10 CLASS 3A GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS TO WATCH IN 2024
 

BREE ALLEN, PRAIRIE VIEW
 
Allen hasn’t tasted defeat too much during her first three years at Prairie View, winning 17 of her 21 career high school races. That includes an undefeated sophomore season in which she went from Class 3A state runner-up as a freshman to the 2022 3A state champion. Last year as a junior, Allen toughened her schedule a bit and competed in the Rim Rock Classic, taking 10^th in her division with a career-best time of 18:44.30. She also won her second straight Pioneer League title and third straight Class 3A regional crown. But her bid for a repeat state championship was thwarted by Wichita Trinity Academy’s Emily Hein, who won by 47 seconds with Allen taking second. Allen got some revenge during track season, taking titles in the 3,200 and 1,600 for the second straight year, but will look to reclaim her cross country title this fall.
 

JENERA ARDERY, HOLCOMB

Ardery closed out a consistent junior season with a 13th-place effort at the 3A state meet, finishing in 20:29. She had five top-five finishes last season and took sixth at the regional. Her personal best was a 20:21.64 in the Lakin Invitational last year. Ardery is a three-time state qualifier in cross country. She placed eighth at state as a freshman and was 22nd as a sophomore. Ardery took third place in the Great West Activities Conference meet with a 21:51.30. She will look to become the first runner in program history to medal in three state cross country meets. 
 

PIPER BROWN, SOUTHEAST OF SALINE
 
The next wave of standout runners for Southeast of Saline’s girls program arrived last year with Brown being the head of a strong freshman class. She posted her best time of the season in her second race of the year at the Wamego Invitational, a 20:30.37 that placed her just 15^th in a deep 4A race. She spent the rest of her freshman season in the top 10, including a season-best third place at the Abilene Invitational. Brown finished eighth at her Class 3A regional and then earned a state medal with a 14^th-place finish at state, second among Trojans runners behind Breckyn Alderson as Southeast dominated for its fourth straight Class 3A state title. With Alderson and senior three-time state placer Abby Commerford not running for the Trojans this fall, Brown and fellow freshman state placer Anna Jackson (19^th) will be charged with leading a young team as the Trojans look for a fifth straight crown.
 

EMMA COLLINS, NORTON

Collins was one of several underclassmen to shine in Class 3A last season. She capped a tremendous freshman season with a fourth-place effort at state, clocking a 19:54.10. Collins took home first in four meets last year, winning the Goodland, Hays, Norton and Oberlin-Decatur invitationals. She set her personal record at the Hays invite with a 19:38.60. She didn’t finish worse than sixth in any race during her freshman campaign. Norton took third in 3A as a team last year. Collins should have a good chance of breaking Norton's school record of 19:25 held by Lexi Kats.
 

JANAE FUGITT, CIMARRON

Fugitt racked up seven race victories during her junior season last year. She earned a third-place finish at the 3A meet, clocking a personal-best 19:27.80. Fugitt is the reigning regional and Great West Activities Conference champion. Her other victories came at Lakin, Cimarron, Stanton County, Hugoton and South Gray. She never finished outside of third place in any race last year. Fugitt placed sixth at state as a sophomore and took 19th as a freshman.  

EMILY HEIN, WICHITA TRINITY

Hein, a junior, entered last year’s Class 3A state meet as a regional champion who had posted an impressive time earlier in the season at the Olathe Twilight. But she still pulled off a bit of a surprise with a runaway victory by more than 46 seconds over Prairie View’s Bree Allen, the 2023 state champion and 2022 runner-up. That helped the Knights finish second in the 3A team race. Hein’s winning time of 18:37.90 at Rim Rock Farm was nearly 2½ minutes faster than her state debut two years ago, when she finished 24^th. Hein ran a personal-best 5K of 18:00.90 at the NXR Heartland Regional two weeks after state. After finishing second to Allen in the 1,600 and 3,200 at the state track meet in May, the potential for an exciting showdown looms at season’s end.
 

BRECKYN HOWELL, WICHITA TRINITY

After finishing third in the Class 3A state race as a freshman in 2022, Howell continued to be an important part of the Knights’ success last season. While she didn’t surpass her first-year PR of 19:33.00 that won the Bishop Carroll Invitational, Howell consistently ran in the 20s and low-21s. Her season-best 20:07.13 came in a third-place finish at Trinity’s Wild Wind XC Festival. Howell was second to her Trinity classmate Emily Hein at the regional meet, and finished sixth at state with a time of 20:10.60. That helped Trinity finish second to Southeast of Saline in the team competition after a third-place showing in 2022.
 

LAYLA KISNER, SOUTHWESTERN HEIGHTS

Kisner is the reigning Hi-Plains League champion, winning the league meet in 21:35.04 for her first win of her high school career. She went on to take seventh at the regional meet and then capped her sophomore campaign with a 15th-place showing at state, finishing in 20:40. Kisner finished in the top three in six of her eight races last year. Her personal best is the 20:07.92 she ran at the Lakin Invitational.

 

ASHLEY LEHMAN, HESSTON

One of the state’s top sprinters and pole vaulters in the spring and summer, Lehman has been terrific for the Swathers for two cross country seasons as well. She won four races last season, including the Central Kansas League championship, and set Hesston’s 5K school record at 19:18.38 with her runner-up finish at the Council Grove regional. Lehman, who was second to Prairie View’s Bree Allen at state as a freshman, finished fifth in the 3A race last October with a time of 20:02.50. The reigning 3A 100, 200 and 400 champion, Lehman finished second this summer in the 800 in the AAU National Junior Olympics 15-16 age division. Her time of 2:09.93 ranked No. 3 all-time in Kansas.
 

EMORY SPEECE, OSAGE CITY
 
Speece came into high school undefeated as a junior high runner and though she hasn’t gone undefeated in her first two seasons for Osage City, she’s already made her mark on the program. Speece won two races as a freshman in 2022 and wound up taking eighth at the state meet. Last year, she opened the season with a win at the Silver Lake Invitational and then added three more runner-up finishes during the regular season, each time to eventual Class 1A state champion Ellei McCrory of Northern Heights. Speece set the school 5K record at The Orchard Invitational, running a 19:14, and after taking third at her regionals with another sub-20 time, Speece placed ninth at the Class 3A state meet in 20:17.70. Speece also holds Osage City’s school record in the 800 and will team with 10^th-place state finisher Jaiton Bosse to give the Indians a strong duo to lean on.