The Rim Rock Farm Classic and the Roy Griak Invitational
We went a little more in depth on these two meets, so we thought they deserved their own mini newsletter.
Kansas Stars Shine at the 2021 Roy Griak Invitational
The 35th Annual Roy Griak Invitational, one of the biggest meets in the country year after year. Bringing in elite competition in the high school races and the collegiate races. The most recent “Griak’ saw some of the most elite high schoolers in the Midwest, along with a rematch of last years’ NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship, with reigning champ, Conner Mantz of BYU go down to the final straight with Iowa State star Wesley Kiptoo (@BanguriaK). For those who don’t know, Kiptoo actually spent two years in the Kansas JUCO system at Colby Community College, where he won two NJCAA national championships.
There were four Kansas high schools that made the drive to Minnesota, Olathe North, Olathe West, Shawnee Mission North, and Blue Valley Southwest. For a state that only sent four schools, boy did it end the meet with a lot of hardware. Starting with the Gold Girl’s race, who else other than Anjali Hocker-Singh, the two-time state champion in her freshman year at Olathe North. Hocker-Singh finished fourth behind three seniors, two who have already committed to the University of Minnesota and Stanford University. If Olathe North chooses to take their talents to the Les Bolstad Golf Course in 2022, Hocker-Singh may have the chance to be the first ever Kansas girl to win the race.
Let’s do a little bit of math really quick. If you take a pack time of forty-five seconds, plus four runners in the top thirty, and an average time of 19:45, what does that equal? For those that got “First Place at Griak”, you are right on! The Olathe West girls are currently the #1 team in both 6A and the state based off of Milesplit's XC Team Scores, and also the #17 ranked team IN THE COUNTRY based off of Milesplit USA's XC Team Scores. The Owls were the first Kansas team on either side to ever win the meet (Credit to @GopherSports for having updated lists), while taking down forty-four other teams to get it done. One of those forty-four teams was Edina High School, out of Edina, Minnesota. Edina came into Griak as the #19 in the New Balance MileSplit50 National Rankings. Keep an eye out for them, but after beating a loaded field, including a top twenty team, things can only go up for the ladies of Olathe West. With the 1-2 punch of Katie Miller and Bree Newport, and then the chase pack of Charis Robinson, Paige Baker and Aubree Blackman, this team is surely in the hunt for more hardware this season, maybe even more than at the state level.
The three other teams, Olathe North (10th), Shawnee Mission North (24th) and Blue Valley Southwest (37th) faired pretty well in a packed field of nearly four hundred runners last Friday. Olathe North was led by Anjali Hocker-Singh (18:20.20) with Kaylee Tobaben (18:50.20) five spots behind her. Rounding out Olathe North’s top five are Shea Johnson (20:05.80), Cora Katzenberger (21:30.70) and Kira Almsberger (21:40.60)
Shawnee Mission North finished in the top twenty-five and were led by by senior Josie Tyrrell (20:35.40) who finished in 78th place. The next four for the Bison were Chloee Belgum (21:05.50), Brenna Murphy (21:05.90), Elise Dummermuth (21:33.70) and Krystal Montoya (22:37.80).
Blue Valley Southwest, the final team from Kansas was led by freshman Izzy Ross in 20:25.40. Lila Schwarz (22:04.10), Maryam El-Demerdash (22:16.60), Anna Strickland (22:24.70) and Caraline Mitchell (22:36.10) completed the Timberwolves’ top five.
Another big name from the Kansas running scene who made his presence known is none other than Micah Blomker, the sophomore from Shawnee Mission North. In the Gold Boys’ race, Blomker finished second in a field of 445 other runners. Clocking a 15:56 on a tough course with rolling hills and angled footing is ridiculously impressive considering he was one of two runners to do so this year. Contrary of the top three finishers in the Gold Girls’ race, first, second and third place consisted of two sophomores and a junior, meaning that all three have the chance to come back next year and run it back.
The other Kansas boy in the top twenty was Aidan Reyna of Olathe West. Both Blomker and Reyna join elite Kansas company, as two of the six boys from the Sunflower state to crack the top twenty at the meet since 2015. Ethan Marshall (5th), Asher Molina (13th), Brian Beach (15th) and Cade Heikes (19th) are the other four boys to accomplish the feat. In the team race, one that consisted of forty-seven teams, including Wayzata High School out of Plymouth, Minnesota, the #17 ranked team in the most recent New Balance MileSplit50 National Rankings. Earning the highest Kansas team finish of 9th , and only thirteen points away from 6th was the Blue Valley Southwest Squad. Led by Micah Paschke (17:09.80) and followed closely by Drew Dombrosky (17:12.10) and Thomas Caul (17:12.80), the Timberwolves and their forty-one second pack time were able to prove why they deserve a podium spot in late October. It’s only late September as I’m writing this, so I’ll hold off on state talk for a few more weeks. Shawnee Mission North and Olathe West were the only other two Kansas teams that brought more than five runners, with Olathe North running four this past Friday.
We talked about the top three for Blue Valley Southwest (9th), but the four and five for the squad were Gabe McGee (17:38.60) and Crew Buehler (17:51.30). Shawnee Mission North (16th), led by Blomker had their five under 18:10, with Adam Ducey (17:33.90), Owen Dooley (17:48.70), Diego Rosas (17:54.90) and James Barton (18:09.30) as the five.
Reyna led Olathe West (27th), followed by Connor Lyons (17:44.80), Sam Kelemen (18:12.00), Logan Montgomery (18:41.00), and Ethan Seaba (18:51.30) closed out the five for the Owls. Olathe North ran four runners, led by Tanner Coltvet in 17:58.00, followed by Ray Kosgei (18:09.40), Tanner Hlasney (18:10.40) and Nick Suttle (19:35.10) finishing as the Olathe North’s four.
Kansas Schools Hold Their Own Against Out-of-State Competition
After a one-year hiatus, Rim Rock Farm was back and hosting another fantastic meet. With teams from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Colorado competing in the meet, it was nearly impossible for athletes to not run quick. As usual, the meet had three divisions of races. The Gold Division, is for the top teams from the year before and standout smaller schools. The Crimson Division is reserved for the larger schools not in the Gold Division, such as 6A and 5A high schools in Kansas for example. The Blue Division is designed for smaller schools attending the meet. For those unfamiliar with this meet, hopefully that brings you up to speed. Just to let you know, if at any point you want to know more about the results of this or any meet, our friends over at MileSplit have gotten pretty good about having it all there for avid fans like us. Let’s get rolling.
The Gold Division, home of the top ten fastest all-time boy’s meet times, led by the past three course record holders. Tim Sindt, Paul Roberts and Jacob Morgan. Do any of those names ring a bell? I would hope so, these three are the fastest boys to ever run at Rim Rock Farm. It started in 2011 when Jacob Morgan of Washburn Rural, one of the all-time bests, broke the previous record running 15:13.18 on the grueling course. Four years later, Paul Roberts, from Lyons High School in Colorado came in and beat Morgan’s record by over two seconds, running 15:10.90. Only three years later, Tim Sindt of Ankeny High School out of Iowa broke Robert’s record by two tenths of a second, running 15:10.70. I didn’t look past the top ten, but out of the next seven fastest all-time performances, five came in the Gold Division race. I know this is a lot of information to take in about one division, but I just want to make sure the energy is building for this content.
While on the subject, let’s talk about this year’s Boys Gold Division. Ty Garret, a junior from Valor Christian High School ran the fifth fastest 5k ever on the course, winning in a 15:18.00. A name many of us know, Logan Seger of St. Thomas Aquinas was the runner-up in 15:23.90. Behind Seger, there were nine Kansas runners in the top twenty-five. Placing 6th, 7th and 8th were three of the best runners in 4A, and in the state in general. Buhler standout Tanner Lindahl (15:39.80), Tanner Newkirk (15:39.80) from Hayden, and Sawyer Schmidt (15:45.10) of Augusta, gave the crowd a preview of what could go down at the Wamego Country Club in late October. This was the second time this season that the trio had faced off, with the first time being on the state course at the Wamego Invitational on September 11th. Newkirk came away with the win and the only sub-sixteen performance of the day with a 15:47.50, with Lindahl and Schmidt behind in 16:01.70 and 16:15.80. The other five five medalists from Kansas were Colby King (11th/15:51.20) from St. Thomas Aquinas, Tyler Atkins (15th/15:58.60) of Junction City, Ben Mosier (16th/16:01.50) from Manhattan, and Ashton Higgerson (17th/16:02.70) and AJ Vega (16:04.20) from St. Thomas Aquinas and Mill Valley. In a field of twenty-five teams, St. Thomas Aquinas finished fourth, the highest among Kansas teams, with Mill Valley, Buhler, St. James, DeSoto and Manhattan finishing 9th-13th. Before we move on to the girl’s race, I want to give a quick shoutout to JESSICA SPRECKER! She takes amazing photos and I think that she should get even more recognition than she already does!
In the Girl’s Gold Division, a whopping FOURTEEN girls from Kansas placed in the top twenty-five. Katie Schwartzkoph of Mill Valley led the way in Kansas representation, nearly going under eighteen with her 18:00.30, ten seconds behind Keeghan Edwards of Valor Christian who took first with a time of 17:50.10, the second fastest ever on the course, and second fastest all-time meet time. Olivia Bakker of Blue Valley West ran her second fastest 5k of her career, finishing third in 18:07.20. Grace Hanson (5th/18:23.50) from Piper, Blue Valley West’s Katherine Soule (11th/19:15.40), Charlotte Caldwell (19:16.50) of Mill Valley and Bishop Carroll phenom Hope Jackson (14th/19:24.20) rounded out the top fifteen finishers from Kansas. Placing 16th, 18th, 19th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 25th were Sophia Schultz (19:29.80) from St. James, Manhattan’s Rebekah Pickering (19:31.70), Zoie Ecord (19:33.80 of Maize, Katelyn Menghini (19:35.00) from St. James, and Sophie Landrum (19:35.60), Mareike Krebs (19:35.60) and Isabelle Prô (19:43.00) from DeSoto, St. Thomas Aquinas and Lawrence Free State. Wow. If you aren’t embarrassed to clap whereever you are, go ahead and give these girls a hand, because that is pretty darn impressive. In terms of team finishers, Manhattan led the way finishing in fourth, followed closely behind by Mill Valley, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. James, who finished in 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively. Lawrence Free State (9th), Bishop Carroll (12th), Blue Valley West (13th) and DeSoto (15th) rounded out the Kansas teams in the top fifteen.
That’s one division down, two more to go. The Crimson Division made for some pretty good competition and some pretty good times as well. Sticking with the order, let’s start with the boys. Teammates Samuel Hurley (16:05.1) and Drew Mason (16:12.2) of Blue Valley Northwest went 1-2, taking 201 other runners along their way. Another 1-2 punch of teammates is Jackson Esquibel (16:26.6) and Kory Sutton (16:40.2) of Shawnee Heights, who finished 4th and 6th in a deep field. Behind these four were eleven more Kansas athletes who all finished within the top twenty-five. I’m going to hit you guys with a rapid fire of these eleven boys who showed up and showed out in Lawrence. Lansing’s Kenneth Howell (7th/16:44.6), Ryan Son (8th/16:45.6) and Daniel Zoller (9th/16:46.00) of Wichita East, Noah Morenz (10th/16:49.7) from Wamego, Andover Central’s Landen O’Neill (13th/16:53.6), Logan Beckman (17th/16:57.2 from Spring Hill, Logan Libel (18th/16:57.2) of Goddard-Eisenhower, Ethan Hock (19th/16:57.4) from Derby, Zoran Rodriguez (21st/17:01.1) of Bishop Miege, Topeka-Seaman’s Jace Moore (22nd/17:01.8) and Austin Hock (25th/17:09.2) of Derby. That was a lot, but honestly I’m not sure if there was a better way to give it. Shawnee Heights is the first team to crack the podium, with their boys finishing 3rd out of thirty teams. Lansing, Goddard-Eisenhower, Dodge City, Wichita East, Haysville-Campus and Wamego were the other Kansas teams to finish in the top ten.
In the girl’s race, six Kansas runners finished in the top ten, and eleven more in the top twenty-five, but since writing the above paragraph, I feel like I have developed a much more efficient system for feeding you this information, hopefully you can support the change.
The top Kansas finisher in the Crimson Division was Serenity Larson from Dodge City. 19:19.4 was more than enough to take third in a field of over 150 runners. Five seconds behind her was Topeka-Seaman junior Bethany Druse, who ran her fastest time on the year with a 19:24.9, helping her finish 5th. Eudora teammates Sydney Owens (19:33.9) and Hanna Keltner (19:54.2) finished 7th and 8th, continuing to prove that they are both a threat for the 4A individual state championship and the team championship. Rounding out the top ten were Julia Berends (20:00.3) and Katie Hazen (20:07.1), representing Kapaun Mt. Carmel and Derby. Below are the finishers between 11th and 25th. I felt like this was a lot easier for you guys to read, but feel free to let me know if you disagree.
Sheesh. Nine different schools with runners in the top twenty-five AND 3/4 of the schools with athletes in the top twenty-five, if that doesn’t scream dominance, I’m not sure what would. In the team race, seven Kansas schools finished in the top ten, and here they are. Topeka-Seaman (92) was the runner-up behind Iowa’s Ankeny (77), narrowly missing out on a team win. Derby (144), Kapaun Mt. Carmel (146), and Eudora (154) all finished right with each other for 3rd, 4th and 5th place. Dodge City (220) and Junction City (234) finished together in 7th and 8th, with Olathe Northwest (262) finishing in 10th. On deck we have the final division of the meet, the Blue Division.
The Blue Division is designed for the smaller schools in the meet. Typically it is the 4A-1A teams who race in the Blue. Over the years, this division has never gotten the hype that the Gold race does, or even the Crimson. Well let me tell you, these races deserve just as much hype because they’ve brought some crazy results in the past. Lets travel back to September 24th, 2016, where Girard senior Cailie Logue solo’d what was at the time, the fastest ever girls 5k at Rim Rock Farm. Logue won with a 17:35.40, a minute and fifty-four seconds ahead of the next athlete. In 2015, KSHSAA moved girls up to the 5k from the 4k, following in the footsteps of both Minnesota and Iowa, and other midwest states. Logue’s 17:35.40 would have been fast enough to win every single girl’s Gold Division race since 2015. Yes, Logue is an anomaly and since starting at Iowa State has won ten Big 12 Championships, been named an All-American three times and even ran in the 2020 Team USA Olympic Trials, but nonetheless, she ran that time out of the Blue Division, and that is why people should give this race some more credit. Now that I feel like I’ve made my point, I’m done rambling, let’s dive in.
Hayley Trotter (19:35.1) , a 4A contender and Clearwater junior took home a seventeen second victory over Rachel Harpt (19:52.8) from Christ Preparatory who finished in second. Out of the next twenty-three finishers, seventeen of them are from high schools in Kansas. Campbell O’Dell (19:53.7) of Fredonia was the last girl to dip under twenty, giving her a third place finish out of nearly 240 competitors. Rounding out the remaining Kansas runners to finish in the top ten are Emma Bailey (4th/20:17.70 of West Franklin, Council Grove junior Jordyn Picolet (5th/20:27.2), Jenera Ardery (6th/20:38.2) of Holcomb, and Sabetha’s Mary Lukert (7th/20:44.0). Out of the top ten teams in the field, eight of them were from Kansas, led by Christ Preparatory (123), who finished as the runner-up. Buhler (180) was the third place finisher out of thirty. Behind them, Wamego (191), Tonganoxie (192), West Franklin (220), Winfield (223), Sabetha (288) and McLouth (300) all finished 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th.
I know that Kansas does make up a lot of the teams who travel to the meet, but I think that to still have nineteen of the top twenty-five is pretty darn impressive. Here we are, now on to the last race that we are going to cover.
Undefeated: not defeated, especially in a battle or other contest. Kodi Downes of Council Grove started racing on September 2nd, and four races later, he is still undefeated. One of the contenders in 3A, Downes (16:14.0) won his first ever race at Rim Rock Farm. Twenty-two seconds behind him in second was Tonganoxie junior Eli Gilmore (16:36.9), and immediately behind Gilmore was 4A podium contender. Lawson Beymer ( 16:36.9)of Lakin, the third place finisher. Out of the next twenty-two finishers, eighteen of the guys were from Kansas, continuing to represent the state spectacularly.
In the team scores, Christ Preparatory (137) finished runner-up with Wichita Collegiate (194) behind them in third. Eudora (226), Hutchinson Trinity (278), Abilene (282), Royal Valley (309), West Franklin (310) and Riley County (313) finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th in a field of 34.
To say the least, Rim Rock Farm is back and doing what it does best. Hosting some of the fastest athletes in the region and testing them on what I consider one of the three toughest courses in the state. The meet was a treat for cross country fans, whether they enjoyed the out-of-state showing from Valor Christian, winners of both the individual and team titles in both Gold races, or the abundance of representation by the Kansas schools. I hope you guys enjoyed the in-depth look at these two major meets, and as always, if you think we missed something or you want us to focus on different aspects, our DM’s are always open.
Have a great week, and we’ll see you in the next edition.