(Photo by Alex Walters)
The greatest dynasty in Kansas cross country resides in Class 2A: Stanton County. A handful of other schools may think they have a claim to that, but the Trojans' 62 state trophies beg to differ. After taking home gold in both the boys and girls team & individual races last year, Stanton County is at the peak of their power.
The girls pulled off a close one at state by just a few points, but the boys ran away with the team title. This year, that script could be flipped. The Trojans return all 7 girls, but graduated 4 scoring boys. Chesney Peterson and company aren't the only favorites, though. Sacred Heart also returns 6 of 7 after taking 3rd place last year, just 4 points behind Stanton County. Remington, the runner-up last year, was hit hard by graduation, and may struggle to reload.
Looking a little deeper into the team standings, Wabaunsee is an interesting team with a remarkable 1-2 punch in Payton Wurtz and Rebekah Stuhlsatz. Both were state medalists, with Wurtz taking runner-up. Private schools Pittsburg-Colgan and Berean Academy are always contenders to watch, and Oakley returns a solid core from last year's state team as well.
Individually, Chesney Peterson ought to just march up to Topeka and ask for the trophy now. She won by 49 seconds last year, and hasn't lost a cross country race since her freshman year. She won the 400, 800, 1600, and 3200 on the track in May, and is the best runner 2A has seen in a long time.
Behind Peterson is Wabaunsee's Wurtz, a sophomore this year with plenty of talent of her own. Outside of those two, no runner has broken 20:00. The closest is Peterson's teammate, Suzanne Farnham, at 20:04. Other top returners are Emma Cubit of Central Heights, Isabella Baier of Hoxie, and Serrena Armknecht of Smith Center. 2A didn't have any 8th graders last year under 13:00 over two miles on the grass, but you never know what freshmen could come in and make some noise.
On the boys side, everyone is coming back. Eight of the top-10 return, with the two graduates being from Stanton County. The defending champs do return the defending champ, though, in Kamryn Golub (16:08). He took last year's state race out hard and dropped the field early. Well, all except Mission Valley's AJ Rubio, who did his best to hang on but settled for 2nd(16:28). Those two will be the ones to watch as this season gets underway. Other big-time names coming back are Sacred Heart sophomore Brady Wells(16:42), Hutch-Trinity's Jonah Godina(16:39) & Brendan Kiser(16:57), Berean's Andrew Harder(16:41), Cooper Hamlin of Northern Heights(16:54), KC Christian's Spencer Mumford(16:59), and Ellinwood's Asher Miller (17:02). That was a tight pack for the entire state race last year, so don't be surprised if we see that again in Wamego at the end of the season.
Speaking of which, that will be a change of scenery for 2A this year, returning to the Wamego Country Club after a two-year stint at the Sand Plum Trail in Victoria. Sadly, the beautiful course in Victoria is no more. Change will be a common theme, as 1A returns to Wamego as well, with 3A, 5A, and 6A returning to Rim Rock.
The boys team race may be the most exciting of all classes here during the preseason. Seven teams came into the final meet with championship hopes last year, and the team that ultimately won is the only one suffering significant graduation losses. Central Heights may be the team with the most upside, with 4 of their scoring runners last year being freshmen, and returning their entire roster. Hutch-Trinity has two high-caliber individuals, with plenty of depth to back them up. McLouth has a solid returning roster, but graduated their top runner. Berean Academy and Ell-Saline have good front runners with solid squads surrounding them, and Bennington rounds out the crowded field with the state's best 6th man.
This is going to be an exciting season for 2A, particularly on the boys side, and with just one week until the first meet, the wait is almost over to see how this season plays out!