Moment of the Year: Circle wins second state championship in school history
Varsity Kansas has introduced a new series, Moment of the Year. The series will highlight the top moment or performance from the 2017-18 high school sports season for each of the Wichita-area schools. And now, the Circle Thunderbirds.
Consistency was key for the Thunderbirds.
Circle won the 2017 Class 4A boys cross country state championship, marking the Thunderbirds' second boys state championship in school history and the first since 1983. They held off Andover Central by five points, 54-59
Circle had a runner in the top five, top 10, top 20 and top 25.
Senior Avery Stuever led the way for the T-Birds. He finished fourth in 16 minutes, 37.9 seconds. Stuever finished third in the 4A 800 meters at the state track meet and has committed to Friends.
Emmet Keller was four spots behind in eighth at 16:58.8. Sophomore Eli Jacobson was 18th, and sophomore Ryan Derry came 21st.
Boys cross country was Circle's lone AVCTL III title from the 2017-18 school year, and the Thunderbirds cashed in. Along with the state and league titles, Circle won its 4A regional meet at El Dorado.
The results had been building. The Circle boys finished seventh in 2015 and fourth last season. The Thunderbirds had some top talent with Stuever and Keller, but the depth hadn't kicked in.
It did in 2017. Sophomores Brycen Schoenhofer and Corbin Tandy finished in the top 45 to earn Circle some much-needed placements.
The Thunderbirds will have to find a way to replace Stuever's elite talent, but with a young crop of runners in behind, they should at least be able to compete in 2018.
Other Key Moments
- Circle's girls basketball team qualifies for the Class 4A-Division I tournament after a 46-31 victory against Abilene in the Thunderbirds' sub-state final. Circle finished the season 18-5 in the quarterfinals.
- The Thunderbirds finish fourth in the 4A boys 4x400-meter relay at the Kansas high school state track and field meet.
- Circle comes fourth in the 4A boys 4x800-meter relay.
Read other schools' moments
This story was originally published June 22, 2018 at 1:52 PM with the headline "Moment of the Year: Circle wins second state championship in school history."