By all accounts, Ellei McCrory’s cross country debut was a resounding success.
 
At the Aug. 31 Burlington Wildcat Classic, the Northern Heights freshman left the field far in her rear view mirror, winning by well over a minute with a time of 19 minutes, 46.55. Her closest challengers – Olathe Heritage Christian’s Hannah Thong and Central Heights’ Emma Cubit – were both state medalists a year ago with Cubit finishing sixth in Class 2A.
 
Despite the dominating showing, McCrory wasn’t fully satisfied with her performance.
 
“I knew I could do better than what I ran last week,” she said.
 
McCrory then went out and backed that belief at Saturday’s Wamego Invitational. And as impressive as McCrory’s debut at Burlington was, her performance at Wamego was even more so.
 
On the same Wamego Country Club course where the Class 2A state meet will be held in late October, McCrory established herself as a legitimate contender for the state title. She not only won the Class 3-2-1A race, but once again ran away from the field.
 
McCrory’s winning time of 18 minutes, 49.05 seconds was more than a minute ahead of runner-up Margaret Browning of Smoky Valley Home Educators, who crossed in 20:10.31. 
 
“It was definitely my goal to be up with the leaders and give it my all at the end,” McCrory said. “I was trying to break through the 19 (minute) barrier today and I did well giving it my all today.”

 
When McCrory arrived at the course on Saturday, her first impression might have made her question whether a sub-19 time was going to be possible.
 
“Walking the course, it looked challenging,” she said. “The hills looked so big.”
 
But when McCrory first took up running seriously a few years ago, one of the thing she and her father, Brent, focused on was hill work. So she was more than ready to attack Wamego’s up-and-down terrain.
 
“I really knew I wanted to negative split,” she said of her strategy for the race. “I didn’t want my adrenaline to make me get out too fast on those hills at the beginning. I just had to remind myself to let the hill help me going down and then take shorter strides up the hill to get the most out of it.
 
“My plan was to stick with the leaders the first mile and then let the second mile downhill really fast and see what I had for the finish.”
 
She had more than enough at the end, pulling away from not only Browning and her teammate Kezi Bachman, but also Osage City sophomore Emory Speece – a fifth-place finisher at last year’s Class 3A state meet and the reigning Flint Hills League champion. McCrory and Speece will see each other frequently the rest of the season being in the same league and McCrory said she looked forward to the challenge.
 
“In middle school meets I would always see her even though she was a year ahead of me,” she said. “I’m excited to race her more. She was always ahead of me. I was excited to have more competition to look forward to in high school.”
 
If McCrory can duplicate Saturday’s performance in late October, she very well could come away with a state title. Class 2A has been dominated by Stanton County’s Chesney Peterson, who captured her third straight state title last fall.
 
But with Peterson now running at the University of Tennessee, the 2A throne is there for the taking. Wabaunsee’s Payton Wurtz has been runner-up to Peterson each of the last two seasons, but has yet to break 19 minutes in her career.
 
“I’m really excited for the season,” said McCrory, who said her immediate goal is to get under 18:30. “I’m so thankful that God has blessed me with a great family, a network supporting me and a body so I can run and I just hope to glorify him this season and keep improving and give it my all.”
 
Norton won the girls’ 3-2-1A team title with 73 points, 33 ahead of West Franklin. The Bluejays were led bya 6-7 finish from Emma Collins and Mackeznie Clydesdale.
 

 
CHANGE OF STRATEGY PAYS OFF FOR NEMAHA CENTRAL’S LANGILL
 
It was somewhat uncomfortable feeling for John Langill not to be among the lead pack when it crossed the mile mark of Saturday’s Class 3-2-1A boys race at the Wamego Invitational.
 
But Langill was right where the Nemaha Central senior needed to be.
 
“I usually like to get out hard,” Langill said. “But this race, my coach told me it was going to be so hot and this course is so hard, to only come out in 5:10, which is about 10 seconds slower than what I usually do. That really helped on the later miles because I’m usually toast by then. It really helped conserve my energy for those last two miles.
 
“It was kind of weird, but I just trusted my coach.”
 
The change of strategy paid off. Langill not only joined the lead pack shortly after the first mile, but slowly pulled away from the pack over the last half of the race. Langill built a sizable margin going into the last mile and had more than enough at the end to easily hold off his closest challengers to win by nearly nine seconds.
 
Langill clocked a time of 16 minutes, 21.77 seconds with runner-up Jacob Tonne of Smoky Valley Home Educators finishing second in 16:30.60.
 
“It was a pretty big confidence boost because last week I didn’t have a very good race,” said Langill, who was making his Wamego Invitational debut. “I was thinking about this race all week and what I was going to do. I was glad I was able to perform how I wanted to.”
 
The time was the third-best of his career, trailing only his times at the Marysville and Centralia Invitationals last season, his best a 16:07.96 at Centralia. It also was more than 50 seconds faster than his performance at this year’s season-opening Marysville Invitational.
 
Langill finished second at that meet in 17:11.86, 25 seconds behind Marysville senior Silas Miller. The two have had a solid rivalry throughout their high school careers though Miller has firmly held the upper hand.
 
In the 11 times they’d met up to Saturday’s race, Miller had beaten Langill every time. Three times, Langill was runner-up, including last year’s Sabetha Invitational and Class 3A regional meet. At last year’s 3A state meet, Miller took seventh and Langill was 10^th.
 
But after finishing second to Miller at Marysville to start this season, the Thunder senior finally got his man. Miller was in the lead pack early but couldn’t keep pace as Langill made his move and finished fifth in 16:45.20 – a second faster than his winning time a week earlier.
 
“It’s a good rivalry. Usually I get beat a lot more, but today I was able to get the win,” Langill said. “If he wasn’t there, I wouldn’t be as good as I am. I don’t think he would be nearly as good as he is if I wasn’t there. He’s a good person to race all the time, knowing there’s going to be someone to push me every race.”
 
Miller and his Bulldog teammates did edge Nemaha Central for third place in the team standings behind Smoky Valley Home Educators and Hutchinson Trinity.
 
Ell-Saline’s Carson Fouard and Garrison Zenger finished 3-4 individually.
 

 
EUDORA’S KELTNER FINALLY FEELS IT AT WAMEGO
 
It’s not like Hanna Keltner hasn’t had her share of success at the Wamego Country Club Course.
 
In her four previous trips to the course, the Eudora junior had never finished lower than fourth, including a runner-up Class 4A state finish as a freshman in 2021 and a third-place showing at state last fall – each season helping lead the Cardinals to a team state championship.
 
Yet there’s something – one particular thing, actually – about Wamego that’s just not been in Keltner’s wheelhouse.
 
“I’ve really struggled going up hills,” she said. “So Wamego was not my vibe.”
 
Keltner put a major emphasis on that weakness during the offseason and it paid off in her return to Wamego on Saturday. Keltner attacked the hilly terrain with a new gusto and turned in her best performance ever on the course.
 
In winning Saturday’s Class 4A race, Keltner finished in a time of 19 minutes, 1.31 seconds – more than a minute faster than her previous best of 20:04.20.
 
“This year, I’ve really focused on being mentally strong and working up those hills,” she said. “Today was just a really good race for me. I felt confidence in myself.”
 
And that vibe?
 
“The vibe is amazing,” she said. “Immaculate.”
 
Keltner’s time would have won last year’s 4A state title by 16 seconds with Clearwater’s Hayley Trotter taking her second consecutive crown in 2022 in 19:17.44, well ahead of Keltner and Eudora teammate Sydney Owens, who was second in 19:51.24.
 
With Trotter now gone, Keltner and Owens head up the list of challengers looking to ascend to the throne this season. Battling an illness leading up to Saturday’s race, Owens finished just 11^th, well off her customary position right along side Keltner.
 
Keltner said the prospects of winning an individual state title to go along with the team titles the Cardinals have collected is something she and Owens have discussed.
 
“To be a state champion individually would be an amazing feat,” Keltner said. “I look up to Hayley Trotter so much and she inspires me every day. All the 4A girls that have come out lately with state championships, Taylor Briggs (of Chapman, a four-time champion from 2017-20) – they inspire me so much and I want to inspire the next generation of people. Me and my best duo, Sydney, I tell her, ‘If you win the state championship, I’ll be so happy for you.’ And she’s said the same thing to me. We’re so supportive of each other.”
 
Likewise, Keltner said they’re both focused on delivering another team title for the Cardinals. Eudora was just fourth in the team standings on Saturday with Frontier League and 4A rival Baldwin two spots ahead in second.
 
Eudora returns five of last year’s seven state runners while Baldwin, runner-up as a team a year ago, also has its top five back.
 
“There is a high expectation and we know the pressure that’s been put on us,” Keltner said. “But we still have that amazing drive. We’re not going to be like, ‘Oh, we’ve won two state championships, we’re just going to call it good there.’ Three is a good number and we just want to keep that going.
 
“We have been training and motivating ourselves. We did a hill workout the other day and the hills were just like here at Wamego. If we can do these hills, we have a great chance at winning. This year we’ve been running in packs, upping those paces and always finding a partner to motivate and push each other. It’s been really fun.”
 
Christ Prep Academy ran away with the 4A girls race team title, placing five in the top 9 to score 30 points to finish 63 ahead of Baldwin. Southeast of Saline was third with 95 points and Eudora fourth with 116.
 

 
WALKER BROTHERS LEAD SOUTHEAST OF SALINE
 
One of the biggest strengths for Southeast of Saline during its recent run of success – three straight Class 3A state titles from 2018-20 and runner-up finishes the past two seasons – has been its depth.
 
Returning five of last year’s seven runners, that will be the case again this year. And it certainly showed up Saturday at Wamego.
 
With senior Levi Allen – the Trojans’ top returning state finisher from last year – battling an injury that kept him out of Southeast’s season-opening meet at Abilene on Aug. 31, Southeast hasn’t missed a beat.
 
Sophomore Brayden Walker and older brother Cayden, a senior, have posted back-to-back 1-2 finishes to lead the Trojans to team victories at both Abilene and Wamego. The Trojans competed in the 4A race at Wamego and scored 56 points to beat Buhler by 13 points.
 
“Our top four runners are all really good,” Brayden Walker said. “Two sophomores, two seniors and we’re hoping to win state. That’s the plan.”
 
Allen did race on Saturday, finishing eighth as one of four Trojans in the top 12. The Walker brothers led the way with Brayden winning in 16 minutes, 2.23 seconds, four seconds ahead of Cayden.
 
“I came into it not really thinking I was going to win, but thinking I could win,” Brayden said. “There were a few 4A runners we were kind of scared of. Well, not scared, but just trying to beat them.”
 
It was Cayden that got Brayden into cross country, enjoying success at the middle school level to prompt Brayden to give it a try. Brayden has held the upper hand during their time together in high school, though.
 
“Seeing his success in seventh grade pushed me,” Brayden said. “He’s beat me once during high school.”
 
Jacob Bircher added a 12^th for Southeast at Wamego after taking third behind the Walker brothers at Abilene. Chapman’s Drew Elliott finished third and Wamego’s Peyton Parker was fourth at Wamego.
 

 
CROSS COUNTRY STANDOUTS
 

• Seaman’s Ryin Miller broke the Vikings’ school record a year ago as a freshman when she ran an 18:36.38 at the Class 5A regional meet. Two races into her sophomore season, Miller not only has lowered her old record, but by a considerable margin. In winning the title at the Joe Schrag Invitational for the second straight year, Miller turned in a career-best time of 17:41.04 to break her old school record by 55 seconds as well as the Kanza Park course record. Her time is the fastest in the state so far this fall, less than a second ahead of three-time reigning 6A champion Anjali Hocker Singh of Olathe North (17:41.20) and defending 5A champion Katelyn Rupe of Salina Central (17:41.90). She led the Vikings to the team title as well.
• Shawnee Heights’ Jackson Esquibel won the boys’ race at the Joe Schrag Invitational, finishing in 15:28.20 to beat Leavenworth’s Jonathan Purvis by nearly 28 seconds. In the process, Esquibel broke the T-Birds' school record by 13 seconds. The victory was the second of the season for Esquibel who won the Basehor-Linwood Invitational to start the season, finishing in 16:06.10 to beat Spring Hill’s Logan Beckman by 11 seconds. Seaman put four in the top 11 to win the team title at the Joe Schrag meet.
• Manhattan senior Lucas Holdren is off to a big start after running for the Indian JV for parts of last season. Holdren opened the season with a win at the Manhattan Invitational, finishing in 15:53.30 to win by 46 seconds over Wamego’s Peyton Parker. He followed it up with a win Saturday at the Emporia Invitational, taking a 16-second win over Maize’s Kaleb Glazier in 16:36.30.
• Junction City’s Lorna Rae Pierce matched Holdren with sweeps of the titles at the Manhattan and Emporia Invitationals. Pierce topped Seaman’s Ryin Miller for the title at Manhattan, winning by 33 seconds in 18:56.70. She lowered her time to an 18:25.10 at Emporia, beating Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Taylor Barringer by 12 seconds for the title.
• Central Heights swept three of the four titles at the Lyndon Invitational with the boys getting a clean sweep. Cody Hammond and Connor Burkdoll went 1-2 in the boys’ race with Hammond edging his teammate by three and a half seconds in 17:13.02. They led the Vikings’ team title. Emma Cubit cruised to a 28-second win in the girls race, winning in 22:22.03 while the Viking girls took second as a team to Paola. Hammond also led a 1-2 Viking finish at the Burlington Invitational, winning in 17:19.19 to beat teammate Owen Miller by nine seconds.
• Riley County went 1-2 in the girls race at the Marysville Invitational to lead the Falcons to the team title. Anna Lambert won in 22:37.44, three seconds ahead of teammate Meredith Baumann.
•  Royal Valley’s Dominick Schnider picked up his second win of the season at the Holton Invitational, finishing in 18:45.00 to win the boys title by nearly 20 seconds. Schnider opened the season with a win at the Silver Lake Invitational, crossing in 17:55.63 to win by 27 seconds over Hiawatha’s Jordan Hodge. Holton’s Eva Cortes was the girls winner at Holton by a minute and a half in 22:11.90. Osage City’s Emory Speece was the girls winner at Silver Lake in 20:56.26, 30 seconds ahead of Rock Creek’s Livia Nippert.
• Southeast of Saline’s girls dominated the Abilene Invitational, going 1-2-3 individually and placing six in the top 10. Abby Commerford won in 22:02.60, followed by freshmen Anna Jackson and Piper Brown in second and third, both also under 22:30.
• Last year’s Class 3A state champion, Prairie View’s Bree Allen started off her season with an easy win at the Anderson County Invitational, finishing in 19:48.54 to win by 30 seconds.
• Valley Falls’ Grayson Coleman and Atchison County’s Leah Wilson took the titles at the Jefferson West Invitational. Coleman won the boys race by more than a minute in 21:02.90 while Wilson was the girls’ winner by nine seconds over Jefferson West’s Sophie Waters in 26:12.90.
• Oskaloosa’s girls went 1-2 and won the team title at the Mission Valley Invitational to start the season. Emma Vogel beat older sister Katelyn by 11 seconds for the title with Emma winning in 22:42.56. Council Grove’s Lakodah Downes was the boys winner by 17 seconds in 17:22.49.