The Big One @ The Wamego Country Club (Pt. 2)
Schmidt v. Lindahl v. Newkirk plus Eudora v. Baldwin
Last weekend Kansas Running chose Wamego as our state destination for the day. Boy did it make for an incredible meet! Baldwin v. Eudora, Wichita Trinity v. Southeast of Saline, Schmidt v. Newkirk v. Lindahl. It had everything!
4A Girls @ Wamego Country Club
The first race of the day was one of the most anticipated across the state, the 4A Girls. The Baldwin Bulldogs have been crowned champions of 4A twelve times since 2002. Eudora on the other hand has been fighting to get out of their shadow for the last couple of years. Going into the state meet, Baldwin had won seventeen of the previous twenty-three head-to-head matchups over Eudora, dating back to the 2016 season. In 2019 Eudora won both the Frontier League and Regionals, but placed third at state behind Buhler and Baldwin. In 2020 Eudora won the Frontier League again, but took second behind Baldwin at regionals and state. It turns out the 2021 season would finally be in the Cardinals favor as the Eudora would win all four matchups with Baldwin, starting with their victory over a loaded field at the Wamego Invitational, where they took down fourteen teams including 3A powerhouse Southeast of Saline. At the most recent edition of the Frontier League Championships, Eudora edged out Baldwin 44-45, followed by an eight point win the next week at the Baldwin Regional. This past weekend, it was an eight point margin again as the Eudora Cardinals won their first state championship in program history.
What an end to a dominating season for Clearwater junior Hayley Trotter! In her nine races this year, Trotter placed second at two and won the other seven, including the Blue Division at Rim Rock, her third AVCTL Division 4 title, and a regional and state championship. This is Trotter’s second state title, with her first coming on the track in the 800m. I assume this won’t be Trotter’s last as she still has two more track seasons and her final year of cross country before she graduates. Taking 2nd and 3rd was the Eudora 1-2 punch of freshman Hanna Keltner (20:04.20) and sophomore Sydney Owens (20:08.00). Her runner-up performance was the finishing touch on a stellar debut season for Keltner, finishing the same way that her teammate Sydney did a year ago. Owens is 2/2 in top three cross country finishes at the state meet and looks to keep it going a year from now. Taking 4th was Baldwin senior Diana Messick, who ran a forty-one second course personal best of 20:20.10 to lead the Bulldogs. Rock Creek sophomore Kyra Nippert rounded out the top five with a 5th place finish and a personal Wamego Country Club best of 20:23.60. The next five spots were filled by Louisburg sophomore Emma Vohs, who earned her first All-State medal on Saturday. Vohs seems to have transitioned nicely into cross country considering the fact the ran strictly the 100m, 200m and 400m (6th @ State) in the Spring. Speaking of transitions, McPherson junior Chloe Clevenger formerly of Doniphan West finished 7th in her first 4A state appearance after transferring to McPherson this year. This is Clevenger’s fourth All-State honor and her third top fifteen finish on the grass at state. A pair of Baldwin seniors in Jana Landreth and Riley Smith took 8th and 9th, as Smith finished in the top ten for the third straight year and earned her fifth All-State honor and Landreth matched her finish a year ago, finished in the top ten at state for the second consecutive year. Taking 10th to round out the top ten was Tonganoxie freshman Jocie Thomas ran 20:43.00 in her state debut.
The second half of the state medalists were Eudora junior Phoebe Fletcher (20:47.40), Abilene’s Eden Bathurst (20:49.00), Louisburg’s Maddy Rhamy (20:51.50), Clay Center freshman Lauren Smith (20:57.00), Winfield’s Kayli Myers (20:59.70), Katia Huffman (21:02.20) of Ottawa, Gracelynn Benavides (21:04.10) of Winfield, Charlee Lind (21:07.40) from Wamego, Reese Johnson (21:08.70) of Louisburg and Lindsay Warner (21:13.10) of Buhler.
The team title as you know was won by the ladies of Eudora, earning their first state title in program history while taking down rival and twelve time state champion Baldwin in the process. Eudora won 56-64 over the Bulldogs, while Winfield took 3rd while scoring 93 points. It’s going to take a lot for any team to beat Eudora next year, as their top four all return while they graduate their 5-7. Baldwin is set to lose their top three to graduation, but will return their 4-7 to try and get back to the top. It won’t be easy, but never count out a squad coached by Mike Spielman, because my bet is they’ll be right back in the mix. While taking 4th, Buhler edged out Louisburg 138-144, with Wamego taking 7th and Circle taking 8th. Rounding out the twelve team field was Rose Hill (217), Clay Center (237), Labette County (264) and Hayden (273).
4A Boys @ Wamego Country Club
It’s safe to say that literally no one had an idea of who was going to win this race on Saturday. Yes, I bet people had ideas, but this was really a race with an individual title that could have gone to three boys. Tanner Lindahl came into the race with a season best of 15:39.80 that he set earlier at Rim Rock. Sawyer Schmidt came in off of a 15:18.09 that he ran earlier this month at the AVCTL meet. Tanner Newkirk was fresh off of a 15:16.67 that he ran just last week at the 4A Regional in Topeka. Any one of these three could have won the state title, and that’s no dig on the rest of the field, these three are just some of the best the state has seen in a while.
Personally I don’t know the markers or much about the course at Wamego, but all I know is that at one point or another, Newkirk and Schmidt made a move to separate themselves from Lindahl, leaving him to run in no man’s land for a while. Coming up what looked like one of many terrible hills, Schmidt and Newkirk were still neck and neck. After a few more runners passed, I sprinted over towards the last part of the course and at some point in between the last time I saw the pair, Schmidt made a huge move to separate himself from Newkirk. At the end of the day, Schmidt (15:54.50) would win his first state cross country title, and his third overall. Lindahl (16:05.90), who ran very impressive and strong on his own, had enough to catch Newkirk and finish in 2nd, while Newkirk took 3rd in 16:24.30. After I got home and was scrolling through Strava and saw what I thought was a very mature approach and perspective on his state performance from Newkirk. While you’re at it go give the guy some kudos.
Closing out our top five finishers was Circle senior Ian Hunter and Tonganoxie junior Eli Gilmore. Hunter was 14th a year ago and ends as the 4th fastest in 4A, while Gilmore finishes in the top five for the third straight season after a 5th place finish in 2019 and a 4th place finish last year. Eudora sophomore Zach Arnold (16:52.30) earns his first All-State medal while taking 6th in his first cross country state meet. Noah Morenz of Wamego led the way for the Raiders as he finished 7th in 16:53.40. Grant Smith (16:58.40) of Clay Center, Corban Priest (16:59.40) from Winfield and Emery Wolfe (16:59.60) of Wamego end their junior year on a high note by finishing 8th, 9th and 10th.
Kaden Lohrentz (17:09.20) of Buhler led the way for the next half of medalists in 11th, followed by Jaden Vohs (17:12.20) of Louisburg, Drew Elliot (17:13.70) from Chapman, Harrison Cutting (17:14.00 of Wamego, Fort Scott’s Dryden Cosens (17:15.80), Hayden Keller (17:21.90) of Buhler, Austin Lindahl (17:22.60) from Buhler, Andale’s Zach Winter (17:22.60), and Alex Meister (17:22.80) and Brady Stegman (17:27.40) of Labette County and Wamego.
Buhler collected its fourth consecutive state title, beating out runner-up Wamego by sixteen points, 51-67. Buhler will aim for number five next year, but will be without their senior star Tanner Lindahl and Hayden Keller, who finished 3rd for the Crusaders. Wamego only loses their number one runner Noah Morenz, and will look to dethrone Buhler as the best team in 4A. Led by the individual champ, Augusta edged out Bishop Miege 130-132 to claim the last spot on the podium. Eudora, Hayden, Circle and Louisburg took 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th respectively, scoring 151-174-177-195 in the process. Winfield (207) and Abilene (220) took 9th and 10th, while McPherson (269) and Wellington (297) closed out the field.
3A Girls @ Wamego Country Club
As @CountsHuey has said, it was a redemption tour for Jentrie Alderson of Southeast of Saline. A year ago the senior took 7th at the state meet, after going undefeated her sophomore year and claiming her first state title. Alderson was clearly hungry and determined to prove her talent last Spring as she won both the 1600m and 3200m at Cessna in May. This Fall is was more of the same as Alderson won all nine of her races this year, starting and finishing as the best runner in 3A and one of the best in the state. On Saturday Alderson ran 18:59.80 to win her fourth state title by just over thirty-one seconds. Trying to chase her down was Prairie View freshman Bree Allen, who clocked a 19:30.20 in her first state meet to take 2nd. Just as Allen was chasing Alderson, Heritage Christian (Olathe) sophomore was chasing down Allen, eventually finishing 3rd in a time of 19:59.40. Both Allen and Thong look to be loaded with potential and prove to already be forces in 3A. Behind the top three was Emma Bailey, the junior leader for West Franklin. Bailey clocked a 20:20.00, a crazy personal best for the grueling Wamego course. Campbell O’Dell of Fredonia closed out the top five with a 20:35.20 and a 5th place finish, improving fifteen spots from a year ago.
Abby Commerford (20:37.00), possibly the next one up on a talented Southeast of Saline team took 6th, helping the Trojans out significantly in the team scores. Council Grove junior Jordyn Picolet ran 20:38.00 while taking 7th and moving up a spot from her finish a year ago. Jenera Ardery, a freshman from Holcomb ended her freshman campaign on a positive note by taking 8th and running 20:40.30, just three seconds shy of her personal best. Senior Clare Hawkins (20:42.20) of Scott Community and Jaelyn Rumback (20:51.70) of Norton Community took 9th and 10th to round out the top ten finishers.
Ashley Prochazka (20:58.30), Southeast of Saline’s third runner, finished 11th in 20:58.30, followed by Riley County senior Hailey Sharp (20:59.00), Kathie Chavez (21:02.40) of Colby, Abbye Hudson (21:04.60) from Cheney and Southwestern Heights senior Yanely Puentes (21:10.20) in 15th.
Hope Crabtree (21:13.00) of West Franklin, Taylor Hoskinson (21:17.10) of Haven, Fredonia’s Gracyn Bracken (21:21.20), Janae Fugitt (21:23.20) of Cimarron and Gracie Lambert (21:27.90) of Smoky Valley took 20th.
The Southeast of Saline Trojans defended their 3A title from last year by winning 46-63 over a talented West Franklin squad. Prairie View took a distant 3rd while scoring 102 points in the process. The Trojans will be without the current state champ in Alderson and their fifth runner next year when they go for the three-peat. West Franklin looks to be in the best shape to snap the streak next year as they will only be losing their number three Lily Judd and their number seven to graduation and returning everyone else. The third-place team Prairie View is set to return their top six runners, losing their seventh to graduation in the Spring. What’s interesting is that their top four runners are all freshman, and their next two are both sophomores. Meaning this team will have a chance to contend for at least the next three years.
Cimarron and Cheney took a close 4th and 5th, with Cimarron edging them out 134-137. Norton Community, Smoky Valley, Sabetha and Anderson County took 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, scoring 173-175-190-198. Santa Fe Trail and Frontenac scored 206 and 233 to close out the eleven teams.
3A Boys @ Wamego Country Club
A year ago, the boys of Wichita Trinity had to look at the results of the state meet at home as they were the first team to not make it out of the Southeast of Saline regional. This year they came in to the season with something to prove, and I’d say they made their mark. It all started at the Southeast of Saline Invitational when Wichita Trinity upset the defending back-to-back-to-back state champions Southeast of Saline. The Knights took down the Trojans 35-50 by putting their five in the top eleven and ahead of Southeast of Saline’s four. The Trojans bounced back well at regionals two weeks ago, beating the Knights by just one point, but making the team race up in the air going into state.
After finishing runner-up a year ago, Dylan Sprecker showed the state from the first week that he was going to do what he didn’t last year. Sprecker lost just one race this year, taking fourth at the Wamego Invitational behind Tanner Newkirk, Tanner Lindahl, and Sawyer Schmidt, the top three finishers in 4A but in reverse. After that, Sprecker won six consecutive meets in the process and broke 15:40 five times. On Saturday, Sprecker left no doubt that he was the best runner in 3A as he cruised to his third state title (first in XC) in 16:09.30. Behind him was Wichita Trinity’s Clay Shively and Kodi Downes of Council Grove who came in right next to each other in 16:26.80 and 16:26.90. Downes took runner-up a year ago, and secured his ninth top three finish of the year. CJ Meyer of Wichita Collegiate took 4th while Silas Miller of Marysville 5th in times of 16:31.80 and 16:34.40. Myer moved up a spot from a year ago and earned his third state medal in cross country. Miller jumped up eight spots from last year and earned his second consecutive top fifteen finish at state. Wichita Trinity’s Jacob Hodson (16:39.80), Girard’s Tanner Ulbrich (16:50.60), Southeast of Saline’s Damion Jackson (17:02.00), Lakin’s Lawson Beymer (17:02.70) and Levi Allen (17:04.30) from Southeast of Saline complete the top ten. Aside from Jackson and Beymer, this was the group’s first top twenty finish at state.
The second half of the medalists started off with Lance Lundine (17:05.40) of Beloit, followed by Will Meyer (17:06.40) of Wichita Collegiate, Wichita Trinity’s Samuel Ferguson (17:18.10), Marysville senior Ryan Stade (17:18.20), Wichita Trinity’s Caleb Tofteland (17:21.00), Tyrese Bishop (17:22.20) of Sabetha, Ian Carroll (17:25.40) of Wichita Trinity, Smoky Valley’s Tytus Reed (17:36.30), Hunter Bailey (17:37.30) of West Franklin, and Smoky Valley’s Lukas Apel (17:37.80).
After three years of Southeast of Saline dominance, their reign at the top of 3A has come to an end. On Saturday, Wichita Trinity hoisted the state championship trophy after sitting at home a year ago. What could have possibly changed in a year? Nothing, except this year they were hungrier. It all started with an unexpected runner-up finish from Clay Shively, followed by top twenty finishes from Jacob Hobson (6th), Samuel Ferguson (13th), Caleb Tofteland (15th) and Ian Carroll (17th). The Trojans made a very strong effort and did not go down easy, putting three in the top ten. One of those three was the individual champ Dylan Sprecker. At the conclusion of the race, Wichita Trinity had a perfect day and it would have been difficult for any team to take them down. Additionally, the future looks good for Wichita Trinity, considering they lose no one out of their top seven next year, and keep four out of their top five again the year following. Southeast of Saline on the other hand will be losing the number one runner in 3A, along with their fourth runner, but retaining the rest. All-in-all, things are going to be pretty interesting next year between the two.
Taking a very comfortable 3rd place was Smoky Valley (85), with Marysville (144), Hoisington (168), West Franklin (170) and Girard (178) taking 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. Rounding out the field was Scott Community (203), Holcomb (209), Anderson County (231), Hiawatha (246), and Frontenac (301).