10 CLASS 2A BOYS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS TO WATCH IN 2024

?

 
CONNOR BURKDOLL, CENTRAL HEIGHTS
 
Heights’ 2024 senior class is second to none in Class 2A and proved as much a year ago at the state meet. Burkdoll was one of three Vikings to finish in the top seven as Heights cruised to its first state championship since 2018, taking a 13-point win over Hutchinson Trinity. Burkdoll finished sixth individually, crossing in 16:33.60 to just edge classmate and teammate Owen Miller by .10 seconds – the duo coming in 29 seconds behind teammate Cody Hammond. Burkdoll posted top-six finishes in every meet except the prestigious Rim Rock Classic and posted a season-best time of 15:57.37 at the Osage City Invitational. Burkdoll has two career victories in cross country and ranks second on the all-time 5K list behind Hammond as well as holding school track records in the 3,200 and 2-mile and on two relays. He teamed with Hammond, Miller and Christian McCord to set the Class 2A state meet record in the 3,200 relay last spring.
 

 
MICHAEL HAFFNER, HOXIE

Haffner’s sophomore season was highlighted by four first-place finishes, winning races at Quinter, Norton, Oberlin as well as the Mid-Continent League meet at Phillipsburg. He closed out the season with a 14th-place finish at the 2A state meet, running a personal-best 16:53.10, which is second on Hoxie’s school-record list for the state meet. Hoxie’s school record is 16:17, set by Gabriel Friess at Victoria in 2020. Haffner made a big jump from his freshman to sophomore season. He was 65th at state as a freshman and had a season-best time of 18:24:06 that season.

 

 
CODY HAMMOND, CENTRAL HEIGHTS
 
Hammond has been the lead dog in what is arguably the top senior trio in the state in any classification, joined by classmates Connor Burkdoll and Owen Miller. That group led Heights to its first state championship since 2018 as the Vikings topped a loaded field for the 2A state crown, winning by 13 points over Hutchinson Trinity. As he had most of his junior season when he won five meet titles, including his first Flint Hills League title, Hammond led the group at state, finishing runner-up to Kansas City Christian’s Andrew Schumacher. Hammond set the school 5K record with a 15:50.05 at the Osage City Invitational and wasn’t far off that time with his 16:04.30 at state. Hammond also holds school records in the 800, 1,600 and on two relays, including the 3,200 relay that set the 2A state meet record last spring.
 

 
JOHN LINDSTROM, HUTCHINSON TRINITY

Lindstrom had a remarkably consistent 2023 season for the Celtics, grouping all of his times within a 52-second window and running a personal-best 16.48.60 to finish 12^th in the Class 2A state meet at Wamego Country Club. One of Trinity’s three individual medalists along with classmate Cameron Kiser (15^th) and Lindstrom’s twin brother, Jacob (17^th), he led the Celtics to a second-place team finish behind Central Heights. Also a member of Trinity’s fifth-place team in 2022, Lindstrom enters his junior season with the 18^th fastest time in school history. He’s notched one cross country victory in each of his first two seasons and qualified for the state track meet last spring in the 1,600.
 

 
LUCAS MEREDITH, JEFFERSON COUNTY NORTH
 
A state qualifier in each of his first two seasons at North, Meredith made a big jump forward with his performances last year. As a freshman in 2022, he had just one race under 18 minutes, a 17:54.88 at the Lyle Alley Invitational. Last fall, he not only ran faster than that at all but two of his meets, but he went under 17 minutes for the first time with a career-best 16:46.24 at the Pleasant Ridge Invitational. After capturing the Northeast Kansas League title the following meet, Meredith took second at his Class 2A regional before finishing 20^th at state for his first state medal after taking 29^th as a freshman.
 

 
OWEN MILLER, CENTRAL HEIGHTS
 
The third member of Heights’ stellar senior trio, Miller really blossomed last year and his emergence was no small factor in the Vikings capturing the Class 2A state championship. After dipping under 18 minutes just once his sophomore season in 2022 – and by less than a second at that – Miller spent the last half of his junior season running in the 16s, including a career-best 16:08.03 at the Osage City Invitational that ranks him No. 3 all-time at Heights behind classmates Cody Hammond and Owen Burkdoll. Miller and Burkdoll nearly crossed in a photo finish at state with Miller taking seventh in 16:33.70, just .10 behind Burkdoll. He finished top five at every other meet last year (third in the Flint Hills League) except for the Rim Rock Classic, where he was 12^th. Miller also was on Heights’ 3,200 relay that set the 2A state track meet record last spring.
 

 
DAVIS MILTNER, MEDICINE LODGE

Miltner, a senior, came within two seconds of Medicine Lodge’s 5K school record last season with his 13^th-place finish as an individual qualifier at the Class 2A state meet. His time of 16:49.80 marked his first under 17 minutes and gave him his second state medal after he finished 18^th in his 2022 state debut. Miltner won a trio of 5K races last season, including the Central Plains League championship, and finished fourth at the Meade regional. He set a school record last spring in the 2A state 3,200, running 9:47.68 to finish fourth, and added a sixth-place finish in the 1,600.
 

 
THAYNE TROUT, BENNINGTON

Trout enters his senior season as the leader of a Bulldog team that has the experience – after graduating just one off its 2023 state roster – to improve on eighth-, 10^th- and seventh-place finishes in Class 2A during his career. He earned his second individual state medal in three tries last October, running a personal-best 16:37.50 to finish ninth at Wamego Country Club. Trout cut more than a minute off his previous best last season, when he ran 17:41.00 to finish fourth at the Heart of America League meet. He finished 20^th in his state debut at Victoria and 22^nd at Wamego as a sophomore. Trout set Bennington’s school record in the 1,600 in May, running 4:34.29 to finish seventh at the 2A state meet.
 

 
RYKER VIEUX, MEADE

Vieux closed out his sophomore season with the best run of his career, clocking a 16:42.80, which was good for 10th place at the 2A state meet. That time was also the third fastest performance in school history and fastest time for a sophomore in school history. He was the runner-up in the Class 2A regional in Meade with a 16:55.60 last year. Vieux was third at the Southern Plains Iroquois Activities Association meet with a 17:53.90. He also qualified for state as a freshman, taking 26th that year. Vieux helped the Buffaloes place second at state in 2022 and third in 2023.

 

 
GARRISON ZERGER, ELL-SALINE

With former teammate and four-time state medalist Carson Fouard off to run for Butler Community College, Zerger looks to add some final achievements to his own impressive running resume at Ell-Saline. Last fall, Zerger finished fifth at the Class 2A state meet – second best among underclassmen – and Fouard was eighth as the Cardinals’ lone boys qualifiers. Zerger, 11^th at state as a sophomore and 21^st as a freshman, ran a personal-best 16:23.80 at the NXR Heartland Regionals in November. He’ll give Fouard’s 5K school record of 16:12.88 a run this fall, and he already holds Bennington’s 800 record (2:00.66) with the 1,600 and 3,200 marks within reach.