Eudora and Baldwin are two of the usual suspects in 4A
(Photo by Alex Walters)
4A is a unique division in that it captures a blend of both the large and small-school feel. Most teams are the only ones representing their towns, but the 36-team structure gives off the large-school feel. It's a structure that often brings forward the usual suspects from the Frontier, North-Central Kansas, and Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail leagues.
Last year, we saw Eudora fight off Baldwin for the girls title. Both teams lose 3 seniors, but Baldwin loses three top-10 finishers while Eudora graduated their 5th, 6th, and 7th runners. As the scales tip further away from them, Baldwin is probably still the second-best team in 4A. They have enough depth returning to handle their graduation losses, and should be eyeing another state trophy to add to their collection this fall.
Other teams behind the two heavyweights are Buhler and Rose Hill. The Crusaders return six of seven from last year, while the Rockets return five. Scoring-wise, these two teams are very similar, but they go about it differently. Buhler leans more heavily on front-runner Lindsay Warner, while Rose Hill relies on their 59-second pack time to do the work. Louisburg, the perineal bridesmaid of the Frontier League, may be the only other team with a shot at the podium this year. The Wildcats have had a strong showing the past several years, but just can't overcome Baldwin and Eudora. The rest of the division has a steep hill to climb to topple any of these five contenders.
For the boys, Buhler has been 'running it back' since 2018. After Tanner Lindahl led the Crusaders to four straight titles, and he hands the baton off to Austin Lindahl to carry that torch. The younger Lindahl, just a sophomore, joins Kaden Lohrentz as returning state medalists. The difference-maker for Buhler, though, has been their middle school program. They know how to develop their runners early, and I wouldn't be surprised if they have a couple of impact freshmen again this season.
Challenging the defending champs will be Wamego. The Red Raiders have taken their time building this program up to this point for a while, and this season could be the one where Rick Patton's squad reclaims the 4A crown after a 10-year drought. Behind the two leaders are a slew of teams clawing their way at each other. Augusta, Eudora, Hayden and Abilene are just a few of them. Augusta and Hayden will need to adjust to life after their Sawyer Schmidt and Tanner Newkirk. Meanwhile, Abilene returns its entire top five and Eudora returns one of the top individuals in Zachary Arnold.
Speaking of individuals, 4A needs a few to step up. Tanner Lindahl, Tanner Newkirk, and Sawyer Schmidt were incredible athletes, but they distracted from a severe depth problem within the division. Likely a side-effect of the small-town teams in a division with only 36 schools, there are only 9 runners with sub-17:00 experience (that's on par with 2A), and none have broken 16:30 more than once. As mentioned above, Eudora's Arnold and Buhler's Lohrentz and Lindahl will be in the mix. Eli Gilmore of Tonganoxie has the fastest returning time, and has some serious state experience. He is the early favorite to take the individual title. The other boys under 17:00 are Grant Smith (Clay Center), Drew Elliott (Chapman), Brady Stegman & Emery Wolfe (Wamego), and Corban Priest (Winfield). Someone from this group will surface as a leader, but depth at the state level will be a multi-year rebuild.
For the girls, the depth issue is present but not as obvious, thanks to stars Hayley Trotter and Hanna Keltner. Both come in with best times of 19:09. Trotter is the defending champion, going out in style last year with a commanding victory over Keltner and her Eudora teammate Sydney Owens. Joining the duo of Cardinals is Phoebe Fletcher, who has the 5th-fastest returning time in 4A. That gives Eudora three of the top 5 returners; a good recipe for success. Chloe Clevenger of McPherson, Anna Cantrell of Labette County and Kyra Nippert of Rock Creek are others that will shine throughout the season.
Another quirk of 4A is that most of the division's schools are in the eastern portion of the state, inevitably forcing these teams to go head-to-head long before the state meet. We'll get a good idea of things early as many of these schools duke it out at Wamego in week 2. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the Frontier League, NCKL, and AVCTL will have high stakes all season long.