WAMEGO – When Irelyn Kennedy burst onto the scene as a freshman for Baldwin in 2022, placing seventh at the Class 4A state meet as the lone freshman in the top 14, it seemed only a matter of time before she took her place in Baldwin history as an individual state champion.
 
But her ascent to the top wasn’t an easy one.
 
While Kennedy remained a force in Class 4A, she found her path to a state title blocked by the Eudora tandem of Sydney Owens and Hanna Keltner, who took the championship the past two seasons.
 
Kennedy stayed the course and bided her time and Saturday she reached the pinnacle. Pulling away from another Frontier League rival, Paola’s Ella Needham, midway through the race, Kennedy left no doubt it was her time, winning by 15 seconds in 18:57.08.
 
“Climbing the ladder,” Kennedy said. “I was ready this year.”
 

 
When Kennedy arrived in the Baldwin program as a freshman in 2022, challenging for a state title was the furthest thing from her mind. It took her a bit to get accustomed to the high school scene as she didn’t post a top-10 finish in her first five meets with a top finish of a 15th at Baldwin’s Maple Leaf Classic.
 
But the next week, she won the title at the Sabetha Invitational and that seemed to flip the switch. Kennedy didn’t finish lower than seventh at her final three meets, capping the season with her seventh-place finish at state with a then-career-best time of 20:34.62.
 
“When I was a freshman I didn’t think I’d ever break 19, maybe 20,” she said. “I think as I’ve grown as a runner, my dreams have gotten bigger and I’m someone that chases my goals and I don’t like to lose.”
 
Kennedy never finished lower than seventh at a meet her sophomore year and consistently posted times in the 19-minute range with a best of 19:09.10 at the state meet that placed her fourth behind Owens, Keltner and Clay Center’s Lauren Smith.
 
She came back last year and got her third career victory at Sabetha and added four more runner-up showings, the last of those coming at the state meet to Keltner. A week earlier, she had broken 19 minutes for the first time in her career with an 18:48.00 at regionals.
 
All those races with Frontier League rivals Owens and Keltner in the past and Paola’s Needham the past two seasons have kept Kennedy sharp in her pursuit of a state title.
 
“Those girls are super-tough competitor and along the way just learning how to compete like that was big for me,” she said. “Learning to do what works for you. And they taught me that none of this defines me. I am who I am. I’m a light and a bad race can’t take that away.”
 
This season, Kennedy won four of the six races she competed in with her only losses coming at the Baldwin Invitational and the Rim Rock Classic. After taking two weeks off after Rim Rock, she swept the league and regional titles.
 
Still she went into state perhaps a slight underdog with Buhler’s Corbin Starkweather holding the top time in Class 4A 12 seconds after running an 18:49.80 at the Sterling Invitational. Kennedy had finished well ahead of Starkweather at the Wamego Invitational early in the season, however, and won that race by more than 40 seconds ahead of her next-closest 4A challenger.
 
Knowing what worked for her in September, Kennedy applied it in her return to the Wamego Country Club course on Saturday. With both Starkweather and Needham right with her at the midway point of the race, Kennedy made her move to gain separation.
 
“I don’t have the best kick so getting them in the middle of the race, that’s what I go for,” Kennedy said. “You definitely have to be mentally tough to do that here because of those hills. Doing those moves in the middle of the race keep me from being negative and that’s big for me. I’ve had super-hard mental battles in the past of not believing I was enough. But I’ve grown as a runner and acknowledged that’s a lie and I can do it.”
 
Kennedy steadily put distance between herself and Needham to win in a season-best 18:57.08. Needham finished second in 19:12.96, just ahead of Starkweather, who was third in 19:14.33.
 

 
And with that, Kennedy cemented her place in Baldwin’s rich history, which had produced countless individual and team state champions.
 
“I am so blessed to rep Baldwin,” Kennedy said. “All the coaches at Baldwin, they’re just the biggest supporters and show the best love. … I felt a lot of pressure after being the top runner on the team my freshman year. We’ve got a serious tradition, but our team is a family. Stepping into that and being a state champion for Baldwin is such a blessing.”
 
Kennedy and Baldwin fell just short in their bid to bring home another team title for the program. The Bulldogs were right in the mix of what was expected to be a tight battle for the title, but wound up taking third at Buhler won with 67 points, five ahead of Wamego and 22 ahead of Baldwin, which took third with 89 points.
 
Buhler was led by Starkweather’s third-place finish but also got a fourth from Isabella Friesen (19:28.16). Pfizenmaier finished fifth for Clay Center in 19:41.05.
 

 
Wamego’s runner-up team showing was led by Shayne Pittenger-Reed, who took sixth in 19:54.16, and Elsie Rickstrew, who was eighth in 20:04.04. Baldwin also got a seventh from Shea Griffith (20:00.52) while Circle’s Brett Jacobson (ninth, 20:07.54) and McPherson’s Adeline Kramer (20:24.19) rounded out the top 10.
 
CLASS 4A GIRLS
 
INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS
 
1. Irelyn Kennedy, Baldwin, 18:57.08; 2. Ella Needham, Paola, 19:12.96; 3. Corbin Starkeweather, Buhler, 19:14.33; 4. Isabella Friesen, Buhler, 19:28.16; 5. Kylie Pfizenmaier, Clay Center, 19:41.05; 6. Shayne Pittenger-Reed, Wamego, 19:54.16; 7. Shea Griffith, Baldwin, 20:00.52; 8. Elsie Rickstrew, Wamego, 20:04.04; 9. Brett Jacobson, Circle, 20:07.54; 10. Adeline Kramer, McPherson, 20:24.19; 11. Livia Nippert, Rock Creek, 20:24.30; 12. Colleen Murphy, Wamego, 20:26.66; 13. Ragan Pfeifer, Augusta, 20:27.37; 14. Rebecca Skov, Augusta, 20:29.47; 15. Claire Buessing, Rock Creek, 20:29.68; 16. Lucia Nippert, Rock Creek, 20:30.13; 17. Evanni Chalmers, Winfield, 20:30.49; 18. Emilia Mast, Eudora, 20:37.56; 19. Ayvah Banda, Andale, 20:39.99; 20. Tara Girard, Pratt, 20:46.08.