TOP 25 GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS TO WATCH IN 2022
 
 

 
BREE ALLEN, PRAIRIE VIEW
 
Allen burst onto the scene in a big way last year as a freshman, finishing first or second in every race in which she competed. Allen captured the Pioneer League championship and followed it up with a Class 3A regional championship as well. At the 3A state meet, Allen gave Southeast of Saline’s Jentrie Alderson all she wanted before settling for second, finishing in 19:30.2. Allen posted a season-best time of 19:15.91 at the Central Heights Invitational, setting the school record, and at the national meet she took fourth in the 14-year-old division. During last spring’s track season, Allen finished top three in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200, including a runner-up finish in the 3,200 to Alderson.
 

 
EMMA BAILEY, WEST FRANKLIN
 
Bailey made a triumphant return to form in 2021 after spending her sophomore season in 2020 battling through recovery from a torn ACL and surgery prior to the season. She still managed six top-10 finishes in 2020, but couldn’t get back down to her freshman times when she finished ninth at state. Last season, Bailey was back where she wanted to be and posted top-10 finishes in every meet. She captured the Flint Hills League championship in a career-best time of 19:51.07, one of her three wins on the season. After taking second at regionals, Bailey capped her season with a fourth-place finish at the Class 3A state meet.
 

 
MADISON BUTLER, MACKSVILLE

Butler took fifth in the Class 1A state meet last season as a junior, posting a 21:01.80. Butler was a regional runner-up and a Central Prairie League champion. She also won the Larned Invitational and Hoisington Invitational. Butler took fourth at state track in both the 1,600 and 3,200 last spring. She placed ninth at the state cross country meet as a sophomore in 2020. Her average time last year was 21:53 and average place was third. 
 
 

 
CHARLOTTE CALDWELL, MILL VALLEY

Caldwell kicked off her high school running career with a bang. She worked her way into the top of the Class 5A field, earning a second-place finish at regionals before taking third at the state meet. Her PR of 18:42.10 that she set at regionals edged out Washburn Rural’s Payton Fink for the best freshman time last year. Now Caldwell will try to lead Mill Valley to back-to-back state titles and makes sure a Jaguar wins the individual state title for the second straight year. Her now-graduated teammate Katie Schwartzkopf won the 5A title last season.  

MADELINE CARTER, WASHBURN RURAL
 
After posting three victories and an eighth-place finish at the Class 6A state meet as a sophomore in 2020, Carter enjoyed an even more successful junior year last season. Carter picked up five victories in nine races and never finished lower than ninth. Among her five wins were her second straight Topeka City Championship title where she posted a career-best time of 18:14.90. Carter also picked up her first Centennial League title and first regional win, capping a streak of four straight meet victories before finishing seventh at the 6A state meet. Carter also finished eighth at the NXR Heartland Regional Championships in November.

 

 
 
CHLOE CLEVENGER, MCPHERSON
 
Clevenger earned her third individual state cross country medal and first in Class 4A when she finished seventh last October at Wamego Country Club. After tweaking her ankle in her first race as a Bullpup, the senior and multi-sport standout quickly healed and posted a strong 2021 season with three victories, including the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail Division III meet, which she won with a personal-best time of 20:16.29. Clevenger previously ran at Doniphan West, helping the Mustangs win back-to-back 1A team titles with her 11^th and fifth place individual finishes.
 

 
BETHANY DRUSE, SEAMAN
 
For the second straight year, Druse posted a top-10 finish at the Class 5A state meet, moving up from ninth as a sophomore to a sixth-place showing last fall as a junior. The showing capped a season that saw Druse post seven top-10 finishes overall, including a runner-up finish at regionals and a fourth-place finish at the Topeka City Championships where she ran a career-best time of 18:48.70. Druse followed with a big track season that saw her win seven of her eight 800 races, including the Class 5A state championship. Druse teamed with Clearwater’s Hayley Trotter, Stanton County’s Chesney Peterson and Doniphan West’s Elle Williams this summer to turn in the fastest 3,200 relay time in state history with a 9:06.14 at the USAT&F National Championships.
 

 SUZANNE FARNHAM, STANTON COUNTY

Farnham helped the Trojans capture their third straight team championship in 2021. She placed sixth in the Class 2A meet last year as a junior, posting a 20:04.70. Her personal best is 19:32.41. She took eighth at state as a sophomore and was fourth as a freshman. Farnham had seven top-five finishes in cross country last year. In track and field, she was the Class 2A runner-up in pole vault and placed seventh in the 800 last spring. “She always shows up big at the state meets. Suzanne has been very consistent this offseason,” Stanton County coach Mike Horton said. “I think she will have a great year.”
  
 

GRACE HANSON, PIPER
 
Hanson returns for her senior season as the top returner in Class 5A. She took second at the state meet last fall, with her time of 18:33.30 beating everyone except Mill Valley’s Katie Schwartzkopf’s blistering 17:51.80. With Schwartzkopf graduated, Hanson will lead the pack of a tightly contested field looking to take her place. Hanson will have a good chance of coming out on top after winning all but two of her cross country races last year. She also added a gold medal in the 800-meter run to go along with a runner-up in the 1600 meter and fourth in the 3200 meter at the Class 5A state track and field meet in the spring.

 
ANJALI HOCKER SINGH, OLATHE NORTH

Hocker Singh will enter another fall season as the reigning Class 6A cross country champ. The junior has won the individual state title each of the past two seasons. Her win last fall put her 26 seconds ahead of the next closest runner, who happened to be her teammate Shea Johnson. The duo’s 1-2 punch at the top of the leaderboard helped propel Olathe North to a state runner-up finish.

 

SHEA JOHNSON, OLATHE NORTH
 
Johnson ended her sophomore season by setting her PR during the Class 6A state meet, finishing runner-up behind fellow Eagles runner Anjali Hocker Singh. Unlike her teammate, who was a favorite to win throughout the season, Johnson’s mark was not quite expected. Her best finish as a sophomore was taking ninth at state as a freshman. She did not eclipse that until taking fifth in last year’s regionals, before cutting 30 seconds off the PR she set in the race to earn her the second-place finish at state.  

 
HANNA KELTNER, EUDORA

Keltner will start her sophomore cross country season looking to lead her Cardinals to another team state title while also capturing the individual state and league titles that evaded her last season. Keltner finished Frontier League runner-up behind Piper senior Grace Hanson and took second behind Clearwater senior Hayley Trotter in the Class 4A state meet, with Keltner winning a regional title in-between those two races. Eudora won the 4A team title for the first time in program history.  

 
SOPHIE LANDRUM, DE SOTO
 
After a somewhat slow start to the 2021 season, Landrum came on strong in the final month to avoid having a true sophomore slump following a freshman 2020 season that saw her post five top 10s and an 18^th-place finish at the Class 5A state meet. Landrum captured her second straight United Kansas Conference championship in as many seasons and then posted a career-best time of 19:16.80 at her Class 5A regional the following week in a fifth-place finish. Landrum capped her sophomore season with a seventh-place finish at the 5A state meet, just three seconds off her regional time.
 

 
KATE MILLER, OLATHE WEST
 
With the Owls winning state for two straight years, and the victories only becoming more dominant, Miller is hoping her junior campaign will deliver her improved individual success at the state meet. Her previous finishes, 14th in 2020 and 13th in 2021, have been key to the Owls state-title wins, but Miller knows she has the ability to push herself into the top 10.

 PAIGE MULLEN, SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST
 
Mullen took the third at the Class 6A state meet last fall, denying Olathe North the top three spots by staying step-for-step with state runner-up Shea Johnson at 18:11.60 and pushing senior Kaylee Tobaben to fourth. Mullen will try to close the gap with state champ Anjali Hocker Singh. If she can, Mullen will be able to pair that gold medal with the one she won in the 3200-meter run at Class 6A state track and field meet in the spring.  

 BREE NEWPORT, OLATHE WEST

On any given day, any one of the Owls runners can lead the pack. At last fall’s Class 6A state meet, Newport ended up being the one. She took eighth place with a time of 18:47.90, just a fraction of a second ahead of senior teammate Charis Robinson. Newport had finished as the third-best Owl at the league and regional meets weeks prior, but sticking with the group paid off for her at state. It also helped deliver a second straight state title for Olathe West.  

 
 KYRA NIPPERT, ROCK CREEK
 
Coming off a solid freshman season in 2020 when she posted four top-10 finishes, Nippert stepped up her performance as a sophomore last season. She not only finished top 10 at all but two meets (Rim Rock Classic, Wamego Invitational), she collected three victories during the season, winning titles at Silver Lake, Onaga and the Class 4A regional meet held in Topeka. Nippert cracked 20 minutes for the first time in her career in her regional win, clocking a 19:48.36. She backed it up with a strong showing at the 4A state meet, placing fifth in 20:23.60.

 

 
 CAMPBELL ODELL, FREDONIA
 
After claiming the last Class 3A state individual medal as a freshman, Odell vaulted 15 spots to fifth at last season’s state meet in Wamego. The two-time Tri-Valley League champion ran a personal-best of 19:38.00 last September to win the Girard Invitational and followed with a 19:53.70 at Lawrence’s Rim Rock Farm Classic. With Odell and returning state medalist Gracyn Bracken claiming the top two individual spots last fall, the Yellowjackets are the reigning Tri-Valley team champions.
 
 

 SYDNEY OWENS, EUDORA
 
 Owens took third in the Class 4A state meet last fall, giving Eudora two of the top three runners and the team state title. The Cardinals look to be a force this year as well with Owens and her sophomore teammate Hannah Keltner, who took second at state, both returning this fall. Owens might even be able to nab the individual state title for herself if she can find the gear she found in the Pleasant Ridge Invitational. She set her PR with a time of 19:22.10, edging out Keltner for first place.  

CHESNEY PETERSON, STANTON COUNTY

The Stanton County senior will look to add more credentials to an already remarkable distance-running career. Peterson will be going for her third straight state championship in cross country. She claimed the 2A meet in 18:38.8 last year as a junior to carry the Trojans to their third straight team title. Her personal best in cross country is 18:15.80. Peterson swept the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in Class 2A at the state track meet last spring, joining Clafin’s Jackie Stiles as the only Kansas athletes to complete a title sweep of the four distance races. “Chesney has amazing talent, but she also works as hard as anyone I have ever coached. She is so consistent, seldom misses a practice and executes the workouts given perfectly,” coach Mike Horton said. 
 

KATELYN RUPE, SALINA CENTRAL
 
Rupe is an intriguing addition to the state cross country scene after focusing on tennis as a freshman. This season, she is doing both sports after sweeping the Class 5A 1,600 and 3,200 titles at the state track meet in May. Rupe, a frequent training partner of former Southeast of Saline standout Jentrie Alderson, set and re-set Central school records in her distance double, running the 1,600 in 5:08.08 and the 3,200 in 10:47.60. A seventh-place singles finisher in 5A last season, Rupe ran a 5-kilometer time of 17:40 at a road race in Abilene earlier this month.

 

 HANNAH THONG, OLATHE HERITAGE CHRISTIAN
 
Thong made history for the Chargers last year, becoming the first girl in program history to ever win a cross country race. Leading a 1-2 finish with sister Elise, Thong won the Chargers’ season-opening meet at the Bishop Miege Invitational and built on that for a tremendous season overall. She finished with xxx wins on the season, including the Class 3A regional title at Sabetha. A state placer as a freshman in 2020 when she took 16^th, Thong jumped up to a third-place finish at last year’s state meet. Thong’s season-best time was a 19:31.61, coming when she won the SM West Classic.
 
 

 HAYLEY TROTTER, CLEARWATER
 
Trotter took up the mantle of Class 4A’s top runner last season, winning her first state cross country title by nearly 38 seconds at Wamego Country Club. The senior and three-time state medalist returns after strong spring and summer showings in which she defended her 4A 800-meter title and added a 1,600 crown at the state track meet, then was part of a winning all-Kansas 3,200 relay team at the USAT&F National Championships in July. Trotter ran a personal-best cross country time of 19:09.61 while winning her third Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail Division IV title last fall.
 
 

EMMA WEINER, GOLDEN PLAINS

Weiner is the defending Class 1A state champion in cross county and went undefeated last year. She ran a 20:04.70 while battling severe pain in her lower leg. X-rays later revealed that she had suffered a broken fibula, meaning Weiner won the race with a broken leg. Weiner’s personal best in cross country is 19:48.80. She is a two-time state champion in track, winning the 3,200 last season as a sophomore and the 1,600 as a freshman. She placed third at state cross country as a freshman in 2020. She owns school records in the mile, 2 mile and 5K. 
 

PAYTON WURTZ, WABAUNSEE
 
If not for Stanton County’s Chesney Peterson, Wurtz might have very well been the talk of the state last year. The Charger’s freshman season went about as well as anyone could have imagined. She finished top three at every cross country meet last fall, winning three times – including the Mid-East League and 2A regional championships – and finished second four times. The latter of those came at the state meet where she was runner-up to Peterson with a career-best and school-record time of 19:27.9. Wurtz carried that momentum over to the spring and set Wabaunsee school records in track in the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200, taking second at the State Outdoors to Peterson in the 400, 1,600 and 3,200 and finishing fourth in the 800.