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Olathe West Looking For Their Fifth Straight Title, Carter Cline Wants His First
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After finishing behind Olathe South's Dylan Plath at the Todd Warner Classic back in early September, Mill Valley's Carter Cline has been perfect against the in-state competition he's faced.
He finished runner-up in 14:55 at Olathe Twilight, making him the fifth-fastest athlete in Kansas history, and just the seventh to ever break 15:00. Since that performance, Cline has won four out of his five races, with his single loss comping at the Nike XC Town Twilight Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Right now, simply looks untouchable, but the chase pack behind him will more than likely be right on his heels looking to play spoiler.
Along with Plath, who ran 15:01.7 in that same race as Cline, Olathe West's duo of Braxton Theel (15:01.9) and Gunnar Hornung (15:21.2) will be mixing it up in that lead pack.
The defending 3200m champion Max Larson of Shawnee Mission South is a contender as well, having run 15:15.2 at the Gans Creek Classic at the end of September.
On the team side of things, for the first time in a long time, the pre-race favorites don't reside within the Kansas City Metro. In fact, all of them are over two hours west of the Kansas City, and are all the lone public school in their town.
Junction City, Manhattan, and Garden City have all of the momentum right now, and are all looking to end their year atop the podium once again.
Although, Olathe West and Shawnee Mission South both have squads that can put together a championship-clinch performance, meaning it's still anyone's game.
Over the last two weeks, Washburn Rural's Rylee Ismert has quickly gone from the Junior Blue's consistent No. 2 runner to a Centennial League and regional champion. Ismert shattered her previous best two weeks ago on Rural's course, running 18:02.9 to take 37 seconds off of her previous PB. Isomer's teammate Payton Fink is the top returner from a year ago after finishing runner-up on a cold Saturday morning.
However, Junction City's got a low-stick duo of their own in Anna Fontaine and Linden Pickler, two underclassmen who have kept pace with both Ismert and Fink throughout the year. Olathe South's Ani Allen and Shawnee Mission East's Charlotte Hardy have both been quietly putting together stellar seasons, so don't be surprised if they're making big moves early on in the race.
For the first time in four years, the Olathe West dynasty is going to have their work cut out for them throughout the hills of Rim Rock Farm. After losing a trio of All-State finishers to graduation, the Owls have still put together one of the top teams in the state. The only difference is that this time their competitors are right there with them.
The two biggest threats to a fifth straight Olathe West title are Washburn Rural and Shawnee Mission East, who counter West's strengths with their own. While West has the deepest top seven and an untouchable pack, Rural has the best top three in the state, while East has a dangerous duo of their own ahead of the Owls.
At this point there's no question that these three teams will make up the podium barring anything crazy, but the order in which they finish is up in the air.