Apparently Matt Logue, coach of the Girard cross country team, also raised a couple of kids who have a flair for the dramatic.
Just minutes after son Cormick won a hold-your-breath, back-and-forth battle for the Kansas class 4A cross country title Saturday in Wamego, daughter Cailie emerged victorious from a thrilling race for the Big 12 women's title in Waco, Texas.
Cailie's win ended with her diving at the finish line to edge Oklahoma State's Taylor Sommers by two-tenths of a second. After officials pulled her off the ground, she sparked up pretty quickly when told that Cormick had just won his first state title back in Kansas.
Cormick Logue didn't need a dive, but he sure as heck needed a whole lot of guts and moxie to fight off Hayden's Tanner Newkirk and defending state champion Tanner Lindahl of Buhler on Saturday.
Logue set a fast early pace, but Newkirk caught him by mile one. Lindahl, a notorious fast finisher, lurked just behind the duo. By two miles, Lindahl made his move, briefly taking the lead with Newkirk responding. But Logue was game, and he answered the move with one of his own.
Logue and Newkirk eventually shook Lindahl then staged an exciting charge to the finish. It was eerily similar to the late-race dual that his sister was locked in at about the same time and 500 miles away...with the same eventual result.
Logue found his top gear one more time while Newkirk tried to answer. But on this day, Logue had a bit more to prevail in what had been one of the best races of the day.
Logue was clocked in 16:13.3, while Newkirk hung on for second in 16:26.11. Lindahl was third at 16:45. The finish times don't really reflect what was an exciting 4A boys race between three guys who stuck their necks out trying to win a race.
Lindahl's Buhler team successfully defended the 4A state team title, holding off a feisty Wamego team. Buhler scored 95 while Wamego, led by Jacob White (20th, 17:31) and Emery Wolfe (21st, 17:32) had 107. Tonganoxie and Winfield each scored 108 points, but Tonganoxie got the podium spot based on the sixth runner tiebreaker.
Wamego nearly stole the title on its home course despite landing just one medalist. The Red Raiders posted a pack time of 27 seconds to key the runner-up finish.
In the class 4A girls race, Chapman's Taylor Briggs became just the tenth Kansas girl to win three state cross country championships as she cruised to the class 4A title Saturday.
Grace Hanson of Piper and Trinity Moore of Louisburg made it interesting for a little while. The duo surged to the front from the gun, and had a couple steps on Briggs nearly a half-mile into the race.
But Briggs, who won seven races this season by an average of 1:44, gained control shortly after a half mile, and started building a gap one mile into the race. By two miles, it was clear she would cruise to her third win in three years. She was timed in 19:00.05.
Briggs is now 7-for-7 in state competition during her high school career, having won three cross country titles, two 1600 meter titles, and two 3200 meter titles. She has also put herself in position to make more history next year: one more cross country win would make her just the sixth Kansas girl to win four cross country state titles.
The last Kansas girl to win four state titles also happened in class 4A: a girl from Girard by the name of Cailie Logue.
Hanson, a freshman, grabbed the runner-up spot Saturday, finishing in 19:31.01 while Moore was third in 19:39.
The 4A girls' team race turned out to be a three-way fight between Buhler, Eudora and defending champion Baldwin.
Buhler emerged as the winner, largely by putting up a better pack time among the three teams. Emma Willison placed 11th (20:12) and junior Leah Bentley was 13th (20:33), keying a 1:06 pack time. Buhler scored 60 points, while Baldwin, led by sophomore Riley Smith (sixth, 19:49), settled for the runner-up spot this year with 74 points.
Eudora, led by Riley Hiebert (fifth, 19:46) and Reagan Hiebert (tenth, 20:09), grabbed the last podium spot with 76 points.
See the complete results of the class 4A state championships on Kansas MileSplit's results page.
Kansas MileSplit's Alex Walters also contributed to this report.
Apparently Matt Logue, coach of the Girard cross country team, also raised a couple of kids who have a flair for the dramatic.