Meet(s) of the Week ⛳️⚾️
Top 5 Performances: Olathe Twilight ⚾️
Clay Shively — After a season opener at the JK Gold Classic that left quite a few people scratching their heads, the soon-to-be Lumberjack shut everybody up, showing just how talented he actually is. Yeah, we know he’s fast because of what he produced on the track, but cross country is a different breed. But when you’re Clay Shively, it doesn’t matter where you’re racing, because when your plan is to win, you’re going to execute perfectly. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to Olathe Twilight due to my current stint in Austin, TX, but luckily my co-host on The BackTrack Podcast came through with the race updates on the Kansas MileSplit instagram story. Little by little, I was able to see Shively worry only about himself, working his way up to the front over the course, and eventually pulling away for a course record and state record.
Video Credit — ESPN Anjali Hocker Singh — She’s baaaaaack. After a track season where the three-time defending cross country champion didn’t make it out of her region, the Olathe North senior isn’t wasting any time this fall, winning her second-ever Twilight title. She did so in dominant fashion this time too, winning in 17:41.20. From the looks of it, she waited a bit early on, but as the race progressed, there wasn’t a doubt in the world that she’d be the one stopping the clock. Next weekend, Hocker Singh is heading to her final Roy Griak Invitational as a high schooler, and I’d keep a tight watch over those results, cause I’m feeling like she’s got a statement race up her sleeve.
Photo — Brian McGee — The Blazer Gardner-Edgerton Boys — Move over everybody else, we’ve got a new 6A state favorite. Not only were the Trailblazers the top 6A team, but they were the top Kansas team overall, behind an unfortunate Missouri sweep. Led by arguably the greatest runner to ever come out of the program, Parker Walion, Walt Cochran’s squad looked like they were in tip-top shape. Nick Kilonzo and Aidan Scherman put themselves in the top-forty, while Cade Halton and Robert Falkner weren’t far back in 53rd and 57th. With Walion as their low-stick, and the other four being within 24 seconds of one another, this team looks like the team to beat as we hit the halfway point of September.
Brett Jacobson — The Towanda-Circle graduate is up next in 4A, and after her two impressive races in the opening weeks, it seems Hayley Trotter’s successor is becoming more and more clear. Jacobson put herself in the mix against a field of top notch athletes, mixed in with state champions, state leaders, and national qualifiers. Jacobson didn’t let the resumé of the field affect her strategy, as she finished 4th in what was simply put, a brilliant race for a young athlete. Take a look at a quick interview with the two-time state top-three finisher, with credit to MileSplit and Matt Goeckel.
Olathe West — Graduation who? I know I’ve already mentioned it this season, but I’ve got to give even more credit to the Olathe West coaching staff and their athletes. To lose two key athletes, one of them being a state champion, and not even remotely missing a step, it’s impressive to say the least. Led by senior Bree Newport who just ran her fastest time since she was sophomore, the Owls put ALL FIVE scorers in the top 22 spots, with seniors Kalyn Willingham and Kate Miller finishing 7th and 13th, followed by junior Liz Browning and sophomore Sydney All in 15th and 22nd. Yeah, they didn’t exhibit the ten-second pack time they did in week one, but they still owned the 4th fastest pack time in the field, and coupled with the fact they had an average of 18:31, they were still way too much for any foe to handle.
Top 5 Performances: Wamego Invitational ⛳️
Ellei McCrory — “McCrory from the top rope!” Just as quickly as she broke the 2A world wide open, she exhibited her pure authority over the class, and the craziest part is she did it on what I consider one of the three toughest courses in the state. (Rim Rock and Milford are my other two). After the Northern Heights freshman crossed in 18:49.05, it took nearly 80 seconds for the rest of the field to start rolling in, and that has nothing to do with the competition. It has everything to do with the fact that McCrory raced like she was a veteran, also becoming just the 8th girl to ever run sub-18 there. She’s also just three seconds away from Chapman’s Taylor Briggs freshman course record of 18:46.40. Needless to say, McCrory is the real deal, and I personally can’t wait to see what she does at Rim Rock next weekend.
Christ Prep Academy — Even as I’m typing this, I still don’t fully understand all of the details about KSHSAA Approved schools and what separates them from the rest of the state, but I know one unfortunate fact, they can’t compete at state-sanctioned events. Regardless of where they’re racing in October, these girls are the real deal. Not only did they win the 4A race, but they took down A LOT of big dogs. Baldwin, Southeast of Saline and Eudora all finished over 60 points back, and it honestly wasn’t even close. It turns out that if a team can go 3-4-6-8-9, they are most likely going to win the team race. Elizabeth Kurtz and Eiley Nicholl went 19:25.42 and 19:29.65, followed by Mirabel Bucher, Isabelle Wood, and Adelaide Hydeman in 19:51.77, 19:58.48 and 19:58.65. Buckle up folks, cause they’ll be in Lawrence next weekend in the biggest meet of the season.
Photo — Huey Counts/@CountsHuey SE of Saline Boys — Another non-4A team that took control of the race was none other than this 3A powerhouse. Led by the Walker brothers’ 1-2 finish (Brayden then Cayden) in 16:02.23 and 16:06.59, the Trojans were too much to handle for Buhler, winning by 13 points. Levi Allen opened up his senior season in 16:28.01, a hefty new PR on Wamego’s course. Sophomore Jacob Bircher was 12th in 16:39.62, a lifetime best, with Ben Gruauerholz in 36th in 17:57.87. As of right now, this team looks like the best team in 3A, and that’s including the Knights of Trinity Academy, who has yet to field a team with more than three 2022 state championship returners. Obviously, it’s only September, but the Trojans look great, and regardless of their competition, this team deserves attention.
Hanna Keltner — The Eudora junior has had to play second fiddle to some great athletes in her first two years of high school competition, primarily previously mentioned Hayley Trotter of Clearwater. But now, Keltner has taken the next step and will continue to be a factor as we go farther into the season. Last Saturday, she ran her lifetime best, and nearly joined the sub-19 club at the Wamego Country Club, running 19:01.31 to win by 18 seconds, earning her first victory of the year. As the two-time defending champs of 4A, the target is painted bright red on all seven Cardinal jerseys, but Keltner didn’t falter, even a little. Next week, hopefully we’ll see the two 4A favorites of Keltner and Circle’s Jacobson face off at the Rim Rock Farm Classic.
Gavin Lindahl — Recognize this last name? You may remember one of his older brothers Tanner, who was a 4A state champ as a freshman at Buhler. Over the weekend, Gavin quietly inserted his name into the conversation, becoming not only the fastest freshman in 4A, but the second fastest freshman time in the entire state. After getting tripped up in his high school debut in Abilene, Lindahl showed everybody what he was made of, and is now the third fastest freshman to ever compete at Wamego. The two guys in front of him? Micah Blomker and his older brother Tanner, each one a state champion. The two guys behind him? Lane Boyer and Riley Osen, again, two state champions. One might say he’s in good company.
Rest of the State Recap 🌻
Lyndon Invitational
1-2 punch Cody Hammond (17:13) and Connor Burkdoll (17:16) led Central Heights to the team title on Thursday afternoon, holding off Jefferson County North and Chase County. Fellow Viking Emma Cubit won her race as well, beating Osage City’s Jaiton Bosse by 28 seconds, crossing in 22:22.
Fort Scott Invitational
Photo — Gene Morris / Miami County Republic Defending 3A state champ Bree Allen of Prairie View, continued her winning ways, taking first in 20:02, beating Colony Crest frontrunner Josie Walter in 20:54. Allen hasn’t lost a race since the 1600m at the Kansas Relays, and will be put to the test again next weekend at Rim Rock.
Quinter Invitational
How ‘bout them boys from Hoxie? In part to a huge PR from sophomore Michael Haffner (17:04), along with the 1-2-4-5-6 finish, the 2A favorites handled defending 1A champs by 20 points. Their 17:32 average and 52-second split time are both the best in the state in my opinion, and two of the reasons why they’re my pick for the 2A title at this point in the season. Avery Boydston of Ellis picked up the win on the girls’ side, running 19:31.78, the third fastest time in 3A this year. It’s also worth noting that two-time defending 1A state champion Emma Weiner ran her first race of the year, as she returns from a stress injury she endured over the summer.
Emporia Invitational
Lucas Holdren right now is one of the most interesting names in the state to watch, because he continues to PR and beat well-established athletes from all over the state. This week in Emporia, he beat 5A title contender Kaleb Glazier of Maize by 16 seconds. Holdren also set a tough course record at Jone Park, running 15:36.30, a time no Manhattan athlete has ever done, not even either of the Schroeder brothers, or even Daniel Harkin. Needless to say, Holdren is becoming less and less of a sleeper contender in 6A. Junction City record-holder Lorna Rae Pierce also threw her hat in the 6A ring, winning again, this time in 18:25.10. Before Pierce, only one girl had ever broken 18:30 in Emporia, and that was the 2019 Gatorade Runner of the Year, Washburn Rural’s Jaybe Shufelberger. From what I can tell, Pierce thrives on courses that have tough terrain, and luckily for her, Rim Rock is just the place for her to have another statement race.
South Gray Invitational
Though it was one of the smaller meets of week two, some top dogs showed out in Montezuma, KS. Defending champs South Gray took down Southwestern Heights, led by Kylie Stapleton’s runner-up finish in 20:13. For the individual title though, Janae Fugitt of Cimarron won in 19:39, shattering her previous PR for her first appearance in the 19’s.
Joe Schrag Invitational
Take a bow Ryin Miller! The Topeka-Seaman sophomore is the fastest girl in the state right now, coming off of a blazing 17:41.04, a 55 second improvement from her previous best. Miller won by a lengthy margin, crossing 2:08 before anybody else. I can imagine it got pretty lonely up there, but luckily she had the hum of the gator to keep her company (if there was one). On the boy’s side, Jackson Esquibel reminded 5A of what he did on the track in May (4:15 1600m and 9:18 3200m), shaving 20 seconds off of his PR from last fall. Esquibel won in 15:28, with Leavenworth’s Jonathan Purvis taking 2nd in 15:56.
In Honor of the Shufelberger Top City Classic
In Kansas, there are a handful of coaches in state history that deserve to be enshrined in their respective sports. Former Washburn Rural head coach Scott Shufelberger is towards the top of the list, but for me, personally, he’s number one.
Growing up, I knew ‘Shuf’ pretty well. His wife, Lynette, was my kindergarten teacher, and they were family friends of ours before that. I knew he coached cross country, but what did that matter to me? At that point, I was convinced I’d be bringing the ball up the court for the basketball team, and if you would have seen my jumper back then, you would have quickly realized I was setting myself up for disappointment.
Eventually, I reached the point where I knew intramurals were more my style, and that if I wanted to compete in a high school sport, I’d have to take my 5’10 and 120 pound frame to a cross country practice.
My freshman and sophomore year, I had the privilege of running for ‘Shuf’ and his Jr. Blue program. Though I only got to run for him for two years, a bulk of what I know about running and the sport itself came from him and the group of guys he surrounded me with. To be upfront, I was not any good for the majority of the years I had him as a coach. I mean I was ecstatic when I snuck under six minutes in the 1600m in track, so take that into account. But still, he would constantly make me and the other C-Team/JV runners feel like we were the most important guys on the team, even though in reality, we weren’t.
I still remember it like it was yesterday. We were down in Newton for the Newton Invitational, and I was running in the junior varsity race in my first year of cross country. As I was heading to the start line, my dad and I had talked about me trying something different, and going to the front of the race instead of sitting back and being complacent. The gun went off and that’s just what I did. Along with some guys from Dodge City, I was up towards the front somehow dictating the race behind me, and boy did I feel out of place. After two miles in and I had still yet to collapse, it was clear to me that I was on the cusp of a breakthrough race, but I was starting to fade. As my arms began to fall and mentally I was taking myself out of it, it was almost as if ‘Shuf’ heard what I was thinking, and he yelled out something along the lines of “Swing your arms Bradley!”
I’m not sure if it was fear he’d chew me out for having the form of a T-Rex, or the fact that he was paying attention and could see I was falling off, but that was what I needed in the moment. In the end, I ran 18:05, which for me was over a minute PR. Back at the tent, he was just happy for me and encouraging and saying everything you would want a coach to tell you when you’re cloud nine, and that stuck with me.
Eight years later, that’s still a core memory for me and is one of the many reasons I hold ‘Shuf’ in such a high regard. Not only was he an inspirational coach to me, but he was an inspirational coach to everybody that wore the blue and white: Jacob Morgan, Avery Clifton, Pierce Flanders, Cason Cropp, all of them. It’s not just the fact that he was a great coach, it was the fact that he was a great guy on top of that. That’s what made him a legend.
In my sophomore track season, ‘Shuf’ pulled the guys in for a meeting after one of our practices. He let us know that he was retiring at the end of his 30th year at Rural. He told us that one of his former runners Matt Swedlund would be taking over and was set to be our new head coach that fall.
Flash forward to the fall of my senior, where the Swedlund era was in full-swing. One day we were on an easy run back in our environmental lab. We were on the subject of hosting meets since we had the Centennial League coming up on our home course, and someone asked Swed if he was ever going to host a regular season meet, or even regionals since it wasn’t often we hosted. He wasn’t sure about regionals, but he said that one day he wanted to host an annual regular season meet and name it after ‘Shuf’.
Well, here we are, and this Saturday, the first annual Shufelberger Top City Classic is set to draw in a bunch of powerhouse teams from northeast Kansas.
As a guy who truly loves cross country, and especially as an alumni who had time under ‘Shuf’, it was pretty dang cool when I found out about the meet. In my opinion, there isn’t a coach who deserves this more than he does, something to enshrine himself in the program he so heavily impacted.
So ‘Shuf’, thanks for everything you did for me as an athlete and as a person. Thanks for strumming Aerosmith on your guitar when we were taking tests my freshman year, and for continually calling us a “bunch of honyocks” whenever we’d do something stupid. To this day I’m still not sure what that exactly means, and honestly I’m a little afraid to go searching for it. Most importantly, thank you for truly introducing me to the sport that still plays such a huge role in my life nine years later.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Shufelberger Top City Classic, the first-ever KSXCT&F Meet of the Week.
In 2020, Washburn Rural hosted the Sunflower Showdown in T-Town, which stepped in and made up for a Rim Rock-less season. This year, there aren’t as many teams, but the talent rivals, and could even surpass that of 2020’s meet.
Here are some of the top athletes on both sides, along with top teams.
Girls Individuals —
Bree Newport — 17:59.00
Lorna Rae Pierce — 18:25.10
Amy Gotfredson — 18:20.50
Payton Fink — 18:21.00
Ryin Miller — 17:41.04
Boys Individuals —
Gunnar Hornung — 15:26.40
Brock Olsen — 15:00.90
Carter Cline — 15:31.70
Dylan Plath — 15:24.60
Conner Doherty — 15:37.00
Girls Teams —
Olathe West — back-to-back-to-back 6A state champs
St. James Academy — 2022 5A state champs
Washburn Rural — 2022 6A third-place finishers
Boys Teams —
Olathe West — #2 ranked team in Kansas
Olathe South — #5 ranked team in Kansas
Mill Valley — #7 ranked team in Kansas
You can find entries for the meet here and live results for Saturday here.
Race Schedule:
9:00 am — Varsity Girls
9:30 am — Varsity Boys
10:00 am — JV Girls
10:45 am — JV Boys
11:30 am — Awards
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