Taking a look at the best school years ever in Kansas high school sports
In the 1970-71 school year, Wichita Southeast High School achieved something that has only been done nine times since then.
The Golden Buffaloes won six state championships that year and were easily the best high school sports program in Kansas.
Here is a look at the best individual schoolyears in Kansas history.
To see the full dataset, click here
St. Thomas Aquinas, 2006-2007, 8 titles
Aquinas has won 110 championships, with all of them coming since 1980. The Saints have the most in Kansas high school history, and they have the most in any one school year.
The Saints won championships in boys and girls cross country, boys and girls soccer, baseball, volleyball, wrestling and boys golf. No other high school has ever won more than six.
There were 22 championships available to Aquinas that schoolyear, and the Saints didn’t even compete in all of those sports — meaning their 36.4% championship rate was even higher that year.
Wichita Southeast, 1970-1971, 6 titles
Southeast won boys cross country, baseball, boys basketball, boys indoor and outdoor track and field and boys swimming and diving to become the first school to capture six championships in one school year.
The Golden Buffaloes won five of the six in the fall and missed out on only three other sports: football, boys gymnastics and wrestling. No Kansas high school won six titles in one school year for another 27 years until Blue Valley North in 1997-98. There were 11 more sports being played by that time.
This school year spurred an unprecedented run of at least four championships every year that lasted until the 2019-20 school year, which was cut 10 championship events short because of the spread of the coronavirus. They finished with three this past school year and had a chance at four before the spring with girls basketball seeking its fifth straight title.
St. Thomas Aquinas, 2015-2016, 7 titles
The second-most successful school year in Kansas high school history also belongs to Aquinas. The Saints won championships in boys and girls cross country, baseball, boys golf, boys track and field, girls basketball and girls soccer.
It marked the beginning of a four-year run for the girls basketball team, back-to-back for boys track and boys cross country, the fourth straight championship for girls cross country and seventh straight for girls soccer.
Wichita Collegiate, 2009-2010, 6 titles
Collegiate became the smallest school in Kansas to capture six titles in one schoolyear in 2009-10, winning championships in football, boys and girls tennis, volleyball, boys basketball and boys golf. The Spartans do not have enough students, competing mostly in Class 3A, to field team in every sport, which makes that run in 2009-10 even more impressive.
It also marked back-to-back titles in boys basketball and girls tennis, five straight in boys golf and three in a row for boys tennis.
Blue Valley North, 1997-1998, 6 titles
Six championships in 20 tries made for an outstanding championship rate for Blue Valley North and served to exemplify the Mustangs’ dominance in the 1990s. They finished second in Kansas that decade, only three behind Shawnee Mission Northwest’s 29.
BV North’s titles in girls gymnastics, girls tennis, boys swimming and diving, girls basketball, girls soccer and girls swimming and diving marked the most championships in girls sports in Kansas history.
Lawrence, 1977-1978, 4 titles
When Lawrence won four titles in 1977-78, it was the fifth time it had been done in Kansas ... but the first time it had been done in four girls sports.
The Chesty Lions won in volleyball, girls golf and indoor and outdoor girls track and field — sports that were still taking off at the time. That wouldn’t be done at one high school again until Shawnee Mission East did it in 1982-83.
Grainfield Wheatland/Grinnell, 1982-1983, 5 titles
Wheatland/Grinnell’s Class 2-1A dominance in the 1980s cannot be understated. The Thunderhawks won 27 championships in that decade, the most of any private school — even more than Class 6A juggernaut Lawrence.
Their peak performance came in 1982-83, when they won five championships in boys cross country, girls basketball, girls track and field and two in volleyball (before Grainfield was incorporated.)
Wichita North, 1932-1933, 3 titles
Although the Redskins didn’t claim as many championships as schools in the more current era are winning, at the time, winning three accounted for 60% of the available trophies in Kansas high school sports. They won in boys outdoor track, boys wrestling and boys swimming and diving.
They finished tied for the Kansas lead in the 1930s with seven championships alongside Wichita East.
Wichita East, 1964-1965, 4 titles
The Aces became the first Kansas high school to win four state championships in one school year in 1964-95, taking boys cross country, boys indoor and outdoor track and field and boys swimming and diving. There were 21 titles available across all classifications at the time.
East dominated the 1960s with 20 championships. Wyandotte came in second that decade with 18, and no other high school hit double-digits over those 10 years.
Wichita Heights, 2010-2011, 5 titles
The Falcons’ five titles marked the most by a public school since Shawnee Mission Northwest in 2001-02, and since then, only Shawnee Mission East in 2015-16 has matched those five titles.
Championships in football, boys and girls basketball, wrestling and girls bowling made it the most successful year in Heights history and the most hardware won for a Wichita public school since Southeast in 1970-71.
Bishop Miege, 2016-2017, 6 titles
When Miege won championships in football, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball and girls swimming and diving, it marked just the second time in Kansas high school history that a school had won six titles in back-to-back years. Aquinas was the other school to accomplish the feat.
Miege’s dominance in team sports has been unparalleled, and the 2016-17 schoolyear still stands as the most such titles won in one year in Kansas history.
Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 1980-81, 5 titles
Kapaun’s golden years hit a peak in the 1980-81 schoolyear, with five championships. The Crusaders won four in the year before and after, and five more in 1982-83, but titles in boys cross country, girls gymnastics, boys basketball, boys golf and wrestling helped establish them as the premier high school sports powerhouse in Kansas.
Kapaun finished with a state-high 31 championships in the 1980s, 10 more than Bishop Miege, who had the second-most.
Bishop Miege, 1991-1992, 5 titles
When Bishop Miege won 13 titles across three consecutive schoolyears, the Stags were officially among the best in Kansas. When they won five in 1991-92 alone, they were undisputed top dogs.
Championships in boys and girls cross country, girls tennis, girls golf and girls basketball made for the most championships in the state for one school that year. And that was a mark that stood as the most titles Miege had won in any schoolyear until 2015-16.
To see the full dataset, click here