While a rainy and muddy Saturday stifled fast times on the course at Wamego Country Club, 6 individuals and 6 teams were crowned State Champions in 1A, 2A, and 4A nonetheless. Several more young men and women earned all-state honors and finished out the 2024 season on a high note. Check out our recap of all the action from the 1A, 2A, and 4A State Championships below.
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Photo Credit: Troy Prosser
Hammond, Central Heights Boys Dominate in 2A
The Central Heights boys closed out an immaculate season with the most dominant win that KSHSAA 2A has ever seen, successfully defending their 2023 Championship in the process.
Senior Cody Hammond led the way with his individual championship, the first in their school's history, taking the lead at the half mile and never looking back. His 16:35.85 mark was a minute off the personal best he set en route to his Regional 4 victory, but was still 17 seconds ahead of the next closest finisher - his teammate Connor Burkdoll.
"Cody's downhill running was simply unmatched," said Head Coach Troy Prosser. "Although the footing on the course was slippery and unstable on every slope and turn, he put himself in a position to never have to avoid any other runners."
Fellow senior Owen Miller made it 3 boys in the top 5 with his 4th place finish and even though their fourth and fifth runners came across in 21st and 22nd, just shy of individual medals, the 6 points the top 3 boys had scored proved insurmountable and the squad closed out their victory with 34 points - a new 2A meet record.
"There simply aren't enough words to explain how proud and honored I am to have watched these boys grow over the past seven years, not only as runners, but as young men," Coach Prosser added. "They have had to lean on each other to improve yet the competition to always want to outdo each other never got in the way of supporting and caring for each other. Some of them are brothers by blood, yet they will forever be brothers as teammates and in friendship."
Hutchinson-Trinity Catholic was not too far off, though, as they finished out the day in 2nd with 66 points led by 3rd place finisher Jacob Lindstrom. Berean Academy was 3rd with 119 points and Hoxie came across 4th with 125.
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Photo Credit: Troy Prosser
Madison Howland Remains Undefeated in 2024, Remington Wins on a Tiebreaker
As for the girls race, there was very little doubt as to who might pull in the individual title here. Smith Center's Madison Howland successfully defended her title, making her a 2-time 2A Champion in her first two tries.
Howland is now undefeated in her career aside from a runner-up finish in the 2023 Rim Rock Classic Crimson division. Her 18:50.76 mark on Saturday was 12 seconds slower than the mark that earned her 1st in 2023, but was still 33 seconds of Wabaunsee's Payton Wurtz in 2nd and 1:27 ahead of Eureka's Rose Buck in 3rd. Howland showed once again that she is unmatched among small schools runners.
In the closest battle of the weekend, Remington eked out their first ever team title on the 6th runner tiebreaker. Sophomore Joely Gerber made the difference with her 65th place finish, ahead of Berean's Ellie Good in 69th. Chelsea Willour led the way for the 2023 2A Runner-ups with her 4th place individual finish as they took down their rivals from Berean Academy by a hair. Hoxie was 3rd with 132 points and Oskaloosa finished 4th with 140 points.
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Muehler Holds Off Chapman, Holds On to 4A Top Spot
In a thrilling final race of the day, as the rain really started falling, McPherson's Caleb Muehler was able to defend his crown and hold off Chapman's Drew Elliott for the 4A individual title. Muehler's 16:33.40 was 35 seconds off the mark he posted at last year's championships, but is thoroughly impressive on a soaked and shredded course. Elliott was the top-ranked runner in 4A heading into this one after posting his 15:48.97 personal best at the Regional 3 meet, but it was Muehler who earned the top spot after blowing the race open at the 2-mile mark.
Muehler's teammate Ethan Elder was able to out-lean Wamego's Peyton Parker to make it two Bullpups across the line in the top three, but Wamego would get the last laugh en route to the host school's tenth team championship in school history. Wamego scored 52 points, 14 ahead of defending champions Buhler, as they benefited from having all 5 scorers in the top 16. The victory, long-time Coach Rick Patton's eighth, prompted another dip in the Wamego Country Club pond with his athletes. McPherson would finish 3rd with 119 points (115 coming from their 3-5) and Augusta was 4th with 147.
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Keltner Leaves No Doubt in 4A Girls Race
The favorite in the 4A Girls race was Eudora's Hanna Keltner and on Saturday, she lived up to the billing with a 33-second victory in 19:18.56. The senior earned her first career state championship after finishing 2nd twice (2021 and 2023) and 3rd in 2022. It was a dominant victory for the young lady who was only ahead runner-up Irelyn Kennedy by 18 seconds on season bests. Kennedy's 2nd place finish was an improvement on last year's 4th and pushes her into position as the top 4A returner heading into 2025. Paola freshman Ella Needham was 3rd on the day with a pair of Clay Center runners across in 4th and 5th in Kylie Pfizenmaier and Lauren Smith.
Keltner's 1-point started Eudora's team title hopes off well, but Buhler strung together 3 girls in the top 20 and were able to score 78 points, holding off Eudora's 89-point showing. The Lady Crusaders were led by sophomore Corbin Starkweather and freshman Isabella Freisen in 13th and 14th, with senior Ava Koster crossing in 19th. Baldwin finished 1 point behind Eudora for 3rd and Augusta finished 4th in the girls race, as well, with 108 points.
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Durst Repeats, Quinter Three-Peat in Boys 1A
Heading into the Regional meets, we were looking for clarity as to who may come out on top in the Boys 1A race. At the end of the day Saturday, Lebo's Caleb Durst sent a clear message: "It was me the whole time."
The 2023 individual champion retained his crown with an emphatic 15-second victory over Ness City junor Broxton Gall. Quinter's Elliot Churchwell crossed third with Eli Gaeddert (Goessel) and Kaleb Arnold (Olpe) picking up fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively. Churchwell would lead his Quinter squad to their third straight state championship. With only four scorers in 1A, the Bulldogs put up 29 points to best Pratt-Skyline in 2nd and Meade in 3rd.
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Boydston Runs Away with 1A Title, South Gray Three-Peats
The most dominant victory of the clearly belonged to Ellis's Avery Boydston. Her 19:32.33 mark was a full minute and two seconds ahead of the next closest competitor and netted the junior her first career cross country title.
Aside from a loss at the Wamego Invitational in early September, Boydston was undefeated and never recorded a mark over 20:00. Her personal best of 18:44.67 from the Regional 2 meet was only 10 seconds ahead of Northern Heights's Ellei McCrory, but McCrory would end up 3rd on the day in 20:46.35. It was actually Hutchinson-Central Christian freshman Harper Newcome who would come across 2nd in her 3rd best mark of the season: 20:34.68.
South Gray, like Quinter on the boys side, would also go on to win their third straight state championship, led by senior Kylie Stapleton in fourth and Jacee Deges in eighth. The ladies strung together 34 points to hold off Colony Crest's 39 point showing and Ness City's 52.