Kyleigh Thomas from Tonganoxie. Thong and Thomas finished in 19:45.30 and 21:45.40 to close out the top three. The team race consisted of three schools, with Tonganoxie (21) taking down both Lawrence Bishop Seabury Academy (45) and Pleasant Ridge High School (70).
Eli Gilmore, a four-time state medalist out of Tonganoxie won his home meet in a time of 17:06.00, sixty-four seconds ahead of Grant Lockwood (18:10.00) from Piper and eighty-one seconds ahead of Josh Howard (18:27.70), a senior from Heritage Christian. Tonganoxie defended their turf and won a narrow team race over St. Mary’s Academy and Heritage Christian Academy, 52-60-65. Pleasant Ridge (72) and Piper (89) finished in 4th and 5th. Just like Hanson, Gilmore also raced at Rim Rock last Saturday, where he finished runner-up in 16:36.30 in the Blue Boys’ race.
In terms of rankings, based off of the most recent release of the Kansas Cross Country Coaches Poll, the Bishop Seabury girls are ranked #6 in 2A, with Tonganoxie receiving votes. As for the boys’ teams, Tonganoxie is the #6 team in 4A. The Kansas City Christian boys’ team (which is the roster that Josh Howard is on according to Milesplit) is ranked #4 in in 2A.
Have a day, Dylan Sprecker! The 3A star out of Southeast of Saline ran under sixteen for the first time in his career, doing it by nearly half of a minute! Sprecker’s time boosted him way out in front of the 3A rankings, being the lone runner to break sixteen at the halfway mark of the season. Clay Shively (16:25.40), a sophomore out of Trinity Academy in Wichita and Sprecker’s teammate Damion Jackson (16:30.20) finished second and third. Let’s talk about this team race! Out of the twelve teams in the race, six were ranked in their respective classification and one was receiving votes. Trinity Academy (#2 in 3A) took down the loaded field, including defending 3A state champions, Southeast of Saline (#1 in 3A). To put this into perspective for those who may be unaware of the dominance that Southeast of Saline have had, let me enlighten you. Coming into this meet, the boys of Southeast of Saline were 10-1 in the last three seasons, including back-to-back-to-back 3A state championships. Their one loss of the season came at the Wamego Invitational, where they finished third behind the #1 and #2 teams in 4A, Buhler and Wamego. I’m sure we can all agree that these feats are building quite the résumé and make us truly realize the potential that Trinity Academy is sitting on. Their seven are made up of four sophomores, two juniors and a freshman. You read that right, no seniors and only two upperclassmen. This team just beat one of the most dominant teams in recent history and did it with a pack time of thirty-eight seconds and their five all in the top eleven. Don’t get too comfortable though folks, things are just getting cranked up. I can only assume that both teams aren’t going to take this lightly though. I imagine that the Southeast of Saline boys are going to take this personally and use it to fuel their fire, whereas Trinity Academy is going to use this as their proof that they can hang with the big dogs, making for a very entertaining and competitive October. Seems I went on for a bit longer than I was planning with this, but hopefully it makes for good content.
The girl’s race was highlighted by another episode of the “Jentrie Alderson Show”, which consisted of her winning her fourth straight meet this season and adding another meet to the list of races where she finished at least seventy seconds ahead of the runner-up. Finishing as the runner-up to Alderson with a time of 19:59.30 was Gracie Lambert of Smokey Valley. This was her first time dipping under twenty in her career, which is always a milestone in a high school runner’s life. Eighteen seconds behind her in third was Alayna Cossaart of Minneapolis in 20:17.40. Shifting to the team race, Southeast of Saline (35) picked up their second team win of the year with a fifty-five point margin of victory over Trinity Academy (88). Rounding out all eight teams in the field are Smoky Valley (91) in a close third, Salina-Sacred Heart (103), Minneapolis (115), Berean Academy (134), Cimarron (135) and Halstead (219). In the most recent KCCC rankings that were released earlier this week, the same three schools, in the same order, sit atop the rankings. Southeast of Saline is ranked #1, Trinity Academy is #2 and Smokey Valley at #3. The Sacred Heart girls are the #3 team in 2A, and Berean Academy is receiving votes in 2A.
@BrentKSHSAA, Wamego Invitational 2021
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
At their home meet, Emma Bailey and her West Franklin teammates asserted their dominance over the small field at Camp Chippewa in Ottawa, KS. Bailey, a junior, won the race in 20:46, nearly a minute and a half over senior Lily Judd, who clocked a 22:08. Completing the West Franklin sweep was sophomore Hope Crabtree, going under twenty-three by four seconds, running 22:56. West Franklin won the team race over Labette County, 17-38, thanks to a near perfect finish of 1-2-3-5-6. Labette County was led by freshman Anna Cantrell, running 23:07 to finish fourth.
Alex Meister, a senior out of Labette County picked up his third win in four races this season. Meister ran 17:32, which was nineteen seconds in front of the West Franklin trio of Hunter Bailey, Kyle Haner and Lucas Hassler. The freshman, junior and sophomore ran 17:51, 18:05 and 18:43 to finish 2-3-4. The West Franklin boys scored 23 points to secure the team win over Labette County at 50, Lebo at 80, and the Northeast Kansas Saints at 84.
In the second Kansas Cross Country Coaches (KCCC) poll of the season, the girls of 3A West Franklin are tied for 3rd with Smoky Valley, while the West Franklin boys are sitting in 4th.
Marysville High School sophomore Silas Miller ran away with the win at the Belleville Country Club, site of the Republic County Invitational. Miller joined the sub-17 club, doing so in dominating fashion. His 16:36.64 was more than enough to get the win over Grant Smith (17:08.80) of Clay Center and Lance Lundine (17:24.71) of Beloit. All three boys PR’d and walked away with first, second and third in a field of forty-three. Miller was followed by senior Ryan Stade in 4th and senior Isaiah Miller and Brenner Pilsl in 7th and 8th, scoring 29 points to win by eight over Clay Center (37). The three other teams were Republic County (72), Phillipsburg (102) and Pike Valley (119).
6th at state a year ago, Jane Letourneau, a junior from St. John-Beloit kept to her winning ways last Thursday. Letourneau ran 21:17.16, fifteen seconds ahead of runner-up Gracie Enochs (21:32.54) of Smith Center. In third was freshman Lauren Smith from Clay Center, who was just over a second behind Enochs at 21:33.74. Michelle Zarybnicky was right there, less than a second behind at 21:34.96. Clay Center had nearly a perfect score in the team race, going 1-2-4-5-6, totaling 18. Marysville (52), Clifton-Clyde (85), Concordia (88) and Republic County (113) were the four other teams with five runners scoring.
In the second KCCC poll of the season, both 4A Clay Center’s boys’ and girls’ teams are receiving votes, along with the 1A Clifton-Clyde girls, 3A Marysville boys, the 2A Republic County boys, 1A Pike Valley boys.
Let’s take a trip to the Prairie View CC Course down in LaCygne, Kansas for the Ramsey Invitational, where Jaden Vohs picked up his first win of the year. Vohs, the sixteenth fastest runner in a LOADED 4A field ran 17:30.73 to earn the victory over freshman teammate Jerynce Brings Plenty (17:43.52). Lacking the 1-2 punch that Louisburg had, Fort Scott made up for it by placing four in the top ten, going 3-6-7-9, and having their pack within forty-nine seconds of one another. It was close, but Fort Scott, led by senior Dryden Cosens had just enough to win, scoring 37 to Louisburg’s 42. Central Heights (69) and Anderson County (72) placed third and fourth.
Freshman Bree Allen of Prairie View crossed the finish line forty-one seconds ahead of the next runner, Emma Vohs of Louisburg. In third was Vohs’ teammate Maddy Rhamy (21:42.99). Allen is the 22nd fastest freshman in the state this season, in what I would consider a talented one. This class includes one under nineteen, fourteen under twenty, and seven under 20:30. In the team race, the Louisburg girls showed why they are one of the top teams in 4A, with three in the top five and two more in the top fifteen. Louisburg (35), beat out Prairie View (51), Fort Scott (63) and Anderson County (68).
In the most recently updated KCCC rankings, the Louisburg girls are tied with Winfield, ranked 4th, while the boys are ranked 7th. Both Fort Scott teams are receiving votes in 4A, while Anderson County’s two teams are both receiving votes as well in 3A. Both teams from Central Heights are also receiving votes in 2A. Finally, the Prairie View girls are ranked 5th in 3A.
If you aren’t familiar with the name Emma Weiner, I would learn who she is. Weiner, a sophomore from Golden Plains has lost only three races in her high school career, with her last loss being in the 3200m at the 2021 KSHSAA Track and Field Championships, where she was the runner-up. Last Thursday, on the 22nd, Weiner crossed the line one minute and forty-one seconds ahead of Jaelyn Rumback (22:30.21) and Mackenzie Clydesdale (22:31.80) Weiner is the number one runner in 1A, a minute and fifteen seconds ahead of the next fastest runner. The closest a runner has been to Weiner when she has crossed the finish line is sixty-three seconds behind her. The team race only had two teams with five runners to score, with Norton Community ten points ahead of Oakley, 23-33.
On the boys’ side, it was sophomore Jonathan Hamel (Stockton HS) who came out of Ness City with the victory, winning in 18:44.90 over Eli Gruenbacher (19:06.00) and Kane Epp (19:29.00). A state medalist a year ago, Hamel has finished both second and third this season in addition to his win this past week. In the team race, Hoxie (37) won a close one over Quinter (41). Both teams placed their 1-5, but Hoxie had their four and five ahead of Quinter’s. Norton Community (58) and Plainville (78) rounded out the field.
Coming into this next week of competition, the Quinter boys are ranked #2 in 1A, while the girls are ranked #3. The Hoxie boys are receiving votes in 2A, along with the Norton Community girls who are receiving votes in 3A.
It was a great day all-around for Corbin Ricke at the Abby Trapp-Prescott Classic, where the three time state medalist out of Spearville High School won the race in 16:54.30, marking his first ever sub-seventeen performance. Ricke finished a minute, and twenty-two seconds ahead of the second place finisher, Ian Doss (18:16.30), a senior out of Hoisington. Will Rues from La Crosse finished in third at 19:01.40. Ricke’s sub-seventeen performance vaulted him to the top of the 1A rankings, where the next closest runner is just under fifteen seconds behind at 17:08.00. Only two teams, Macksville and Lakin had at least five runners, with Macksville taking the victory 23-32.
On the girls’ side, it was Madison Butler of Macksville who got on the bus home with a first place medal. Butler’s 22:04.20 was enough to distance herself from Sophia Allen (22:20.40) of Thomas More Prep-Marian and Jordan Ortiz (22:54.20) of Lakin. Thomas More Prep-Marian was the only team with five runners available to score, winning the meet with fifteen points.
Both the Macksville (1A) boys’ and girls’ teams are in the most recent KCCC poll, with the girls ranked #5 and the boys’ receiving votes. The La Crosse boys are ranked #3 in 1A.
With two races left to cover for Thursday, September 22nd, we’ll start with the Jason Mckinney Memorial Meet, hosted by Wabaunsee High School. Connor Smith, a sophomore out of Frankfort High School won the boys varsity race with a time of 21:02.04, over Carl Baskerville (21:18.16) from Junction City and Connor Kueser (21:22.38) from Olpe. With three teams able to score, Junction City took the win over Frankfort and Wabaunsee, 37-45-50.
At their home meet, sophomore Payton Wurtz of Wabaunsee and senior Rebekah Stuhlsatz went 1-2, running 21:56.82 and 23:10.58. Wabaunsee and Junction City were the two schools that fielded five runners to score, with Wabaunsee winning 19-38 over the Blue Jays.
The Goddard Invitational, where Owen Seaton of Arkansas City was the lead man for a team that put four in the top five and their fifth runner in the top ten. Seaton won the boys’ race over Zach Winter of Andale, 17:38.10 and 17:42.90. Arkansas City’s next three runners finished within nineteen seconds of each other, running 18:12.90, 18:18.30 and 18:31.30. That pack helped lead Arkansas City (20) to the team title over nine other teams, including Andover (74), Kapaun Mt. Carmel (84) and Dodge City (130) who rounded out the top five.
Jasmine Calvo, a freshman from Arkansas City helped the bulldogs win both individual crowns. Calvo’s 22:25.50 was enough to gap herself from the field, with Kyrsten Lucent and Savanna Crawford of Rose Hill placing second and third with a 22:50.10 and a 23:21.10. Rose Hill put their five in the top seven, leading to a forty point victory over Pratt and Andale, 21-61-87.
Saturday, September 25, 2021
With only three meets not called the Rim Rock High Farm Classic going on last Saturday, we’ll start with the Allie-T Invitational, which is ultimately a state course preview for 5A and 6A schools, of Augusta’s 4 Mile Creek Resort.
Making the drive to Wichita was a field of thirteen teams on each side. Tori Wingrove, a senior from Blue Valley High School extended her unbeaten streak to three on the season, separating herself from Hannah Gibson (18:47.90) of Shawnee Mission South and Madeline Carter (18:54.80) of Washburn Rural High School. Wingrove finished in 18:38.00, her second fastest time of the season. In the team race, it was Carter and teammates Khloi Bird (19:23.30) and Payton Fink (19:25.60) who helped the Jr. Blues (55) to a team title, beating a contingent of schools from different classifications to pick up their first victory of the year. Rounding out the top three teams were Great Bend (68) and Blue Valley (100).
On the boy’s side, Kaiden Esfeld of Great Bend picked up his third win in four races, running away with a seventeen second victory in 16:01.80. Behind him in second and third were juniors Tyler Burns from Olathe South (16:18.30) and Devin Chappel of Garden City (16:20.70). Esfeld is currently sitting at #10 on the 5A list this year, but don’t be surprised if he is up with the leaders in the postseason. The team race was not too close this time around either, with Olathe South (26) placing four in the top seven and having their one through five 1-5 finish within thirty-seven seconds of one another. Washburn Rural (89) and Garden City (95) rounded out the top three. Olathe South is one of the favorites in 6A this season, and their performance on the state course should be quite the confidence booster.
In the most recent edition of the Kansas Cross Country Coaches poll, the Olathe South boys are ranked #1 in 6A ahead. Augusta, who’s top runner Sawyer Schmidt was at Rim Rock running a 15:45.10, is ranked #4 in 4A. Finally, the Andover boys are receiving votes in 5A. On the girl’s side, Washburn Rural is the highest ranked team in the field, tied for #1 in 6A with Olathe West. The Great Bend girls are #6 in 5A, and the Blue Valley North girls are receiving votes in 6A, along with the Augusta girls receiving votes in 4A.
Chesney Peterson. That’s it, that’s the tweet. Four state championships last year as a sophomore, and a record of 38-5. Guess what? She hasn’t laid off of the gas one bit. The closest that someone has been to her when she has crossed the finish line is a minute and twenty-one seconds, and that was in a two mile race earlier this season. It was more of the same for Peterson last Saturday when she won her home meet by two minutes and five seconds over Ozia Trujillo and Yanely Puentes of Southwestern Heights. The three girls went 19:00.30, 21:05.60, and 21:19.00. Southwestern Heights was able to put four in the top ten, going 1-4-8-9, compared to Stanton County who also put four in there, going 2-3-5-10. At the end of the day, it was Southwestern Heights who came out on top, winning over the defending 2A state champions. Goodwell-Texhoma (57) out of Oklahoma and Elkhart (93) were the two other teams in the invitational. Things are looking good for the Southwestern Heights squad, as they are in the #4 ranking in the XC team scores, right behind West Franklin and Trinity Academy out of Wichita.
Now the boys’ race, which was also won by a runner with a Stanton County uniform on, Kamryn Golub. Golub separated himself from the duo of Elijah Zortman (17:31.50) of Meade and Brenden Ellis from Ingalls (17:32.00). Golub ran an impressive 17:02, which makes him the second fastest runner in 2A this season, behind Andrew Harder of Berean Academy, who ran a 16:46.00 this season. This time, it was Stanton County boys who defeated six other teams to win comfortably 35-51 over Meade. Southwestern Heights (83), Ingalls (106), Hugoton (119), Cimarron (129) and Ulysses (158) completed the field.
Starting with the girls, Stanton County remains #1 in 2A and Southwestern Heights is sitting at #6 in 3A. On the boys’ side, Stanton County is also the #1 team in 2A along with their girls, and Meade is ranked #1 in 1A. The Ingalls’ boys are #5 in 1A, rounding out the ranked teams.
Almost last and definitely not least, the Royal Valley XC Invitational. Rossville High School took things into their own hands in the Girls’ Varsity race, having their top three go 1-2-5, with Amelia Foster (21:48.14) winning the race, and Alexis Zabala (22:17.40) and Cassie Fund (23:34.46) rounding out the Bulldogs’ top three. Jackson Heights senior Annie Allen broke up the Rossville pack by placing third in 22:38.36. The team race saw Rossville (19) taking down Jefferson West (42) and Cornerstone Family (59) for the title.
The boys’ side saw a little larger of a field, highlighted by a win from Daniel Little of Jackson Heights. Little’s 16:41.89 is the new 2A leader and his fourth fastest 5000m of his career. Behind Little was a lot of Silver Lake and a lot of Jackson Heights teammates. Cameron TenEyck (17:29.60) finished second, ahead of Heights duo Nate Linck (17:50.2) and Lucas Perry (17:50.9). The Silver Lake boys took down a nine team field, with Santa Fe Trail (85) and Jackson Heights (87), finishing second and third.
Well readers, unless I missed something (which a part of me feels like I did), I think that’s a wrap. To my knowledge, every meet that was not named Rim Rock or Griak was mentioned and recapped to the best of my ability. Before I send this out, I want to take another moment to thank all of you. You took a chance on a newsletter that you didn’t have much information about. We want this to be the best it can be, and it may take a little bit of time before we can reach that, so we appreciate all of you for hanging with us. As always, if you catch something that we missed or want us to cover something else, we are always checking our gmail ksxcountrytandf@gmail.com and our Twitter .
Have a great week, and make sure to watch some cross country for us!