Spearville's Corbin Ricke was the first one across the finish line in the 1A Boys race at Sand Plum Trail in Victoria. (Photo by KSHSAA)
Prior to the 1A meet, the big question was the status of Doniphan West's Elle Williams. The senior leader for the Mustangs went down late in the regional race last week and was unable to finish. Thankfully, she toed the line on Saturday for the 1A State Championships and represented the two-time defending champs quite well, placing 2nd overall in 20:30. Osborne took advantage the circumstances last week for an upset, but circumstances this week were different. Doniphan West was back in full force.
But it was too late. Quinter smelled blood in the water, and they didn't care what the circumstances were. While Williams held up her end of the bargain, her teammates were unable to stop the Bulldogs. Quinter's Leah Anstaett, Brooklyn Countryman, Saige Betz, and Jessa Borger all packed between Doniphan West's 2nd and 3rd runners. Their 2:11 spread between their scoring runners was the difference (DW's was 5:13). With 60 points, Quinter scored a 19-point victory over the heavy favorites. With just 4 runners, there was no room for error, and the Bulldogs made no errors en route to their first state title. 1A races are difficult when counting team points due to the amount of non-team runners near the front. It was hard to tell how things shook out until after the dust settled and the awards were officially announced.
Pretty Prairie was oh-so-close to pulling off the second-place finish, just 1 point behind the Mustangs. Their efforts were led by Abigail White, who was 3rd overall in 20:35. They've had a solid season this year and showed their resiliency by bouncing back after getting upset last week and bringing home a trophy.
Individually, Emma Weiner was your champion in breakout style. She opened a lead and won by 26-seconds in 20:04. Doniphan West's Williams and Pretty Prairie's White followed her up, with Ingalls' Courtney Bailey (20:54) and Macksville's Madison Butler (21:01) rounding out the top five.
On the boys side, Quinter had the lead at the halfway mark, but it was all Meade in the final mile. The Buffalos made up a ton of ground, especially #2 runner Jobjosiah Muthiani. Their closing speed was the difference in their 31-40 win over Quinter. Meade successfully defended their 2020 championship with an admirable effort.
Coming in third was the Classical School of Wichita. A bit of a surprise to most. They have been below the radar this year, and their win at regionals last week was overshadowed by all the upsets on the girls side. Classical fans probably saw this coming, but the rest of us missed the memo. Their 54-second spread among scoring runners helped secure the final spot on the podium.
Corbin Ricke became Spearville's first individual state champion in the race, winning in 16:26. He led virtually the entire race. Fowler's Elijah Zortman hung around for a while, but never was able to close the gap. Canton-Galva's Christian Darrah ran a smart race, moving into second in the latter half of the race and holding on for silver in 16:41. Hutch-Central Christian's Blake Yoder also finished well, taking 3rd in 16:48. Fowler's Zortman and Meade's Logan Keith rounded out the top-5 at 16:52 and 16:57. The two are basically teammates, as Fowler and Meade have a co-op during the regular season. Finishing top-5 together was surely a great experience.