WAMEGO – Remington coach Jacob Gerber called it storybook, and how could you argue?
 
Relegated to second place in Class 2A girls cross country each of the past four seasons – first by Stanton County and its star runner Chesney Peterson, then in 2023 by Sacred Heart – the Broncos finally had their shining moment Saturday at Wamego Country Club. And it couldn’t have been more dramatic.
 
Tied with Heart of America League rival Berean Academy in the five-runner scoring system with 108 points, the teams needed their sixth runners to break the deadlock. Gerber’s cousin, Joely, a sophomore in her first season of cross country, came through. Her 45^th-place finish among team qualifiers and 65^th-place finish overall edged Berean’s No. 6 runner, Ellie Good, by four spots and gave the Broncos their first state championship.
 

“There have been some heartbreaks in there,” said Jacob Gerber, whose team came within three points of Stanton County at the 2021 state meet. “To come back this year and have a relatively new squad, and have it come down to a tiebreaker with your rival to win and break your streak, in the conditions that it was, that’s storybook.”
 
Remington and Berean engaged in close battles prior to state. Remington edged the Warriors by five points for the HOA title, while Berean returned the favor with an eight-point victory at the Marion regional.
 
A steady rain that soaked the state meet course couldn’t drown the sense another tight competition was at hand.
 
Gerber hadn’t been the first to know Remington’s team fate at state the last couple of seasons. But on Saturday morning, with the Broncos drying under a tent following their run, the race results loaded on his phone.
 
“I was standing outside the tent and walked back in, kind of still processing things with the score the way it was,” Gerber said. “I just quietly said, ‘Guys, we won.’ Everybody started going nuts. It was a pretty cool scene.”
 
Each Bronco certainly had a tale to tell.
 
Junior Chelsea Willour, the Heart of America champion and Marion regional runner-up, led Remington’s all-underclassmen lineup with a fourth-place finish. Her time of 20:45.12 produced her best state finish in three seasons after she took 12^th as a freshman and ninth as a sophomore.
 
“To get in that top five, that’s something we had our eye on all year for her, especially after track season,” Gerber said. “I felt she really came into her own as a two-miler toward the end of track. She’s just a gritty runner.”
 
The Broncos also got a 10^th-place finish from Alyssa Klingenberg, one of three freshmen on Remington’s state roster. Klingenberg, coming off a personal-best 20:05.60 at the Marion regional, finished her first state meet in 21:17.37.
 
Junior Kassi Peters finished 28^th, her best showing in three state appearances. But more importantly, she came in one spot ahead of Berean’s Autumn Hirsch and two in front of Berean’s Addie Busenitz with her time of 22:09.15.
 
“When it comes that close, it comes down to everybody,” Gerber said. “Kassi beat some girls she hadn’t beaten all year. She passed those girls in the last quarter of the race. That’s a point swing that was huge for us.”
 
The rest of Remington’s lineup highlighted the family bonds of the championship team. Taylor Willour, Chelsea’s younger sister, finished 53^rd. Junior Lily Ralston was 58^th and her younger sister, Ruby, took 71^st. Both are daughters of Remington assistant Maria Ralston.
 
Then there was Joely Gerber, the unexpected heroine for the Broncos who got news of the tiebreaker from her cousin and coach.
 
“She immediately put her hands to her mouth and the tears just started going,” Jacob Gerber said. “It was very raw emotion.”
 
Berean, which was bidding for its first state title since 2012, took the runner-up spot without a state medalist. Junior Addelyn Turpin crossed the line in 21:56.48 – nine seconds shy of a top-20 spot – and finished 22^nd. Hirsch was 29^th (22:13.61), Busenitz finished 30^th (22:17.40), sophomore Aubrianne Brisco was 35^th (22:39.49) and sophomore Aubrey Harder 40^th (22:54.67).
 
Hoxie used a sixth-place finish from junior Taegan Lindenman to claim third place with 132 points, eight ahead of Oskaloosa. Central Heights finished fifth and Sacred Heart was sixth in its title defense.
 

SMITH CENTER’S HOWLAND MAKES IT 2 FOR 2 IN 2A
 
Leading off Saturday’s rain-soaked race schedule at Wamego Country Club, Smith Center sophomore Madison Howland was among the first to critique the elements after winning her second 2A individual title.
 
“It was kind of exhilarating,” Howland said.
 
Howland stayed in close contact with Wabaunsee senior Payton Wurtz and Eureka junior Rose Buck through the first mile, then opened a gap on her way to winning the state race by more than 30 seconds in back-to-back seasons. Howland posted a time of 18:50.76 to outduel Wurtz, who finished second in 2A for the third time in 19:23.10.
 
Howland’s winning time was more than 12 seconds slower than her 2023 state victory over Ellis’ Avery Boydston, who dropped down in classification with the Railroaders this season and won the 1A title on Saturday. But after winning last year’s race by nearly 38 seconds, Howland again was able to steadily build a lead after hitting the mile mark in a dead heat with Wurtz and Buck, who finished third in 20:17.93.
 

“It was definitely harder than last year, especially going around those turns,” Howland said. “But I had more self-confidence this year.”
 
And why not? After capping her sensational freshman season with a state title, Howland went unbeaten as a sophomore. She won the Rim Rock Classic’s Crimson race in late September against a field that included Class 5A standouts Madelyn Wallace and Jordyn Cleary of Andover, and 4A runner-up Irelyn Kennedy of Baldwin. She primed for state by cracking the 18-minute barrier for the first time (17:52.45) at the Norton regional.
 
“I just think I’ve gained more confidence in my abilities,” Howland said. “I’ve been training harder and getting better at hills this year.”
 

While Howland’s emergence prevented Wurtz from finishing her career with a state title, Saturday’s finish marked a bit of a rebound for the Wabaunsee standout from 2023, when she finished fifth. Wurtz was runner-up to Stanton County great Chesney Peterson in each of her first two state appearances.
 
Meanwhile, Buck posted her third top-10 finish at state, improving on a ninth-place showing in 3A her freshman year and sixth in 2A a year ago. She missed the first month of the season dealing with shin splints from offseason training.
 
After Buck, Remington’s Chelsea Willour finished fourth, leading the Broncos to their first team title. Republic County senior Ellie Callaway finished fifth, a two-place improvement from last year’s 2A meet.

 
CLASS 2A GIRLS
 
TEAM SCORES
 
Remington 108 (45), Berean Academy 108 (49), Hoxie 132, Oskaloosa 140, Central Heights 143, Sacred Heart 148, Ellinwood 150, Kansas City Christian 177, Wabaunsee 193, Hillsboro 216, Sterling 226, Republic County 241.
 
INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS
 
1. Madison Howland, Smith Center, 18:50.76; 2. Payton Wurtz, Wabaunsee, 19:23.10; 3. Rose Buck, Eureka, 20:17.93; 4. Chelsea Willour, Remington, 20:45.12; 5. Ellie Callaway, Republic County, 20:49.64; 6. Taegan Lindenman, Hoxie, 20:57.58; 7. Quinlyn Funk, Hillsboro, 21:00.80; 8. Caroline Stone, Sacred Heart, 21:12.00; 9. Josephine Willhite, KC Christian, 21:14.73; 10. Alyssa Klingenberg, Remington, 21:17.37; 11. Mia Hamilton, Sacred Heart, 21:21.63; 12. Reagan Neal, Bluestem, 21:23.68; 13. Britta Mongeau, Eureka, 21:27.04; 14. Kallan Rothchild, WaKeeney-Trego, 21:30.36; 15. Eleanor Joiner, Ellinwood, 21:36.86; 16. Julia Kilgore, Sterling, 21:38.18; 17. Joleigh Mazanec, Wichita County, 21:39.75; 18. Jenna Borror, Ellinwood, 21:45.18; 19. Lillian Hoffman, Udall, 21:45.22; 20. Riley Richert, Hillsboro, 21:47.47.