Visit Advertiser website

The Wichita Trinity Academy cross-country teams have found a winning formula: Push each other in practice, then bring home championships together.

That approach paid off Saturday at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, where Trinity captured multiple Class 3A titles. The boys cruised to the team title by 70 points, while sophomore Tylee Coleman defended her individual girls championship to extend a remarkable streak of success for the program.

The championships were connected by more than the uniforms.

Coleman regularly trains alongside Trinity’s boys runners, whose competitive workouts have helped push her toward faster times.

“It helps a lot because they’re all super competitive,” Coleman said. “Even just running on the tail end of them, it helps make me faster.”

That shared competitiveness was on full display Saturday.

Trinity’s boys overwhelmed the field with 41 points, beating runner-up Southeast of Saline (111) after placing five runners among the top 18.

Sophomore Alex Kirk led the Knights with a third-place finish in 16 minutes, 16 seconds, followed by senior Gavin Lindahl in fourth (16:23).

Junior Zach Patrick finished 13th (16:48), Ethan Tofteland placed 15th (16:51) and Asher Carroll took 18th (16:54). Philip Reimer (17:25) and freshman Caleb Tran (17:34) completed the seven-runner championship lineup.

The five scoring runners crossed the finish line within 38 seconds of one another, giving Trinity a dominant performance from the front of its lineup through the fifth scorer.

It marked the program’s fourth boys team state championship since 2021, following titles in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Trinity had finished third in 2024 and runner-up in 2025 before returning to the top of the podium Saturday.

And with so much young talent in the program, coach Eric Carroll believes the Knights could be positioned for another sustained run.

“They’re going to be a team to watch for the next few years,” Carroll said. “We’ve got a lot of sophomores and freshmen. So it’s exciting to see what’s next for them.”

On the girls side, Coleman continued a championship streak that began before she reached high school.

Coleman won her second consecutive individual Class 3A title in 18:40, beating Frontenac’s Emerson Albright (19:12) by more than 32 seconds.

It was Trinity’s fourth straight girls individual championship. Emily Hein won in 2023 and 2024 before Coleman took over with victories in 2025 and 2026.

Carroll remembers watching Coleman dominate middle school races when his son was competing at that level. Even then, her talent wasn’t the only thing that stood out.

“You knew right away that she was special,” Carroll said. “Not just because she was destroying everybody, but she also was just very sweet. The way she carried herself and the way she cheered on other runners, she’s just well-rounded.”

Coleman entered Saturday with a personal-best time of 17:36, established Oct. 3 at the Chile Pepper Festival at the University of Arkansas. She finished 11th in a strong regional field, showing she could compete against elite runners beyond Kansas.

Her state championship performance wasn’t flawless by her own assessment.

“The plan going in was to get off to a good start and then just hold it for as long as I could,” Coleman said. “I held it pretty decently up and then the third mile, I kind of fell off a lot.”

Still, her lead was never seriously threatened.

Carroll credits her improvement to a disciplined approach that extends beyond race day.

“She leans into the training because she wants to be great,” Carroll said. “When she gets ready to do the work, she’s able to be present. She’s very intentional about her training. She does all of the little things and she just continues to raise the bar.”

And Coleman isn’t finished chasing faster times this season.

Her training has been geared toward the Nike Cross Regionals Heartland meet Nov. 15 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she’ll test herself against some of the Midwest’s top runners.

For Trinity, Saturday delivered two more championship trophies. For Coleman and a boys team loaded with underclassmen, there’s reason to believe more accomplishments could be ahead.

Hesston girls complete three-peat in Class 3A

Hesston’s girls cross country team completed a state championship three-peat Saturday at Rim Rock Farm, placing four runners in the top 20 to capture its third straight Class 3A title.

The Swathers finished with 69 points, holding off runner-up Southeast of Saline (84).

“We were hoping for it, we were pushing for it and it was what we wanted,” Hesston coach Nealee Johnston said. “So this was awesome to see happen. It was great to see the girls come together and do what they had to do to make it happen for a third time.”

Senior Reese Quinn, who helped lead Hesston to all three state championships, capped her remarkable four-year career with a fifth-place finish in 19:37. Quinn finished among the top 12 at state all four years, including three straight top-five finishes: fifth in 2024, third in 2025 and fifth this season.

“Reese has been great,” Johnston said. “She definitely puts the team over herself. You can’t ask for a harder worker or a better leader.”

Sophomore Avery Larson followed in sixth (19:40), securing her third consecutive top-15 state finish. Josie Heinrichs (16th, 20:32) and Mary O’Halloran (20th, 20:41) gave Hesston four state medalists.

The Swathers also received a key contribution from Jenny Roth, typically the team’s seventh runner. Roth moved up to become Hesston’s fifth scorer and delivered a personal-best time of 21:58 to help secure the championship. Brenley Schmidt (22:01) and Indrayani Patwardhan (23:12) completed Hesston’s championship lineup.

Cheney also returned to the podium for the second straight season, finishing third with 139 points. Junior Abigail Blundell led the Cardinals in 18th (20:38), earning her second consecutive state medal.

Cheney’s other runners were Paisley Marsh (21:00), Brin Bergkamp (21:07), Autry Young (22:12), Kortney Berry (22:49), Addisyn Hudson (23:14) and Maddisyn Lais (24:18).

Hillsboro’s Riley Richert also earned a medal, finishing 10th (20:01).

In the 3A boys race, Cheney’s Stratton Young placed sixth (16:30), Haven’s Isaiah Doherty finished eighth (16:32) and Hesston’s Grant Pearce took 20th (17:03).

Class 5A: Carroll, Kapaun highlight Wichita-area showing

Bishop Carroll and Kapaun Mt. Carmel made their presence felt in both Class 5A races at Rim Rock Farm, combining for five top-five individual finishes and three top-five team finishes.

Carroll’s girls delivered the area’s lone team podium finish, placing third with 96 points, just 10 behind runner-up St. James Academy. St. Thomas Aquinas won the girls championship with 69 points.

Nora Thome led the Golden Eagles with a fifth-place finish in 18 minutes, 46 seconds. Four teammates cracked the top 35: Megan Stephenson (23rd, 19:56), Emily Melcher (27th, 20:01), Clare Fouts (28th, 20:10) and Cadence Black (35th, 20:30). Gwendolyn Sattler (20:58) and Miriam Mazzarelli (22:01) completed Carroll’s lineup.

Andover Central narrowly missed the girls podium, finishing fourth with 129 points, followed by Kapaun in fifth (134) and Newton in ninth (202).

Kapaun’s Ava Claassen delivered the day’s fastest girls performance, winning the individual state championship in 16:59.

Newton’s Maggie Kepley also earned a top-10 finish, placing eighth (19:21), while Valley Center’s Sophie Ellis finished 13th (19:40) and Andover Central’s Tinley Sims took 15th (19:43).

In the boys race, Wichita runners claimed three of the top five individual spots, led by Kapaun’s Jack Sauer in third (15:56), while Carroll’s Simon Martinez followed in fourth (16:03), with Kapaun’s Koelton Erwin fifth (16:14).

Carroll narrowly missed giving the school a second team trophy, finishing fourth with 95 points, just eight behind third-place St. James Academy. Kapaun placed fifth with 119 points.

Carroll’s Evan Englert added a 10th-place finish (16:22), while Kapaun’s Nathan Milligan placed 20th (16:37). Goddard Eisenhower’s Samuel Schwind finished 11th (16:25), and Valley Center’s Nathan Webb was 13th (16:29).

Blue Valley Southwest won the boys team championship with 53 points, edging De Soto (58) by five. Blue Valley Southwest’s Andrew Claar claimed the individual title in 15:45.

Class 6A: Maize boys finish fifth with pair of medalists

Maize placed two runners in the top 20 and finished fifth as a team in the 6A boys race at Rim Rock Farm.

Isaac Steele led the Eagles with a seventh-place finish in 15 minutes, 58 seconds, while teammate Avery Flood placed 17th (16:31). Maize totaled 135 points in the team standings.

Derby’s Ben Perry also earned a state medal, finishing 20th (16:36).

Blue Valley Northwest’s Jacob D’Souza won the individual championship in 15:27, while Olathe West edged Washburn Rural by a single point, 83-84, in the closest team championship race of the meet.

In the 6A girls race, no Wichita-area runners cracked the top 20.

Shawnee Mission East’s Charlotte Hardy won the individual title in 17:55, while Manhattan captured the team championship with 66 points, holding off Shawnee Mission East (76) and Blue Valley (80).