Week 7 XC Recap 2/2
League Championship Weekend Edition
We already saw the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League (AVCTL) Division 3-4 race on Thursday, but Saturday saw the AVCTL Division `1-2 run their championships. In the DI Girl’s race, Britton Kelly, the senior from Maize South won her first league cross country title, doing so in 19:40.80. Chasing her was Katie Hazen (19:57.70) of Derby and and Zoie Ecord (20:16.00) from Maize. In another close team finish this past weekend, Maize South and Derby tied with 63 points after five runners, but saw Maize South’s Tiana Denayer coming in clutch, giving her team the league title. Andover and Maize took third and fourth while scoring 113 and 115.
The DII Girl’s race saw Hannah Grover (20:20.04) of Valley Center claim her first individual league title, taking down Arkansas City freshman Jasmine Calvo (21:03.74) by forty-three seconds. Andover junior Sydney Anderson finished took third with a 21:22.36. The team title went to Andover, who beat Goddard-Eisenhower and Andover Central 36-53-79.
On to the boy’s side, we will start with Maize South senior duo Vaughn Decker and Austin Schaeffer taking first and second in their final AVCTL DI XC race of their high school career. Their 17:02.02 and 17:08.11 were enough to earn their 1-2 finish. Maize senior Aiden Werner finish in third, marking his highest AVCTL cross country finish in his career. The team race saw Maize edge take down Maize South 36-49, with Campus taking third with 74 points.
The AVCTL DII race saw senior William Griffith win his first AVCTL title of his career. Griffith’s 17:06.32 was enough to separate himself from the field to win by a seven second margin. Freshman Brock Moses from Valley Center and Andover Central sophomore Ethan Finney took second and third in 17:13.92 and 17:16.46. Arkansas City took the league crown in a 54-63-71 victory over Goddard-Eisenhower and Andover.
After finishing second a year ago, Madison Butler of Macksville picked up her first Central Prairie League title and her third win of the year. Butler finished sixty-one seconds ahead of Otis-Bison freshman Destiny Mitchell (22:47.90), who set a personal best in her CPL debut. La Crosse junior Kadence Kendall took third in 23:32.90, both her fastest time of the year and her highest CPL finisher in her career. Macksville was the only full team, earning them the league title.
Corbin Ricke continues to have a dream senior season, this week adding a Central Prairie League victory to his résumé and marking his fifth win in six races on the year. The Spearville senior did so in dominating fashion, winning in 17:26.90, almost fifty seconds ahead of runner-up Asher Miller (18:14.40) of Ellinwood. Will Rues of La Crosse took third in 18:34.20. The team race belonged to Ellinwood, who put their five scorers in the top eight to edge out Macksville 23-34.
After being oh-so-close for so long, both Emma Bailey and Kodi Downes finally broke the time barriers they have been chasing for months. Starting with Bailey, her and her West Franklin teammates put five in the top eight, scoring 21 points on route to a thirty point margin over Osage City, winning 21-51. Central Heights took third with 62 points. For the first time in her career, Bailey broke twenty minutes for 5000m and set a new personal best of 19:51.07. Behind her in second was Jordyn Picolet of Council Grove in 20:46.43 and Emma Cubit of Central Heights in 21:02.89.
Like Bailey, Council Grove sophomore Kodi Downes went sub-sixteen for the first time in his young career, finishing in 15:59.28, an eleven second personal best. In addition to breaking sixteen, Downes also defended his Flint Hills League title that he won a year ago as a freshman.Placing runner-up for the second consecutive season, Alfonso Rubio of Mission Valley ran his fastest time of the season in 16:51.87. Hunter Bailey also had a great day, going sub-seventeen for the first time in his freshman campaign. His 16:55.32 was enough for his third place in his first ever FHL meet. The team race saw West Franklin complete the sweep, winning 48-64-93 over Council Grove and Central Heights.
The Lyon County League was ran at The Orchard along with the Flint Hills League, which saw Kennah Speer and Collin Whalen win the individual titles. Speer, the freshman from Lebo ran 23:25.34 to win a LCL title in her first appearance. Behind her were Madison freshman Lily Hudson (24:11.35) and Olpe senior Josie Orear (24:56.25). There was no full teams in the girl’s race, so there was no team champion.
On the boy’s side, Lebo senior Colin Whalen out leaned freshman teammate Caleb Durst to take home the individual title in 18:44.58, with Durst finishing in 18:44.68. Ten seconds back in third was Cleveland Cody the freshman from Hartford ran 18:55.51 in his first LCL meet. All three boys set a personal best on route to their highest finishes ever in the meet. As the only full team, Olpe took the team title.
Lyons, Kansas was the host of the 2021 Central Kansas League meet which was ran on on the Lyons XC Course. In her final CKL cross country meet, Gracie Lambert of Smoky Valley defended her title from a year ago and took down the field by forty-five seconds in 20:26.40. Haven senior Taylor Hoskinson took second in 21:09.80, twenty-two seconds ahead of Lyons junior Yamyle Ramirez who finished with a season best of 21:31.00. With a twelve point victory, Pratt was able to hold off Hillsboro and Hoisington 46-58-62.
After a seventh place finish last year, Tytus Reed of Smoky Valley won his first CKL cross country title with a 16:59.10, his first time under seventeen in his career. Behind him from Hoisington was Ian Doss (17:38.20) in second and Smoky Valley teammate Britton Decker in third in 17:41.00. Smoky Valley went back-to-back, winning the league title again over Halstead and Hesston, 23-76-83.
Out west in Dodge City, the Western Athletic Conference had their league meet at the Mariah Hills Golf Course. Unlike most league meets this past weekend, the girls ran 4000m instead of the traditional 5000m that they are set to run the next two weeks. Like she has done four times already this season, Serenity Larson of Dodge City ran 15:46.8 over 4000m to win her second consecutive WAC title. The freshman duo of Marissa Boone (16:01.6)and Diane Alvarez (16:15.50) of Great Bend took second and third in their WAC debut. That would be more than enough to take down Dodge City and Hays, 27-54-81.
Great Bend junior Kaiden Esfeld has continued to perform throughout the entire season. Esfeld has won six out of seven races, and has broken 16:35 all but once. On Saturday, Esfeld ran away from the field to finish in 16:30.10, which was good enough for a thirty second victory and his second consecutive WAC title. Taking second and third from Garden City was Devin Chappel and Kailyn Munoz who ran 17:00.6 and 17:30.0. Their 2-3 finish was just enough to help Garden City edge out Dodge City 30-34, with Liberal finishing with 78 points in third.
The Twin Valley League meet in Centralia, Kansas got off to a hot start with the Doniphan West girls scoring 19 points and the individual champion. Elle Williams, the #2 runner in 1A won her first TVL title, picking up her third win in her senior campaign. Williams’ 20:43.22 was more than enough to finish forty-one seconds ahead of junior teammate Claire Cole in 21:34.15. Washington County freshman McKenzie Baker took third in 21:46.88 a twenty-six second personal best. Doniphan West won their third straight league title in dominating fashion, taking down Axtell 19-42.
The boy’s of Wetmore successfully defended their title from 2020, taking down Axtell, Frankfort and Onaga 29-59-61-68. Leading the way for Wetmore was senior Colby Hanzlicek, who ran his personal best of 17:31.47 to improve from his eighth place finish last year. Second place belonged to Grady Buessing of Axtell who ran 17:43.00, a minute and twenty-two seconds ahead of the field, including third place finisher Eric Bloom (19:05.88) of Wetmore.
The United Kansas Conference is only in its fourth year of existence, but the DeSoto girls have won three of the four league championships up to this point. This year they took care of business by putting their top four runners in the top four spots in the race. Sophie Landrum went back-to-back in UKC titles, this year winning by a minute and nine seconds over the rest of the field in 19:33.0. Rounding out the top four was Katie Beyer (20:42.0) , Brooke Bundt (20:42.0), and Hope Marriott (20:47.0) of DeSoto. The pack of four gave DeSoto a comfortable league title over Basehor-Linwood, Leavenworth and Lansing 20-61-64-73.
If I had a nickel for every time Kory Sutton and Jackson Esquibel have finished 1-2 in a race this year, I’d have fifteen cents. For the third time this season, Sutton (16:07.0) and Esquibel (16:12.0) took first and second, but this time in the UKC meet. Ten seconds back in third was Brady Huggins of DeSoto who ran 16:22.0 to improve his sixth place finish from the 2020 edition. DeSoto completed the team sweep with a 30-52-65 win over Shawnee Heights and Lansing.
Heritage Christian sophomore Hannah Thong (19:54.90) took home the Kaw Valley Conference title this past weekend at Zarda Farm in Olathe. This was her fourth win of the year, and another one that continues to put her in the podium conversation in 3A. Hannah’s little sister Elise Thong took second in her first KVC meet, running a lifetime best of 21:36.40. Kansas City Christian sophomore Rebekah Jenks took third in 22:02.90. Along with their 1-2 punch and two more in the top eight, Heritage Christian won the team title over Cair Paravel Latin and Bishop Seabury 25-45-50.
On the boy’s side, the #4 team in 2A Kansas City Christian finished 1-2-3-4, which was more than enough to beat Heritage Christian, Cair Paravel Latin and Maranatha Christian 26-40-69-99. Leading the KC Christian pack was senior Luke Browning in 17:33.30, followed closely by sophomores Andrew Schumacher (17:37.20), Nathan Connealy (17:47.10), and Spencer Mumford (17:51.80).
At the 2021 Three Rivers League meet, Cherokee-Southeast junior Audrey Jacobs won her first TRL title, winning 22:29.00-22:53.00 over Gia Schneider of Jayhawk-Linn. Schneider’s teammate was twelve seconds back in 23:05.00 to take third. By putting five in the top eight, Jayhawk-Linn was able to take down Cherokee Southeast 20-39.
It was a 1-2-3 finish for Dakota Wallace, Dillon Champlin, and Corbin White of Jayhawk-Linn. All three boys set a personal best on route to leading their squad to a team title. Wallace covered the 5000m course in 18:25.00, with Champlin behind in 18:32.00 and White rounding out the top three in 18:40.00. Jayhawk-Linn’s trio was aided by their other two scorers finishing in the top fifteen, helping the team score 31 points to take the team win. Cherokee Southeast and Arma Northeast took second and third with 45 and 48 points.
Boy do the teams from Southeast of Saline look strong heading into the last two weeks of Kansas competition! At the North-Central Activities Association/Lakeside Invitational, it was an individual and team sweep for both Trojan teams. Starting with the girl’s race where Jentrie Alderson won her seventh consecutive race on the grass and her first NCAA title in the Fall. Alderson crossed the line at 18:39.0, a minute and thirty-five seconds ahead of runner-up Madisyn Ehrlich (20:14.0) of Salina-Sacred Heart. Alderson’s freshman teammate Abby Commerford (20:23.0) took third in her first NCAA competition. Southeast of Saline put their entire seven in the top nine, helping them score a ridiculous 19 points, comfortably ahead of Sacred Heart (45) and Republic County (82).
On the boy’s side, Southeast of Saline finished 1-2-3-4-8 to score a near-perfect score of 16. Republic County (105) and Minneapolis (113) rounded out the top three teams on the boy’s side. Dylan Sprecker won his sixth race of the year and his fifth straight. His 15:38.0 is his second fastest this season, and gave him a minute and twenty-nine second win over teammate Levi Allen (17:07.0). Damion Jackson (17:12.0) and Joel Kejr (17:16.0) rounded out the top four finishers in the field. The Trojans look ready to host regionals next week, where they will see six of the top ten teams in 3A, including the #1 Wichita Trinity squad and #3 Smoky Valley.
After finishing third a year ago, McLouth senior Reagan Clark won her first Northeast Kansas League title at Mission Lake Country Club in Horton, Kansas. In addition to winning her first league title, Clark also set a personal best with a time of 20:37.00. Chasing Clark down was her fellow McLouth senior Nina Hedden, who finished in 20:58.00. In her first year of cross country, Jefferson County North freshman Bowie Weishaar took third in 21:14. The `McLouth ladies’ finished 1-2-5-6-26, helping them to a 31-41-65-80 victory over Jefferson county North, Valley Falls and Pleasant Ridge.
Jackson Heights senior Daniel Little defended his NEK league title from a year ago, this time winning by fifty-six seconds over the field. Little covered the course in 16:45.00, with Henry Cloyd (17:41.00) of McLouth and Isaac Kane (17:46.00) of Jefferson County North taking second and third. McLouth took the boy’s title as well, putting their five in the top thirteen, beating out Jefferson County North and Pleasant Ridge 42-58-89.
Sorry that this one went out a day later than usual. Yesterday I was feeling pretty under the weather and didn’t have much energy to do anything more than get out of bed and fill up my water. We’ll see you next week as we get to recap all 23 regionals taking place this coming weekend and give a little state preview for each classification! Have a great weekend and enjoy some cross country for us!
Just a heads up, most of the 1A leagues (Twin Valley, Wheat State, etc) use 4-man scoring, so a few of your team scores are off. The only team champion that's different from your info though is Lebo as the Lyon County champs instead of Olpe.