The postseason is here, and with roughly 40 leagues holding their championship meets, the XC season is red hot. The theme that kept coming up this week: Southeast Kansas has arrived, and they're not going away anytime soon.
Over the last few decades, the Southeastern regions of the state have lagged behind in the world of distance running. With a few individuals as exceptions, there hasn't been much to talk about over the years.
Until now.
Take a gander at the Tri-Valley League. It's a simple 2A/3A league with 8 schools. See anything special? Sitting at the top of the boys varsity standings are four freshmen. Not many freshmen boys have what it takes to beat out all the upperclassmen in their league. We're lucky to have one or two in any given year. This league had FOUR at the top. Not only that, but they're all from different schools: Cash Brown, the champion, is from Caney Valley. Hunter Jankoski is from Fredonia, Kreed Jones from Humboldt, and Aston Evans from Neodesha. These four will compete and represent for over 3 more years... and they'll all get better.
To compound that, take a look at their neighboring league: the SEK. Chanute won the meet scoring 3 freshmen and 2 sophomores. Tucker Applegate, a freshman, was the league champ, beating out Carter Bailey, a sophomore from Pittsburg, by 0.06 seconds. The future of Southeast Kansas running is here.
Over in Hutchinson, the Heart of America League is a perrineal power player in 2A. This year was no different, with Berean Academy's girls coming away with a massive victory. Top-ranked Remington was the favorite going into the meet, but depth saved 3rd-ranked Berean against not one, but two major state contenders. Berean's 6 and 7 runners, Jill Busenitz and Aubrey Harder finished ahead of Remington and #4 Sterling's 5th runners. Despite trailing through 4 runners, Berean came away tied with Sterling after 5. Without a 6th runner, Sterling fell on the tiebreaker, giving Berean Academy the win. Individually, it was Faith Ekart of Sterling that came out on top, leading 3 in the top 6 for the Bears.
At Wabaunsee, the Mid-East League (set to dissolve after this year) held their final championship meet. Cross country blue-blood Riley County came away with the team titles, with the girls holding off Silver Lake and the boys upsetting the Eagles by 2. Owen Meisner became the last in a long line of Mid-East champs for the Falcons, while Payton Wurtz of Wabaunsee picked up her third title.
The Frontier League is always full of 4A contenders, and this year was no different, with top-ranked Baldwin holding off #2 Eudora despite the Cardinals going 1-2 with Hanna Keltner & Sydney Owens. For the boys, 5A #4 Spring Hill came away with the trophy, with junior Calen George beating out Zachary Arnold of Eudora for the individual win.
Down at the Greater Wichita Athletic League, 5A rivals Bishop Carroll and Kapaun Mt. Carmel went head-to-head, with Carroll's boys and girls each coming away with 2-point victories. Kapaun had the individual champs, though, with Daniel Enriquez and Taylor Barringer.
At the Centennial League, Junction City's boys pulled off a big win over Manhattan, 41-45. Their 2-6 runners all finished within 12 seconds of each other to bury the field.
Lastly, the Sunflower League headed to Rim Rock on Saturday to give some clarity in this year's 6A races. Individual favorites Anjali Hocker-Singh (Olathe North) and Micah Blomker (Shawnee Mission North) both took care of business. Hocker-Singh tied her 5th-place mark on the course record board, while Blomker moved up to #2 all-time on the historic course.
Team-wise, Olathe West and Olathe North's girls went toe-to-toe for a while, matching up well through 4 runners, but the depth of West will beat out even the best, and they won 41-70. For the boys, Gardner-Edgerton got revenge from the Rim Rock Classic, beating out Free State by 2 points. Olathe East and SM North weren't far back, either, with the top 4 separated by just 11 points. 6A Boys is as close as it's been in years.