In the state's largest division, there is rarely room for error. One false step can take you out of contention. Don't believe it? Just ask Junction City. After defeating Manhattan at the Centennial League meet, the BlueJay girls fell 3 points short of a trip to state. The third place team? That same Manhattan squad that they beat a week before.
Margins are thin in 6A.
Joining Manhattan in qualifying from their regional were Washburn Rural and Lawrence Free State. Boys or girls, you may ask? Well, both. Free State handled the boys race, but more on them later. The Firebird girls won a close one over Washburn Rural, 45-47. Both teams will be in the podium hunt on Saturday, but we may see these scores flip. Washburn Rural's 1-2 punch of Payton Fink and Madeline Carter will still draw short sticks at state. Meanwhile, Free State's top two, who finished 3rd and 4th at regionals, are not likely to finish as high.
Olathe North, Mill Valley, and Shawnee Mission East are also treading a similar path heading into state. Olathe North has defeated Mill Valley, SM East, and Free State (in that order) at the Sunflower League two weeks ago. With Anjali Hocker-Singh leading the way for the Eagles, they're in good shape to repeat as runners-up.
That's right, runners-up. I haven't mentioned Olathe West yet. These girls are about as good as it gets in Kansas. They scored 34 points to North's 100 at league. Before this year, the Owls got it done with their pack, not having a true front runner. As they've gotten older, though, that OWHS pack has just become the front pack. They've put 4 in the top-10 of every Kansas race they've run this season, including the Olathe Twilight race that was over 200 runners strong. Bree Newport. Sydney All. Charis Robinson. Kate Miller. Paige Baker. Expect all five to be in the lead pack by the mile mark.
In that individual pack will be Hocker-Singh of Olathe North. She and SM South's Hannah Gibson may not wait around for the Olathe West pack. They've battled back-and-forth this year, with Hocker-Singh having the more recent victory. Odds are, one of these two will be your 6A champion. Washburn Rural's Fink and Carter are capable of top-5 performances on a good day as well. Shawnee Mission East's Lida Padgett has had a terrific year as well, and will be in the mix.
For the boys, Shawnee Mission East has been the wire-to-wire best team this year. They've been Rim Rock Gold champions, Sunflower League champions, and regional champions so far this year. It's hard to imagine anyone in 6A topping them at this point.
In similar fashion, Wyatt Haughton has been the individual standout for the Lancers. He was also Rim Rock Gold champion, Sunflower champion, and regional champ. He's beaten pretty much everyone in 6A head-to-head, so it's safe to consider him the best runner in the field. The Rim Rock course record is 15:10.7, set by Tim Sindt of Ankeny, Iowa. Don't expect a record-breaking day, but keep that fact in the back of your head just in case.
Defending 6A champ Micah Blomker will likely give Haughton a run for his money, just as he did at league. That meet was also at Rim Rock, and Blomker was just 2 seconds behind. The Sunflower League is home to the other top 6A boys this year as well. In the chase pack, you can expect to see Olathe East's Carter Stewart, SM North's Henry Born, SM East's Caden Peters, and Gardner-Edgerton's Parker Walion. Garden City's Devin Chappel could make a run at the top-5 as well, just as he did a year ago.
Team-wise, I like Garden City to come in second behind SM East. The Buffaloes had a solid 3rd place showing in the Rim Rock Gold race earlier in the season, and haven't really slowed. They pack well, and the Sunflower League schools aren't as familiar with them as they are with the rest of 6A. Olathe East was Sunflower runners-up, and they'll be in the mix as well. The Hawks have especially good 5th and 6th runners, so they'll be in good shape should a tiebreaker come into play. Olathe South, the defending champs, are capable of making a run for the podium (they sit at #1 in the computer rankings), but just haven't finished the season all that well. Their most recent regional performance, a 3rd place finish behind Olathe East and Gardner-Edgerton, isn't very convincing.
In all, though, expect both races to be tight, fast, and have no room for slip-ups. This is, after all, the state's biggest schools putting in everything they've got.