Eva Cortes simply was not herself during the 2022 cross country season.
 
Coming off a solid freshman fall season in 2021 that saw her post her best two times in her final races, the Holton junior hoped she had built some momentum to carry over into her sophomore season.
 
Instead, she spent all of last fall battling health issues stemming from a bout of COVID just prior to her freshman track season. She developed exercise-induced asthma, vocal cord dysfunction and inflamed lungs.
 
“I started to get better during cross country last year, but I still wasn’t 100%,” Cortes said. “It was better than my track season my freshman year, but it still wasn’t where I wanted to be. It was pretty frustrating, especially track my freshman year. I got last in a lot of races.”
 
Cortes began to get her health issues under control last spring and during track knocked four minutes off her top 3,200 time from her freshman year. Fully healthy this fall, Cortes is delivering on the promise she had coming into high school after being a two-time Big Seven League champion as a seventh and eighth-grader.
 
Having never broken 23 minutes in the 5K during her first two high school seasons, Cortes blew that milestone away in her first meet of the 2023 season at the Basehor-Linwood Invitational. Facing a field of mostly 5A runners, Cortes more than held her own and turned in a time of 20 minutes, 4.40 seconds that topped her previous career best by more than three minutes.
 
She’s only built from there. At her next meet, the Wildcats’ home meet, Cortes recorded her first career win despite running two minutes slower than she did at Basehor.
 
Cortes eclipsed the 20-minute mark for the first time at the Wamego Invitational, going a career-best 19:56.51 to finish seventh in the 4A race. She followed that up with her second victory of the season at the Hiawatha Invitational.
 
Last Saturday, Cortes made history becoming the first Wildcat to ever finish in the top 10 at the prestigious Rim Rock Classic in Lawrence.
 
“I was pretty excited all of last track season for cross country,” Cortes said. “I put in a lot of work this summer and I was looking forward to some good things. I always feel like I can do better, but I think that’s an every runner kind of thing, after you finish a race you’re thinking you can do better. But I’ve been happy with how this season started so far.
 
Cortes finished seventh in the girls’ Blue Division at Rim Rock, crossing in 20:19.10. She was well behind winner Ellei McCrory of Northern Heights, who won in 18:47.10, and runner-up Lauren Smith of Clay Center (19:23.00), but was right in the mix for a top-three finish, with 14 seconds separating third through seventh.
 
“I definitely started off a little bit too fast,” Cortes said. “Those hills killed me. But I was happy how I did considering how many people are in that race.”
 
With a month left to build on her early success, Cortes has goals in mind. She wants to add a Big Seven League title to the two she won in middle school. A top-five finish at state is also on the list and with the 4A state meet at Wamego, she’s ready for a second shot at that course.
 
“It definitely taught me how I want to race it at state,” Cortes said of the early September Wamego Invitational. “Maybe start off a little slower the first mile and then speed up the second and third mile so I’m not dead at the end.”
 
OTHER CROSS COUNTRY STANDOUTS
 

• Northern Heights’ McCrory continued her impressive freshman season at Rim Rock with her runaway win in the Blue Division race. Her time of 18:47.10 trimmed nearly two seconds off her season best at the Wamego Invitational and gave the Wildcat her fourth win overall this season. She’s far and away the Class 1A leader this season, coming in a minute ahead of Elyria Christian’s Laney Reiff. Heights was Class 2A last year, but dropped to 1A for the 2023-24 school year.
• Clay Center’s Lauren Smith was less than four seconds off her career-best with her 19:23.00 in a runner-up finish to McCrory at Rim Rock. Heritage Christian’s Hannah Thong took fifth in the race, Osage City’s Emory Speece was eighth and Rock Creek’s Lucia Nippert took ninth.
• Seaman’s Ryin Miller added another prestigious accomplishment to her resume with a win in the girls’ Crimson Division at Rim Rock. Miller won that race in 18:55.00, beating Smith Center freshman Madison Howland by 11 seconds. The state leader going into the weekend, Miller saw Salina Central’s Katelyn Rupe take it over in winning the girls’ Gold Division in 17:33.10, eight seconds faster than Miller’s 17:41.04 at the Joe Schrag Invitational.
•  Junction City’s Lorna Rae Pierce finished third in the Gold Division behind Central’s Rupe and teammate Kaylie Shultz, coming in at 18:23.20. Washburn Rural’s Payton Fink was fifth and Prairie View’s Bree Allen took 10^th.
• Shawnee Heights’ Jackson Esquibel captured the boys’ Crimson Division title at Rim Rock, beating Bishop Carroll’s Dustin Stephenson by 14 seconds with his winning time of 15:57.00. It was Esquibel’s third win of the season. Leavenworth’s Jonathan Purvis was fifth, Chapman’s Drew Elliott took sixth and Seaman’s Brody Anderson was ninth.
• Kansas City Christian’s Andrew Schumacher posted a runner-up finish in the boys’ Blue Division at Rim Rock, taking second to Wichita Collegiate’s Will Meyer by eight seconds in 16:24.80. West Franklin’s Hunter Bailey was fifth while Schumacher’s teammate, Spencer Mumford, was seventh. Central Heights’ Cody Hammond took 10^th.
• Wabaunsee standout Payton Wurtz made her season debut at the Chargers’ home Jason McKinney Memorial Invitational and picked up right where she’s left off for much of her career. Wurtz won the race by more than two minutes in 21:12.85. Freshman teammate Adalynn Miller was runner-up in 23:21.82.
• Olpe’s Kaleb Arnold won the boys’ race at Wabaunsee in 18:05.93, more than a minute and a half ahead of second.
• Elyria Christian’s Laney Reiff also made her season debut at the Marion Invitational and made it a winning won. Reiff’s time of 19:55.00 topped Hillsboro’s Riley Richert by 51 seconds and was the fastest in 1A this season before Heights dropped to 1A early this week.
• Axtell’s Grady Buessing won his second straight race, taking first at the Nemaha Central Invitational after winning the title at Onaga a week earlier. Buessing posted a season-best time of 17:26.40, which is less than five seconds off his career best.
• Nemaha Central’s Madilyn Mosteller was the girls’ winner at Nemaha, edging Washington County’s McKenzie Baker by 13 seconds for the title in 22:40.00.
• With teammate Bree Allen sitting out the Prairie View’s home meet to rest for Rim Rock, Buffalo freshman Laramie Stevens took advantage and won the girls’ race, leading a 1-2 finish with junior teammate Wylie Teagarden. Stevens won in 22:36.12, 27 second ahead of Teagarden.
• Beloit’s Brogan Monty took the boys’ title at the Republic County Invitational, winning by 19 seconds over Clifton-Clyde freshman Cohen Girard in 18:54.40. Concordia freshman Hannah Bridwell was the girls’ winner in a tight race with Republic County’s Ellie Callaway with Bridwell nipping Callaway by two seconds in 20:37.40.
• Jefferson West’s Guy Phillips took the boys’ title at the Royal Valley Invitational, winning by nearly a minute in 19:35.80. Wamego freshman Shayne Pittinger-Reed won the girls race in 22:16.85.

 

 
GOLF STANDOUTS
 

• Manhattan dominated Monday’s Centennial League Tournament to claim the league title for the first time since 2000. The Indians posted a team score of 317 to beat runner-up Washburn Rural by 21 shots. Freshman Maddie Myers led a 1-2-3-4 individual finish for the Indians, shooting a 77 to beat teammate Kat Ball by two shots for the title. Lily Bahr shot an 80 to take third and Wrenn Burton tied for fourth with Washburn Rural’s Reece Randall, each shooting an 81.
• Seaman swept the titles at the United Kansas Conference meet for the second straight season, taking team and individual vitories. Jaycee Zimmerman shot a 79 to beat Topeka West’s Alex Baxter by two shots for the individual title and the Vikings placed four in the top five and five in the top seven to run away with the team title, their 338 score 48 shots better than runner-up Shawnee Heights. Makenna Stuke (83), Avery Samuelson (86) and Kaitlynn Frye (90) finished 3-4-5 and Riley Adams (93) was seventh.
• Wamego’s Addison Douglass already scored one big victory this season, winning the Washburn Rural Great Plains Classic earlier this month. On Monday, she came as close as possible to adding another. Going up against a field of mostly 5A and 6A schools at the Bishop Carroll Invitational, Douglass shot a 75 to tie Kapaun Mt. Carmel freshman Ximena Sarinana for low score at Wichita’s Rolling Hills Country Club. She ended up runner-up after a playoff but helped the Red Raiders to a season-best score of 478 with Sara Springer taking sixth with an 84 and four others shooting season bests.
• Silver Lake went 1-2 individually and put four in the top 10 to take the title at Monday’s Jefferson West Invitational, shooting a team score of 332 to beat the host Tigers by 17 shots. Klara Kleinig shot a 74 to win the individual title – her fifth of the season -- beating teammate Taylor Zordel by five shots. Santa Fe Trail’s Braegan Buessing was third with an 80.
• Jefferson West’s Taylor Rowe shot a 41 to win the Council Grove Invitational by one shot over Manhattan’s Jessica and Jennifer Kim. St. Marys won the team title with a 154, 19 shots ahead of West.

 

 
VOLLEYBALL STANDOUTS
 

• Valley Heights captured the title at the Axtell Invitational for the first time since 2018, going 6-0 on the day without losing a set. The Mustangs topped Falls City (Neb.) Sacred Heart 25-21, 25-16 in what was essentially the finals in the round-robin tourney and only had one other match where they allowed 20 points in a game, a 26-24, 25-18 win over Diller-Odell (Neb.).
• Osage City’s Campbell Stark recorded her 1,000^th career kill at Saturday’s West Franklin Invitational.
• Perry-Lecompton took the title at the West Franklin Invitational, going 5-0 to improve to 15-5 overall. The Kaws topped West Franklin 25-20, 25-9 in the semifinals before taking a 25-20, 25-14 win over Maranatha in the championship match.
• West Franklin’s Haydan Walters recorded a whopping 36 kills in a double-dual with Olpe on Sept. 18. Walters also added 5 blocks, 7 aces, 23 digs and had a 2.5 serve receive rating as the Falcons swept Olpe. West Franklin is 11-9 on the season with Walters having recorded 155 kills and 29 aces.
• After already going over 1,000 kills in her career, Beloit’s Mylie Brown topped the 1,000-dig mark in her career last week. Brown, who recently committed to Fort Hays State, has helped the Trojans to 14 straight wins and a 17-2 record overall.
• With teammates Kelsi Ko, Ava Potter and Maddie Heim all hitting milestones, Pleasant Ridge libero Bela Major got in on the fun, going over 500 digs and 500 kills in her career. The Rams are 13-4 and undefeated in Northeast Kansas League play – all four losses coming to 4A programs.
• Clifton-Clyde finished runner-up at the Wakefield Invitational, falling 26-28, 25-022, 25-19 to Bennington in the finals. 
• Hanover improved to 9-0 in Twin Valley League play with a sweep of Clifton-Clyde and Linn on Tuesday. The Wildcats have a two-game lead on Valley Heights, Frankfort and Doniphan West.
• Lebo moved to 3-0 in Lyon County League play and 17-2 overall with a sweep of Hartford and Southern Coffey County on Tuesday. Burlingame is also 3-0 in league play after beating Marais des Cygnes Valley.
• Nemaha Central took second at the Wamego Invitational, going 3-0 in pool play and then beating Rock Creek 25-17, 25-20 in the semifinals before falling 27-25, 25-23 in the finals to 4A-ranked Circle. The loss was just the third this season for the Thunder, who ware 24-3 overall and 8-0 in Big Seven League play after sweeping Sabetha and Royal Valley on Tuesday.
• Emporia continues to have a big season, moving to 17-1 with a sweep of Baldwin and Tonganoxie on Monday. The Spartans topped Tonganoxie 25-16, 25-15 before rallying to beat Baldwin 19-25, 28-26, 25-20 in a thriller. Jade Xu had 15 kills and Sadie Rethman added 13 in the win over Baldwin, each also getting 5 aces. Rethman also had 13 kills against Tonganoxie.
• Southeast of Saline captured the title at the Lyons Invitational, beating Ellinwood 25-22, 25-18 in the finals. The Trojans scored a huge upset in the semifinals, knocking off Class 1A Division I Little River 25-19, 26-24, handing the Redskins just their second loss of the season.
• After meeting in the finals of the Seaman Invitational last year, Olathe Heritage Christian topped host Seaman for third place in this year’s tournament, taking a 25-14, 26-24 win in their match. Heritage won its pool but then fell 25-17, 25-23 to Maize South in the semifinals. The loss was just the third on the season for the Chargers, who are 19-3 overall. Seaman went 3-2 in the loaded tourney and is now 19-4 on the season.