The Olathe Twilight once again brought the fireworks with several of Kansas and Western Missouri's top athletes doing battle on the course at the Olathe District Activity Center.
For all intents and purposes, the winning streak for Katelyn Rupe continued.
The Salina Central standout, a two-time KSHSAA cross country state champion, Rupe has won every high school race for Salina Central and her only setbacks - non-first-place finishes - came at national meets.
She ran 16:52.70 - her first time below 17 minutes - though she had 17:05 and 17:07 last year. Rupe didn't run her freshman year but now has won all 16 of her races for Salina Central.
In second place, just like at the 5A meet last year, was teammate Kaylie Shultz. The sophomore ran 17:28.50, a personal best for her as well.
In third place was Kayleigh Norris of Harrisonville (MO). The Class 4 champion from Missouri also posted a career-best, running 17:36.71. Her previous best time in the sport was 17:41.30 last November at the NXR Midwest Regional Championship, while her best MSHSAA time at 17:43.42 at the 2023 Missouri Southern Stampede.
The top five was rounded out with Wichita Trinity Academy's Emily Hein and Washburn Rural's Payton Fink, respectively. Hein is the defending Class 3A champion, while Fink was the Class 6A runner-up last fall.
Washburn Rural took home first place with 90 points - a 30-point margin of victory over Olathe West. Along with Fink's fifth-place finish, the Junior Blues got a top-10 finish from senior Rylee Ismert, who was ninth.
St. James Academy took third with 172 points in the 27-team field.
The boys' field featured teams from Arkansas, Kansas and Iowa with runners near the top of the pack.
Owen Kelley, a senior at Bentonville (AR), won the race with a personal best of 14:50. It was a personal best and the first time the Class 6A runner-up broke the 15-minute mark.
Also running sub-15 was Mill Valley's Carter Cline, who took second at 14:55.80 - easily crushing his previous personal best of 15:31.
In fact, each of the top six finishers posted their best times on this course.
Third-place finisher Dylan Plath from Olathe South ran 15:01.70 - nearly 23 seconds faster than his previous best. Not far behind was Olathe West's Braxton Theel, who ran 15:01.90. The senior ran his personal best 15:45.40 at the Todd Warner Kickoff Classic the weekend prior in Missouri. He never ran faster than 16:04 last fall.
Fifth-place finisher Caleb Tofteland ran 15:06.80 in his first race of the season for Wichita Trinity Academy.
Dowling Catholic, from West Des Moines, Iowa, saw senior Owen Wolfe set his personal record with a time of 15:09.30, when he took sixth place.
In seventh place was Missouri Class 5 champion Luke Sievers, who ran 15:11. The junior from Columbia Rock Bridge won his first race this fall at the City Auto Memphis Twilight XC Classic on Aug. 31.
Blue Valley Southwest won the team title with 128 points - 10 points ahead of Dowling Catholic.
The Timberwolves had had three runners in the top 15, led by senior Canyon Buehler. The senior was 10th in 15:.18.90, followed by Elijah Chavez in 11th and Alex Roberts in 13th.
Bentonville took third in the race with 165.
The boys' field had more than 450 runners and 34 teams.