Blue Comets finish fourth at state

Chanute falls two points shy of podium

WAMEGO — Two points shy of earning a podium spot, the Chanute Blue Comets boys placed fourth in the KSHSAA 4A Cross Country State Championships at Wamego Country Club on Saturday.

Host Wamego earned the state title with 54 points. Andale claimed runner-up with 99 points, followed by Buhler (119), Chanute (121), McPherson (144), Eudora (155), Pratt (173), Augusta (179), Rock Creek (203), Winfield (236), Bishop Miege (266) and Fort Scott (308).

“It stung pretty badly,” Chanute head coach Brett Rinehart said. “The kids were upset. We had a goal to get on the podium. That was a goal before the season with the group we had. It was a long-term goal of ours. To get that close and fall short stung pretty badly. But when you step back, you realize this is the best season the program ever had. The previous best was finishing fifth with two medalists. We got fourth with three medalists this year. This team is just leaps and bounds above anything we’ve ever had.”

Chanute entered the meet seeded second as a team. Andale, Buhler and Chanute’s average time of their top five runners were separated by 10 seconds.

“It was always going to be a true team effort to get on the podium and nothing was a given,” Rinehart said. “We were projected as the second best team coming in, but Andale and Buhler were on our heels. We can look anywhere on the team and there were places we could’ve gained a few spots. The blame isn’t on any one runner. They gave it their all.”

McPherson’s Caleb Muehler won the state title individually with a time of 15:54, edging out Wamego’s Peyton Parker by less than a second.

Tucker Applegate finished in eighth for Chanute with at ime of 16:48. Jaron Powers took 10th (16:50) and Easton Colborn 11th (17:01).

“They’ve done that all season — racing very well and pushing each other,” Rinehart said. “You can’t ask for much better than that from your top three runners. That puts you among the best in the state. They got out early and got into good position and fought with the lead pack. You could tell they were pushing hard at the very end. I’m proud of all three of them.”

Tyler Rowden placed 37th with a time of 18:00.

“He’s been an outstanding runner for us and I know he wanted to finish a little better than he did,” Rinehart said. “But we’re always getting 100% from him. Him and Jarynn Hockett on the girls’ side are the first runners in our program to start out at middle school and run all the way through their senior years. He’s turned into an impact runner for us. I know he was really hard on himself after the race. He still gave a great effort. I’m super proud of him.”

Rounding out Chanute’s boys finishers were Joshua Schoenhofer taking 85th (19:36), Mason Greve 89th (20:21) and Thien Mah 93rd (20:32).

In the girls’ race, Chanute’s Laney Hillmon finished 67th — stop it with the memes — with a time of 22:54.

“It was her first experience with state cross country and I was proud of her for making it and how she did,” Rinehart said. “She trained really hard over the summer and became a really good runner. This year was all about getting experience at state and she did. She improved her times. Next year, she can be in contention for a medal.”

Buhler won the team state title in the 4A girls race with 67 points, followed by Wamego (72), Baldwin (89), Eudora (99), Augusta (147), Clay Center (151), Pratt (176), Winfield (196), Louisburg (202), Paola (224), Rose Hill (241) and Fort Scott (314).

Baldwin’s Irelyn Kennedy won the individual state title with at ime of 18:57, 15 seconds ahead of Paola’s Ella Needham who took runner-up.

Looking ahead

Chanute’s boys graduate three key seniors — Jaron Powers, Easton Colborn and Tyler Rowden.

“Hopefully we can develop some of our JV runners,” Rinehart said. “We have a runner who was outstanding in middle school. It’ll be a rebuilding process, but our expectation will be to still be competitive on a league and regional level. I can’t say our expectation will be the podium, but it’s not off the table. We’ve got big shoes to fill with those three guys we’re losing. They’ve done a lot to change the culture for our program. Now we want to see that trickle-down effect.”