WAMEGO – Eudora’s Hanna Keltner got a good-luck text prior to the Class 4A girls cross country race from her former teammate and current University of Kansas freshman Sydney Owens.
 
If anybody understood what Keltner was chasing Saturday at Wamego Country Club, it was Owens. After a trio of top-three finishes at state, Owens ended her high school career with an individual title while leading the Cardinals to their second straight team crown.
 
Keltner, a senior, followed a similar script. After finishing second as a freshman, third as a sophomore and second to Owens a year ago, Keltner got her 4A individual title on a rain-soaked course by pulling away for a 33-second victory over Baldwin’s Irelyn Kennedy.
 
“My resume is runner-up, runner-up, third place, so this is really rewarding,” said Keltner, who briefly sat on a chair beyond the finish line with her head buried in her hands after finishing in 19:18.56.
 
Keltner, who recently committed to run collegiately at Kansas State, also helped Eudora finish second to Buhler in the team race after the Cardinals graduated Owens and three other seniors from last year’s championship team. Buhler scored 78 points to Eudora’s 89, which was one point ahead of third-place Baldwin.
 

“This year was definitely a rebuilding year for our team, so to see all these girls grow and be able to kind of coach them, it was an amazing opportunity,” Keltner said. “I am so grateful for each and every one of them.”

Keltner had time to collect her emotions at the finish line, thanks to an aggressive move midway through the race. She built a 7-second lead over Kennedy at the mile mark, then stretched it to 30 seconds with just over a mile to go.
 
“I kind of put the pedal down earlier than I planned,” said Keltner, who won seven races this fall, including the Rim Rock Farm Classic’s Blue division race. “I was going to hang with the pack a little bit before mile 2, but then I was like, ‘Why not just run?’ I just kind of went out and did my thing.”
 
While the quagmire conditions left Keltner nearly 25 seconds slower than her mid-September victory at the Wamego Invitational, she was well in control Saturday. Kennedy, last year’s fourth-place finisher, took second in 19:51.92. Paola freshman Ella Needham finished third in 20:00.97.
 
“It kind of felt like I was running on a treadmill at times because the mud was just stuck on my feet,” Keltner said. “But it was fun. It was definitely a cross country race.”
 
Additional fun for Keltner this season came through her leadership role. Teammates like juniors Addison Williams, Camila Garcia and Jade Le Vaou, sophomore Lizzie Baker and freshmen Emma Sarber and Leah Barnhart helped her take a wider view of the sport, she said.
 
“Once Sydney left and it was the first day of practice, I was like, ‘OK, now it’s my turn,’” Keltner said. “I learned from all the girls before me. I’ve had so many amazing team leaders, so I’ve taken little parts from each of them and used it.
 

“All these girls on this year’s team have an amazing, young energy, and I love it. You can teach them little things, and it helps me zoom out because sometimes I hone in a little bit on trying to be the best of the best. It’s nice to have a little fun now and then.”
 
Keltner rose from her chair after the race to hug Kennedy, her fellow Frontier League rival and probable frontrunner for next year’s title. After Needham’s impressive state debut, Clay Center’s tandem of Kylie Pfizenmaier and Lauren Smith finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
 

BUHLER GIRLS DETHRONE EUDORA FOR SECOND STATE TITLE
 
The audible yells from the maroon team tent on the Wamego Country Club course’s west side were a dead giveaway.
 
Buhler’s girls won their second 4A team championship and first since 2019.
 
Sophomore Corbin Starkweather and freshman Isabella Friesen posted top-15 finishes, and senior Ava Koster earned the first individual state medal of her career with a 19^th-place finish as the Crusaders posted an 11-point victory over two-time reigning champion Eudora. All of Buhler’s scoring placers were in the top 25.
 
“We talked with the girls yesterday and we said, ‘Honestly, this 4A group this year is pretty deep,’” Buhler coach Curtis Morgan said after Saturday’s race. “We could have finished anywhere from first to seventh. I felt pretty confident with how well we’ve been running late in the season, but when these girls got here, it was just a sense of business.
 
“They really wanted to go out and prove themselves and say, ‘Hey, we still belong at the top of the pack,’ and they ran well today. I was very proud of them.”
 

Starkweather continued a late-season surge that began with a personal-best 19:09.00 in a win at the Sterling Invitational. While her state time of 20:55.41 was indicative of the muddy conditions, it left her in 13th as Buhler’s top finisher, one spot ahead of Friesen, who ran 21:03.85 in her state debut.
 
Morgan had high praise for Koster, the lone senior on Buhler’s state squad who finished 83^rd and 47^th in two previous state appearances.
 
“Where she’s come from – her freshman year she was a 28-minuter,” Morgan said. “To come and finish 19^th at your last state meet, she really put it out there and I think she made a big difference today.”
 
Freshman Haylee Kinast and sophomore Audrey Foster also posted top-35 individual finishes and counted toward the Crusaders’ team score of 78. Buhler mirrored its method of its 2019 title, when it had three top-20 finishers but none in the top 10.
 
The Crusaders were followed by Baldwin and Eudora when they won their first state crown. Eudora took second Saturday behind Hanna Keltner’s individual title, while Irelyn Kennedy’s runner-up finish led Baldwin to third in the team race. Augusta, led by senior Madison Busch’s 10^th-place finish, took fourth.

 
CLASS 4A GIRLS
 
TEAM SCORES
 
Buhler 78, Eudora 89, Baldwin 90, Augusta 108, Clay Center 115, Holton 120, McPherson 158, Wamego 159, Winfield 197, Fort Scott 278, Wellington 286, Labette County 289.
 
INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS
 
1. Hannah Keltner, Eudora, 19:18.56; 2. Irelyn Kennedy, Baldwin, 19:51.92; 3. Ella Needham, Paola, 20:00.97; 4. Kylie Pfizenmaier, Clay Center, 20:03.55; 5. Lauren Smith, Clay Center, 20:09.89; 6. Elliot Wrench, Hayden, 20:11.94; 7. Brett Jacobson, Circle, 20:28.70; 8. Eva Cortes, Holton, 20:37.85; 9. Shea Griffith, Baldwin, 20:38.76; 10. Madison Burch, Augusta, 20:42.02; 11. Ava Clayton, Holton, 20:46.49; 12. Ella Aquino, Bishop Miege, 20:51.99; 13. Corbin Starkweather, Buhler, 20:55.41; 14. Isabella Friesen, Buhler, 21:03.85; 15. Kimberlin Lovell, Rose Hill, 21:06.63; 16. Arwyn Hennessy, Andale, 21:15.15; 17. Sophia Van Asselt, Bishop Miege, 21:17.70; 18. Maya Doney, Holton, 21:18.53; 19. Ava Koster, Buhler, 21:23.01; 20. Lucia Nippert, Rock Creek, 21:26.35.