AUGUSTA – Shawnee Mission North sophomore Micah Blomker isn't a big hotel guy. But on the eve of his first Class 6A state cross country race, it was part of the drill.
 
"I couldn't sleep at all throughout the night," Blomker said. "I woke up and just accepted that however I'm going to feel, I can't change that, and I'd just have to go out and run as hard as I could."
 
The state's fastest runner this season certainly didn't sleepwalk. Pushing hard on the downhill stretches of 4 Mile Creek Resort, Blomker ran a time of 15:25.3 to win his first state title by 15 seconds over Shawnee Mission East junior Wyatt Haughton.
 
Blomker, who transferred to North from Bishop Miege after finishing second in last year's 4A meet, established himself as a primary 6A contender when he ran a school-record 14:57.0 on Sept. 11 at the Olathe Twilight Invitational. While he continued to pile up victories and runner-up finishes during the season, Blomker felt the races that followed left much to be desired.
 
"When I broke 15, after that I got sick and my leg was messed up," Blomker said. "For a whole month there, I was not running where I wanted to be. I felt like I'd lost so much.
 
"I just felt like I'd lost a step and then at regionals, I kind of hit my groove again, and that gave me confidence to finish the year strong."
 
Haughton was one of the few to defeat Blomker, edging him by 1.3 seconds two weeks ago to win the Sunflower League meet at Lawrence's Rim Rock Farm. But Blomker responded last week in the Shawnee Mission Northwest regional at Johnson County Community College, posting a time of 15:23.31 – his best since the Olathe Twilight – to win by over 26 seconds.
 
"There were three kids that I knew were going to be up there," Blomker said of his race strategy. "My goal was to try take the sting out of their kick. They've outkicked me before. I was definitely taking advantage of the downhill, picking it up there, striding it out there."
 
Blomker averaged a 4:57.5 mile to win the race. Haughton finished second in 15:40.3. Olathe East junior Carter Stewart, who won the Blue Valley Northwest regional at JCCC, was third in 15:49.9.
 
Blomker finished second in 4A to Topeka Hayden's Tanner Newkirk last year at Wamego Country Club. He ran 15:56.97 that day. Despite his issues in between the sub-15 minute run and the postseason, all of his 2021 times were lower.
 
"I do so much more detailed training, and I think that's really helped my development," Blomker said. "It improved my aerobic ability to be able to run the 5K faster."
 

 
A first for Olathe South
 
Olathe South coach Zach Pope hoped his team's No. 1 ranking wouldn't be an albatross as it went for its first state championship.
 
The Falcons came through, placing all their scorers in the top 30 to win the 6A team title with 70 points. Manhattan was the runner-up for the second straight year with 100 points and Olathe East finished third at 120.
 
"We tried to be even-keeled this week and not talk about being favorites or anything like that because we knew there were a lot of good teams that could beat us, and it was just going to be whoever ran best," said Pope, the Falcons' sixth-year head coach. "Just to see all seven of them, especially the top five, run awesome was incredible."
 
Senior Matthew Tolman earned his first individual state medal to lead the Falcons, finishing sixth in 16:00.9. Junior Tyler Burns (16:19.3) and senior Rhys Allen (16:25.4) also cracked the top 20.
 
Where South created separation was from its final two scorers, juniors Bennett Meoli and Cole Burkholder. Meoli was 24^th individually in 16:34.3 and Burkholder was 28^th in 16:40.5. In the team scoring, their finishes allowed the Falcons to gain 27 points on Manhattan.
 
"Our fourth and fifth just closed the door today," Pope said. "Our top three ran awesome, too, but those two young men, to come in at 24^th and 28^th, just kind of put it away. No one works harder than those kids, so it was just awesome."
 
Seniors Ben Mosier and Max Bowyer earned top-20 individual medals to lead Manhattan. Mosier was ninth in 16:05.7, while Bowyer finished 14^th in 16:14.7.
 
Olathe East, Pope's alma mater and runner-up to South at last week's regional, was anchored by Carter's third-place finish. Senior Luke Jenkins (16:15.9) also finished 15^th for the Hawks.
 
Pope said his top five have little separation on training runs, and credited them for picking each other up when one had an off day. That wasn't necessary on Saturday.
 
"They were pretty excited," Pope said. "I think they had a pretty good idea right after the race that we'd won, but when you see it in print, it's a whole other issue to see your name at the top of that list."
 
 
CLASS 6A BOYS
Team scores
Olathe South 70, Manhattan 100, Olathe East 120, Free State 121, Gardner-Edgerton 132, SM East 136, SM North 154, Washburn Rural 187, SM South 200, Garden City 212, Dodge City 234, Campus 269.
 
Individual results
1. Micah Blomker, SM North, 15:25.3; 2. Wyatt Houghton, SM East, 15:40.3; 3. Carter Stewart, Olathe East, 15:49.9; 4. Devin Chappel, Garden City, 15:56.8; 5. Henry Born, SM Northwest, 15:57.1; 6. Matthew Tolman, Olathe South, 16:00.9; 7. Samuel Hurley, BV Northwest, 16:03.0; 8. Aidan Reyna, Olathe West, 16:05.2; 9. Ben Mosier, Manhattan, 16:05.7; 10. Josh Caldwell, Olathe North, 16:08.9; 11. Jake Beauchamp, Wichita Southeast, 16:10.8; 12. Benjamin Shryock, Free State, 16:11.1; 13. Alexander Holmes, Washburn Rural, 16:13.3; 14. Max Bowyer, Manhattan, 16:14.7; 15. Luke Jenkins, Olathe East, 16:15.9; 16. Tyler Burns, Olathe South, 16:19.3; 17. Kasen Keeler, Gardner-Edgerton, 16:19.8; 18. Caden Peters, SM East, 16:21.7; 19. Jordan Kilonzo, Gardner-Edgerton, 16:23.9; 20. Rhys Allen, Olathe South, 16:25.4.