KANSAS STATE MEET

St. Thomas Aquinas Boys Win Seventh Straight 5A Title; Taylor Briggs Wins Fourth Straight 4A Crown

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The St. Thomas Aquinas boys won their seventh straight Class 5A cross country title in Kansas and ran a collective team time faster than the 6A champion on Saturday at 4 Mile Creek Resort.

The Kansas state meet was spread to three new locations and not held at the traditional venue at Rim Rock Farm due to COVID restrictions. 

STA went 2-3-4 in the team scoring, putting three in front of runner-up St. James Academy's first, and scored 32 points to claim the championship. 

Senior Erik Enriquez of Kapuan Mt. Carmel won the 5A race in 15:43.9 to complete an unbeaten season. He improved from 14th in 2019. 

Anjali Hocker Singh of Olathe North made a big improvement over the first two months of her freshman season and won the Class 6A girls title in 18:39.6 and defeated two former state champions to do it. 

Hocker Singh placed sixth at the Sept. 19 Gardner Invitational and was 44 seconds behind winner Riley Beach of Blue Valley Northwest. 

Saturday, she was three seconds faster than Beach, the 2017 champion, who was second. Last year's winner, Blue Valley's Tori Wingrove, was 12th. 

Olathe West got a boost from sixth runner Paige Baker, who displaced Blue Valley Northwest's fifth runner on the way to a tight, 59-60 6A team victory. 

Daniel Harkin of Manhattan, a senior, repeated his boys 6A title and ran 16:17.1. He was 18 seconds ahead of Quenton Walion from Gardner-Edgerton. 

Lawrence Free State won a close competition with Harkin's Manhattan team, 49-57, to win the 6A boys title. 

In the 5A girls champion, junior Hope Jackson of Bishop Carroll repeated her title with a winning time of 18:58.0. Katie Schwartzkopf of Mill Valley, who won the 6A crown a freshman in 2018, was second in 19:04.1.

Maize South edged out Jackson's Bishop Carroll team, 58-59, winning matchups at Nos. 3, 4 and 5. 

The 4A and 3A championships were held at Wamego Country Club. 

Taylor Briggs from Chapman won her fourth consecutive 4A girls title and did it convincingly, by nearly two minutes in 18:18.9.

Baldwin won the girls team title with 39 points. 

In the 4A boys race, Tanner Newkirk from Hayden prevailed over Micah Blomker of Bishop Miege and Tanner Lindahl of Buhler, in 15:53.3. 

Buhler's depth at No. 5 helped it overcome Bishop Miege's advantages 1-4 on the way to a 75-79 victory as the Crusaders retained the title.

Cormick Logue of Girard, the 4A champion in 2019, won the 3A title this time, in 16:17.0. 

Southeast of Saline held off Smoky Valley, 58-62, to remain 3A boys team champions. The Southeast of Saline girls also won. 

Lara Murdock of Colby was the class of the 3A field, running 19:36.8.

The 2A and 1A event was at Sand Plum Nature Trail in Victoria. 

Sophomore Chesney Peterson led Stanton County's girls to another state title with her victory in 18:17.1. She won by 14 seconds. 

Berean Academy, the 1A champion in 2019, unseated the Stanton Country boys by a count of 54-62. 

Wyndom Giefer from Trego Community won the 2A boys race in 16:09.2.

Doniphan West retained the girls Class 1A title with 42 points. Jaycee Vath of runner-up Lincoln won her third consecutive title in 19:20.0.

Collin Oswalt of Central Christian won the 1A boys race in 15:56.8. Meade, led by three freshmen, won the team title with 30 points.

Team Champions - 

Class 6A - Lawrence Free State boys 49 points, Olathe West girls 59 points - RESULTS

Class 5A - St. Thomas Aquinas boys 32 points, Maize South girls 58 points - RESULTS

Class 4A - Buhler boys 75 points, Baldwin girls 39 points - RESULTS 

Class 3A - Southeast of Saline boys 58 points, Southeast of Saline girls 62 points - RESULTS

Class 2A - Berean Academy boys 54 points, Stanton County girls 48 points - RESULTS

Class 1A - Meade boys 30 points, Doniphan West girls 42 points - RESULTS (scoring four)