As it has for nearly 60 years, Wamego will play host for the 4A Cross Country Championship. And like it has for many of those, the Red Raiders will compete as a team in both races. Top-to-bottom, 4A girls looks eerily similar to last year. 10 of 12 teams return, and 15 of 20 individual medalists are back. Hayley Trotter has won 7 races this year for Clearwater, and the senior standout is the favorite to repeat as 4A Champion. One other runner has broken 19:00 this year, Circle's Brett Jacobson, and Trotter has 4 head-to-head victories over her. That is the epitome of dominance over your class. By now, we're all used to it. 4A girls hasn't had a close race since the distance was two miles, it's just been one dominant champ after another.
If you're looking for other individuals, try searching on the top teams. Eudora, the heavy favorite to repeat after a dream season last year, has two of them. Hanna Keltner and Sydney Owens are both elite runners with top-5 experience at state. Among other top teams, Winfield has Kayli Myers, Circle has Jacobson and Alison Unruh, and Clay Center has Lauren Smith. Odds are, those seven will all be top-10. Kyra Nippert of Rock Creek may be the top non-team individual after Trotter. She was 5th last year, but hasn't quite produced the times from a season ago.
Team-wise, Eudora, Winfield, Circle and Clay Center have all been mentioned. Them, along with perineal contender Baldwin will compete for the team trophies. None dare match the 1-2 punch of Eudora, and the rest of the Cardinal team has championship experience and plenty of talent. Baldwin typically packs well, but is missing just one more piece for their pack to do some damage on Eudora's team points. The Bulldogs have their top-4 within 30 seconds of each other, but #5 doesn't come through for another minute. Circle can almost match the Eudora duo up front, but their depth doesn't go very far beyond that. Winfield is probably the most complete team of the chase pack. They don't have a lot of weaknesses, but just may not have the horses to run with Eudora's 2 and 3. If anyone has a chance at an upset, though, it's the Vikings.
The boys team score will be a lot closer. Buhler and Wamego are the clear-cut top two, and the computer rankings have them deadlocked with a tiebreaker in favor of Buhler. The home team had a better performance at regionals, but some could chalk that up to course variation. These two have met twice on the grass this season, with Wamego winning at their home invite and Buhler having the edge at Rim Rock. After winning four titles in a row and graduating a solid core, you'd think Buhler would be on a downward trend. These Crusaders won't quit, though, and have reloaded with yet another championship-caliber roster. Wamego is at home again, though, which is always an advantage. This race could ultimately come down to one kid on either team having the race of their life and being their team's hero.
Not only is there a database tiebreaker for 1st, there's also one for 3rd. Winfield and Augusta are deadlocked for the final trophy, with the tiebreaker leaning heavily towards the Orioles. Augusta clearly has the better depth, should that come into play. Winfield's top 5 are solid enough to get the job done, led by Corban Priest at 16:17. Their 2-3-4 are practically interchangeable at roughly 17:15 each, which is their strong point.
Individually, a vacuum is in place after last year's top 4 graduated, including superstars Tanner Newkirk, Tanner Lindahl, and Sawyer Schmidt. The heir-apparent to the 4A throne is Tonganoxie's Eli Gilmore. He's gone pound-for-pound with those graduated superstars more than once, and has the fastest time in 4A this season at 15:49. That time was clocked at the Rim Rock classic, where he ran an absolutely elegant race to take 3rd in the elite Gold division.
Taking aim at Gilmore will be a handful of others. Winfield's Priest will be in the neighborhood, as will Wamego's Brady Stegman and Harrison Cutting. Clay Center senior Grant Smith will be in the mix, after defeating both Stegman and Cutting at league, running a 15:55 in the process. Buhler's Kaden Lohrentz was regional champion at McPherson and has gone 16:11 this year. Chapman sophomore Drew Elliott was the top freshman a year ago and has seen improvement during the season this year, including a 4th place finish at the Wamego Invite.
As it has been for decades, the Wamego Country Club will undoubtedly play a factor with its well-placed hills. It's designed to make you stay engaged for the full 3.1 miles. Not every runner is built for a course like that, so we'll see on Saturday who rises to the occasion.