Lancers sweep Sunflower League championships

By Jimmy Gillispie

In vastly different ways, Shawnee Mission East swept the boys and girls Sunflower League titles Friday at Rim Rock.

The boys had only a single runner in the top 10, but they won a tight race by four points. The Lancers scored 94 points, just edging past Lawrence at the 14-team meet.

Meanwhile, the Shawnee Mission East girls easily won the league championship. The Lancers won with just 37 points – 24 ahead of Mill Valley.

The SME girls were led by league champ Charlotte Hardy. Her winning time of 18:15.32 was seven seconds ahead of Mill Valley’s Audrey Howard. Her teammate, Lyla Speicher, gave the Lancers a second runner in the top three.

Aida Bruce (11), Aubrey Massoth (12) and Emma Stover (13) rounded out the Lancers scoring. They had five runners finish before any other team had three runners. In fact, only Mill Valley, Olathe West and Free State had two runners finish before Shawnee Mission East’s top five.

Also placing in the top 10 were Olathe North’s Karsyn Hitchcock (4), Olathe West’s Molly DeGregario (5), Shawnee Mission North’s Emily Miller (6), Mill Valley’s Hailey Hanna (8), and Free State’s Taylor Hulcher (9) and Allie Gates (10).

In the boys race, George Clifford was the Lancers’ top runner. Clifford finished 10th overall. The next three Lancers were Miles Bruner, Logan Brettell and James Conway, who placed 16th, 17th and 18th. The Lancers’ 1-4 split was 17 seconds.

League runner-up Lawrence was led by Oliver Schwartz and Riley Swart, who finished seventh and eighth, respectively. They finished just two seconds apart. Fellow Lion Logan Druen also placed 15th overall.

Graham Anderson of Mill Valley was the league champ. His winning time of 15:59.67 was 20 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

Olathe North had two top-four runners. Zackary Kliewer placed second while Grahe Shade finished fourth. Meanwhile, Olathe West’s Archie Brewer placed third at the meet.

Other top 10 finishers were Shawnee Mission South’s Luke Jansen (5), Shawnee Mission West’s Kalian Horveath (6) and Olathe Northwest’s Jacob LeMire.

All of the Sunflower League teams will compete at their respective Class 6A  regional meets on Oct. 24 aiming to qualify for state, where they will return to Rim Rock Farm on Oct. 31.