With the conclusion of the 5A Boys race, the 2022 Kansas XC season has drawn to a close. The biggest headline of that race was the end of the St. Thomas Aquinas streak. The Saints had won 8 in a row, and no public school had won since 2007. That all changed as the Timberwolves of Blue Valley Southwest climbed to the top of the podium on Saturday.
After a rough race at regionals, Thomas Caul was back to lead the Timberwolves. He kept with the chase pack all the way to the finish. St Thomas Aquinas Senior Colby King broke away after the first mile, charging to a 15:16 championship time. The chase pack was 30 seconds back, but it was a tight one. Kaleb Glazier of Maize, Caul, Lenny Njoroge of Topeka West, and Luke Brock of Kapaun Mt. Carmel all finished within six seconds of each other, and remained a pack well into the final mile. They would finish in the order listed above, and with the exception of Njoroge, these were critical team points as well.
Blue Valley Southwest had the best #2, 3 and 4 runners to seal the victory. Micah Paschke (9th), Crew Buhler (14th) and Canyon Buhler (18th) were also in medal positions for the Timberwolves.
As the dust settled, St. Thomas Aquinas stood at 2nd in the team standings, 15 points back from Blue Valley Southwest, and 5 ahead of Kapaun Mt. Carmel. Statistically, that was an upset, but it's hard to ever consider Aquinas an underdog to anyone. Not wanting to give up their streak so easily, the Saints executed as well as they could to take down a really good Crusader team.
The St James girls returned to the awards stand as 5A champions, claiming a 30-point victory over Seaman. As they've done all season long, the Thunder didn't allow anyone to sneak up on them, dictating the race as they saw fit. Fellow private schools St. Thomas Aquinas and Kapaun Mt. Carmel were 2nd and 3rd. Seaman just missed the podium, falling just 1 point behind the Crusaders. Seaman had the better 6th runner, too, so a tiebreaker would have been theirs had just a single spot been different. The closest margin was among the lead pack, where St. James' Quinn Hays barely survived a kick from Seaman's Ryin Miller by the slimmest of margins: 0.01 seconds - 19:19.84 to 19:19.85. Sometimes, the sport can be that brutal. The 4-way finishing battle between them, Andover's Madelyn Wallace, and Kapaun's Taylor Barringer was certainly a highlight of the race.
Katelyn Rupe put on an incredible show, proving that this young lady has zero limits. She shattered the course record by 19 seconds. While some might argue that KSHSAA hasn't been running 5K's very long, Rupe puts those doubts to rest as well: Her 5K pace was faster than the 4K and 2mile course records. She ran faster over a longer distance than Alli Cash's 4K record from 2012 and Amy Cragg's 2mile record from 2001.
Piper's Grace Hanson posted an honorable 18:17 to finish her exceptional year, claiming the silver medal for the third time in her cross country career. Aquinas junior Sophia Spinello claimed 3rd in 19:12, while the close finish of Hays and Miller concluded the top-5 finishers.
Looking ahead to next year, the BVSW victory could mark the end of private school domination in 5A. With the possibility of KSHSAA's classification rule-changes, St. James, St. Thomas Aquinas, Bishop Carroll, and Kapaun Mt. Carmel could all find a new home in Class 6A. That very well could open the door to a Blue Valley Southwest dynasty, or maybe a Mill Valley one on the girls side if they rejoin the 5A ranks. Only time will tell.