Class 4A Cross Country Review

Class 4A was a fun class to watch with some surprises and great races in the state championship battles.

Other State Reviews:
Class 6A
Class 5A
My predictions this year were either spot on or nowhere near. There was no middle ground this season. In the introduction for each class I will put the percent of places I got exactly correct and the percent of runners and teams I got right, but ended up in a different order.

Class 4A Predictions Review
Percent of predictions spot on: 52.5% (9 of 16)
Percent correct but different order: 87.5% (14 of 16)

I was spot on for all three of the teams on both the girls and the guys. I figured that Mulvane would get three in the top five, but missed the order.

Notes from State
-Morgan Wedekind left no doubt as to who the best 4A runner was this year. She took out early and cruised to a 26-second victory. I will always wonder what would have been if Valley Center would have stayed in 5A this year. Clifton, Maki, Balch and Wedekind are in a class by themselves, but what order will always be a little fuzzy unless the three ladies battle it out in track. (KU Relays maybe?)

-The best race for a state championship easily came out of the 4A boys race. Riley Woodward of Wamego and Evan Landes of Mulvane came streaking around the corner towards the 150 meters or so the finish right together. Landes pulled ahead with about 50 meters to go and looked to have had it, but Woodward surged on his home course to take Landes by less than a half a second.

-That race is what makes cross country great. Even after three miles of racing, it still comes down to a sprint.

-Props to Cheyenne Becker of Pratt. She kind of got left out in the wake of what Wedekind pulled off, but the Pratt harrier stepped up in her second season at the state meet and took second. Defending champion Molly Milbourn finished third.

-Brooke Vining finished off her high school career with a stellar fifth place finish. If Page Miller doesn’t transfer this year, then Valley Center would have been right in the mix for a spot on the podium in third place as a team.

-The Mulvane dynasty might be coming to a close, but it definitely went out with a bang if the run is over. The Wildcats put three runners in the top five and five in the top 16 to romp to a 21-point victory. The Wildcats do return Landes and Lockwood, but lose their three through five.

-The youth on the boys side makes me really excited to see what next year will bring in 4A. Seven of the top 10 are returning next season.

Looking ahead:
Girls
-Only 29 of the 103 runners at the state meet were seniors, so there will be a wealth of returners next season. All of the top four will return and five of the top 10.

-Graduation this year is a case of the rich getting richer this next season. Five of the top seven teams return six runner from this season, but Baldwin will be the odds on favorite to win it again next year. It returns all of its top five from this season’s team that won the meet by 52 points. That program has experience and tradition working for it next season. I like its chances.

-El Dorado returns all seven of its runners from its sixth place team.

Boys
- Of the 103 runners that crossed the finish line at state, 38 of them will be graduating this spring. Seven of the top ten return and six of the top seven will be back next fall.

-Mulvane is hurt by graduation in a major way. It returns the top two runners and the seventh runner from its team state championship team, but Wamego looks to have a stronger team returning with its top four and six of its top seven coming back.

-Baldwin will be strong next year as well as it returns all seven of its runners from this season’s team. One of its runners had to stop due to injury during the state meet or Baldwin may have broken into the top three.

-DeSoto is the other top program losing a lot to graduation. It will only return its one, five and seven runners next season. Mulvane and DeSoto will likely just reload as there is a wealth of JV ability in both programs.

Hugoton will look to move up from seventh as it returns its top six runners next season.

Who do you think will be good next year? What programs have some JV runners or runners who were injured that could make noise next year? Leave a comment or contact me at cparker@kwch.com.