WAMEGO, Kan. — Three area cross country teams captured state championships Saturday at Wamego Country Club, highlighting a successful showing by south-central Kansas schools at the Kansas State High School Activities Association State Cross Country Championships.
Buhler's girls won the Class 4A championship, Hutchinson Trinity Catholic claimed the Class 2A boys title, and Pretty Prairie finished as the Class 1A girls runner-up.
Several area runners also earned top-10 individual finishes, including Buhler's Corbin Starkweather and Ryan Cherry, Moundridge's Dan Kuder, Pretty Prairie's Lauren Detter and Amity White, and Pratt-Skyline's Ely Robinson.
Class 4A: Buhler girls claim championship
Buhler captured the Class 4A girls team championship with 45 points, finishing 24 points ahead of runner-up Baldwin. Wamego placed third with 121.
Senior Corbin Starkweather led the Crusaders with a runner-up finish in the 5,000-meter race, crossing the finish line in 18 minutes, 56.52 seconds.
Junior Isabella Rivera placed fifth in 19:43.73, while junior Isabella Friesen finished ninth in 20:01.96, giving Buhler three runners among the top 10.
Sophomore Hannah Dick finished 22nd in 20:43.62, and freshman Brooklyn Beals placed 29th in 21:10.78 to complete Buhler's scoring five.
McPherson finished eighth in the girls team standings with 219 points, led by sophomores Kamryn Prescott and Adeline Kramer, who placed 32nd and 33rd, respectively. Prescott finished in 21:15.25, while Kramer crossed in 21:15.65.
In the boys race, Buhler junior Ryan Cherry earned state runner-up honors with a time of 16:21.12, finishing behind Eudora junior Grayson Masterson, who won in 16:09.49.
Buhler placed sixth in the boys team standings with 185 points, while McPherson finished eighth with 194.
Junior Zayden Mendenhall was Buhler's second finisher, placing 31st in 17:44.01. McPherson junior Tripp Pelzel finished 32nd in 17:44.15, just 14-hundredths of a second behind Mendenhall.
Pratt junior Ezra Lara also competed in the boys race, finishing 35th in 17:49.40, while senior David Perez placed 42nd in 18:02.29.
Andale won the boys team championship with 62 points.
Class 2A: Trinity Catholic wins boys team title
Hutchinson Trinity Catholic captured the Class 2A boys state championship with 108 points, defeating runner-up Jayhawk Linn, which scored 131.
Senior Dylan Bornholdt led the Celtics with an 18th-place finish in 17:42.30, followed by senior Sam Madden in 25th at 17:58.50.
Freshman Ian Bornholdt finished 39th in 18:19.00, sophomore Axel Walline placed 50th in 18:30.50, and sophomore Owen Hammersmith finished 60th in 18:44.60.
The Celtics averaged 18:14 among their five scoring runners.
Moundridge placed seventh in the boys team standings with 162 points, led by senior Dan Kuder, who finished sixth individually in 17:10.40.
Junior Anthony Eguia added a 43rd-place finish in 18:22.80, while senior Andrew Porter finished 65th in 18:51.30.
Remington finished ninth in the boys standings with 182 points. Sophomore Landon Busenitz led the Broncos with a fourth-place finish in 16:56.40, while junior Chayton Lineback placed 16th in 17:39.90.
Ellinwood senior Ryan Pohlman finished third individually in 16:53.10, and Sterling junior William Wilson placed 28th in 18:07.50.
In the girls competition, Moundridge junior Baylee Schriner finished 35th in 22:07.96.
Pittsburg St. Mary's Colgan won the girls championship with 68 points, followed by Hoxie with 78.
Remington finished fourth with 111 points, led by junior Alyssa Klingenberg, who placed second individually in 19:00.30.
Class 1A: Pretty Prairie earns runner-up finish
Pretty Prairie finished second in the Class 1A girls team standings with 51 points, just six behind state champion Ness City.
Junior Lauren Detter finished fifth overall in 20:31.28, while senior Amity White placed seventh in 20:41.12.
Junior Halli Yoder added a 26th-place finish in 22:03.25, and junior Ava Goering finished 40th in 22:50.95.
Pratt-Skyline placed ninth in the girls team standings with 135 points, led by sophomore Ruby Wooster, who finished 25th in 22:00.72.
Sophomore Shiloh Harrold placed 38th in 22:41.76, while freshman Sophie Bronson finished 55th in 23:40.22.
In the boys race, Pratt-Skyline senior Ely Robinson finished fifth overall with a time of 17:09.28.
Pretty Prairie junior Malachi Goering placed 27th in 18:05.87, while Stafford senior Joel Valadez earned a third-place finish in 16:35.71.
Goessel senior Eli Gaeddert claimed the individual boys championship in 16:21.18, and Quinter won the team title with 32 points.
The results gave area programs three state team championships and a runner-up finish at Wamego, along with several top-five individual performances across Classes 1A, 2A and 4A.