The eight storylines to know before the Kansas high school state cross country races
Plenty of Wichita-area runners will be at the forefront of the Kansas high school state cross country championships this Saturday.
Here are the eight top storylines from the area to get you ready for the biggest race of the season.
Note: 4-Mile Creek Resort in Augusta will host the Class 5A and 6A state races with the 5A girls starting at 10 a.m., 6A boys following at 10:40 a.m., 5A boys following at 11:20 a.m. and the 6A girls starting at noon.
Note: Wamego Country Club will host the Class 3A and 4A state races with the 4A girls starting at 10 a.m., 3A boys following at 10:40 a.m., 4A boys following at 11:20 a.m. and 3A girls starting at noon.
1. Carroll’s Carson McEachern set to make run at title
The Class 5A boys title should be a thrilling race featuring the best runners from the two best programs, Bishop Carroll and St. Thomas Aquinas.
The countdown to the showdown between Carroll senior Carson McEachern and Aquinas senior Logan Seger has been on since last year’s state race when McEachern finished second and Seger fourth.
While Seger has been running the faster times this season, a lot of that has been due to better competition. McEachern has won the City League and regional titles and figures to be saving his best for last.
The battle should bring out the best in both runners. Can McEachern etch his name in the history books as the latest state champion from Carroll?
2. Buhler boys look to deliver punctuation mark on four-peat
One of the most impressive public-school running dynasties in recent memory is preparing for maybe its most impressive performance yet, as the Buhler boys are the overwhelming favorites to win their fourth straight Class 4A team championship.
The string of dominance at Buhler coincided with the arrival of Tanner Lindahl, who as a freshman won the 4A individual title in 2018 and has since been the top scoring runner for the Crusaders in the top-three of the state race for their past three team titles.
Buhler has plenty of big-race experience, as Lindahl (three), Hayden Keller (three), Kaden Lohrentz (one) and Wyatt Bunce (two) have all been key runners on past state championship teams during the run.
Buhler may be the strongest its ever been this season with an injection of depth and youth in the lineup, as a trio of freshmen in Austin Lindahl, Henry Trumpp and Cody Bunce have helped strengthen the team.
In fact, at the regional meet hosted on its home course, Buhler won the team title with a perfect score of 15 and placed all seven of its runners in the top-nine of the race.
The Crusaders could threaten to beat their previous-low team score at the state meet, which was 47 points when they won the 2018 team title.
3. Clearwater’s Hayley Trotter goes for 4A girls title
It has been a dominant junior season at Clearwater for Hayley Trotter, who has won almost all of her races and many times won with nearly a minute to spare.
Now Trotter will try to prove she is on another level from everyone else in Class 4A, as the Clearwater junior enters with the fastest winning regional title and expectations of contending for the state title on Saturday. Trotter finished third as a sophomore last year.
Trotter has consistently been running under 20 minutes this season and lowered her time to 19:09 to win the AV-CTL Division IV title in Mulvane. She won last weekend’s regional in 19:23, more than 90 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
With Chapman’s Taylor Briggs, the defending state champion, now graduated, Trotter should be in the mix with the top runners from Eudora and Baldwin for the state title on Saturday.
4. Carroll, Kapaun girls set to square off one last time
It has been an entertaining duel all season between two of the best girls teams in Class 5A, Bishop Carroll and Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
While Carroll has usually won at the top of the race, Kapaun’s depth has managed to give the Crusaders a collection of trophies — the City League and 5A regional team titles — over their rivals before the state meet.
But in a larger, deeper field, will Carroll’s elite runners at the top like senior Hope Jackson, junior Landon Forbes and freshman Brooke Martin help propel the Golden Eagles to a team trophy?
Or will the depth of Kapaun with Addie Curtis, Kelsey Bruening, Julia Berends, Madeline Hermann, Amelia Hermann, Chiara Fernando and Ella Porter prevail?
Jackson is the two-time defending state champion, while the top runners from both teams should be in line for high individual medals on Saturday.
5. Augusta’s Sawyer Schmidt could contend for 4A boys title
A three-way race for the Class 4A boys title has been brewing all season and Saturday could provide an epic conclusion.
Topeka Hayden senior Tanner Newkirk is the defending state champion, but he will have his hands full by challengers in Buhler senior Tanner Lindahl and Augusta senior Sawyer Schmidt.
The three have already raced against one another twice this season, as Newkirk (15:47) edged Lindahl (16:01) and Schmidt (16:15) in Wamegon on Sept. 11, while it was Lindahl (15:39) who barely came out on top over Newkirk (15:39) and Schmidt (15:45) at Rim Rock two weeks later.
All three runners won their regional meets last weekend, as Schmidt continues to look as strong as he ever has with a winning time of 15:45 — more than 80 seconds better than the field. Schmidt (15:18) also beat Lindahl (15:47) for the AV-CTL Division III championship on Oct. 14.
6. Maize South’s Britton Kelly looking for strong close to senior year
Since placing 13th at the Kansas Relays last month, Kelly has reeled off three straight victories and lowered her season-best time to 19:16 in last weekend’s regional win in Great Bend.
The AV-CTL Division I champion is running the strongest of her career and will look to improve upon her 11th-place finish at the Class 5A state meet from last season in her final meet.
The 5A girls field might be the best its ever been since the switch to a 5,000-meter race, but Kelly figures to be among the select few to be challenging for top positions on Saturday.
7. Trinity Academy boys expected to be in mix for 3A team title
If last weekend’s regional meet was a preview of things to come, then the Class 3A boys team title race between Southeast of Saline and Wichita Trinity Academy could be one of the most entertaining battles in the state.
Running on its home course, Southeast-Saline entered with the top ranking but had to fend off Trinity by a mere point to win the regional title.
The Knights have become one of the top teams in 3A this season by the rapid growth of their sophomore class, which features Clay Shively, Jacob Hobson, Sam Ferguson, Wesley Ferguson and Luke Boulware. Throw in freshman Caleb Tofteland and junior Ian Carroll and Trinity is one of the youngest teams in the field.
While Southeast-Saline won the team battle with Trinity at the Wamego Invitational, the Knights were able to top Southeast-Saline at its home meet on Sept. 21. With Southeast-Saline barely edging out the win in the team race at regionals, the conclusion at state should be a thrilling one to see which team can gain the upper-hand in the end.
8. The strength of the pack will carry Maize boys
The Maize boys might not have a runner in the lead pack for the individual title, but the Eagles are hoping they can have four or five of their runners in range for a medal.
The pack mentality has been rapidly improving at Maize, which won the AV-CTL Division I team title and then backed that up with perhaps its best performance of the season last weekend in securing a Class 5A regional team title in Great Bend.
At the regional meet, Maize didn’t have any runners in the top-five but had four straight cross the finish line from sixth place to ninth place in Aiden Werner, Zachary Johnson, Alex Ayin and Sabastion Castillo, who finished in a range from 16:56 to 17:14.
If Maize can pack up even tighter at the state meet and find a strong fifth runner, then the Eagles could snag a team trophy.
This story was originally published October 28, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
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