Find additional photos of Saturday’s meet here.
WAMEGO — It was quiet after the Crest girls raced. It was also bitterly cold. A gray sky threatened rain, with temperatures hovering just above freezing at the Wamego Country Club.
The four runners put on sweatshirts and sweatpants, jackets and gloves. They hugged family members and drank water. But a strange silence had settled over the group.
Cross country attracts a different breed of athlete. There are no timeouts in this sport, no fouls, halftimes or subs. Coaches and teammates help, but the race is run alone. Even the sound of a crowd as large as Saturday’s becomes a sort of white noise. Perhaps the scream of a parent or coach might pierce through, but more often than not, one runs alone.
So when an entire season concludes with a single race, finished before the girls seemed to really understand it had begun, as the adrenaline drains from the body and the cold enters, as they shivered and huddled around teammates, the quiet makes sense.
Plus, Crest head coach Kaitlyn Cummings was nowhere to be found. No one knew how the team had done. Parents and supporters started packing up, tearing down the tent, taking bags to the bus. Everyone was waiting, but no one knew what for. Until Cummings came running up.
“Girls! Girls! We got second place!” she yelled, her intensity electric. “Where is everybody?” she asked, looking around. “Hey – we got second place! We just got second!”
And with that, finally, the tension broke. Tears flowed. Hugs and smiles everywhere. Relief, followed by pride. Crest High School had just achieved its best finish ever at the Kansas State 1A Cross Country meet.
FOR THOSE who crave places and times, here goes: Josie Walter finished fifth with a time of 19:45 in the 5K competition. Peyton Schmidt followed, earning a tenth-place finish at 20:35. Aubrey Allen finished 31st with a time of 22:04. And older sister Kaylee came in 61st with a time of 23:51.
In the boys race, Gunner Ellington, a junior who had traveled the night before with Crest’s football team to take on Canton-Galva, finished in 18:29, good for 36th place.
BUT FOR every data point, every metric, there’s a story. Gunner is in his first year running cross country. Asked for his thoughts after the race, he said plainly, “A lot of hills.” Still, Ellington started the race well and found a strong pack of runners. He stayed with them, hills and all. And it worked; his time was an astounding 39 seconds better than the 19:08 from just a week ago at regionals.
Quick to smile, Ellington is already excited for next year. “Now I know the course and can be prepared,” he said. Coach Cummings, who wrapped him up in a bear hug after the finish, just hopes he spends more practices with her than the football squad.
The Crest’s girls ran in Saturday’s final race of the day. Sophomores Josie, Peyton, and Aubrey, along with senior Kaylee, all made stellar contributions to the team’s historic finish. (In 1A cross country, only the top four scores count; for 2A and above, five runners are needed.)
Aubrey had fallen sick the night before and was nursing an injured foot, yet still managed to shave 16 seconds off her best time. Josie, who placed third last year, slipped two places. But don’t let that fool you; her time this year was 40 seconds faster. Peyton improved a whole minute and 16 seconds from her freshman time.
You can bet 1A schools around the state will take notice of the girls’ success, especially since three have two years of high school left.
