Central Heights girls' harriers matching boys' success

The 2018 cross country season could be summed up in one short phrase for the Central Heights girls program.

"The few, but proud."

Due to injuries, the Vikings finished the season with just three girls runners: Lily Meyer, Madison Bridges and Taryn Compton. But what the Vikings lacked in quantity, they more than made up for in quality.

All three girls qualified for state — the girls program's first state qualifiers in 26 years. Not only did they qualify, Meyer and Bridges both brought home medals, with Meyer placing 14th and Bridges 19th.

"That was pretty exciting for girls athletics in general at Central Heights," Viking cross country coach Troy Prosser said. "To have something that big turn out that good was huge. Qualifying is one thing, but doing as well as they did, the pride that came with it for the school and their classmates was really cool."

It drew enough interest in the program that Prosser went into the season with hopes of his girls team consistently being able to score as a team at meets, with the addition of a trio of newcomers. Needless to say, the Vikings have far exceeded those hopes.

Not only are the Central Heights girls posting a team score, they're winning meets. After not fielding a full squad at the season-opening Burlington Invitational, the Vikings have won their last two meets.

Heights topped ranked Class 4A teams Fort Scott (No. 7) and Louisburg (No. 4) for the team title at the Wellsville Invitational on Sept. 19 and followed with an 11-point win over Louisburg at last Thursday's Prairie View Invitational. The Vikings are now ranked No. 5 in Class 2A this season.

"Ultimately, that's the goal," Prosser said of winning meets. "With low numbers, the one thing I've found over the years, especially in the small classifications, you have to have that fifth runner. We have some experience on the team, but the three newcomers are all in their first year of cross country. There's a steep learning curve, but they're all absorbing so much and trying to improve on the fly."

Two of the newcomers — Abby Brown and Samantha Ferris — are seniors. Brown was a track standout, setting the school 400 record last year, and Ferris played other sports. The third addition, sophomore Kaydance Bond, was the manager for the track team last spring.

All have contributed greatly, with Brown posting top-10 finishes in all three meets, joining Meyer and Bridges each time. Bridges, Meyer and Brown finished 3-4-5 at Prairie View to key the victory.

And with the boys program following up the success of last year's Class 2A state championship, cross country is hot at Central Heights.

"A lot of times success gets recognized from places you don't expect it," Prosser said of getting the newcomers. "I've known Abby, Sam and Kaydence for years and know they're good athletes and good kids. ... They recognized what the other girls were doing.

"You definitely can't deny what the boys have done the past few years, it's special, impressive. To be able to have that program stay consistent, the boys do a great job representing the team."

Coming off last year's title, Heights' boys have hardly skipped a beat. Despite losing three of the top five runners off last year's title squad, the Vikings are undefeated in three meets this year and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A.

Senior Tyler Stevenson has won all three meets this season after taking eighth at state last year. He's been pushed by fellow senior Alex Cannady, particularly last week at Prairie View, where Stevenson won by just .02 seconds over Cannady in 18 minutes, 6.36 seconds.

But Prosser has seen returner Luke Cotter step up and varsity newcomers Mason McCurry and David Craft (part-time last year) perform strongly, as well, to keep the Vikings' roll going.

"I'm absolutely pleased," Prosser said. "The biggest thing is they enjoy being around each other and pushing each other. They genuinely don't care who gets the credit. They've made that transition from wanting to get the accolades for themselves. They see it as being about how can I help the team. They understand how much more fun it is when you have everyone to celebrate with.

"They got a good taste last year and they're definitely still hungry this year."

CROSS COUNTRY

• Emporia's Treyson True set a career-best time and beat Centennial League rival Daniel Harkin, of Manhattan, in taking third in the Boys Gold Division at the Rim Rock Invitational. True finished in 16 minutes, 4.4 seconds, and was just five seconds out of second. It was the first time in four meetings with Harkin that True has beaten the Indian standout.

• Chapman's Taylor Briggs placed fifth in the Girls Gold Division at Rim Rock, crossing in 18:55.9, tops among 4A runners and fourth among Kansans.

• Clay Center's Jaret Pfizenmaier placed third in the Boys Blue Division at Rim Rock in 16:42.0, 14 seconds out of first. Silver Lake's Kyler Kaniper took fifth (17:03.6), Burlington's Seth Jarvis was ninth (17:20.4) and Hiawatha's Justin Hodge was 10th (17:25.8). Clay Center finished runner-up as a team and Silver Lake was fourth and Wamego fifth.

• West Franklin freshman Emma Bailey took eighth in the Girls Blue Division in 20:34.8 and Silver Lake's Mariah Farmer placed 10th. Farmer set a new school record with her time of 20:47.6.

• Jackson Heights' Daniel Little stayed undefeated on the season, taking the title at the Royal Valley Invitational. His time of 16:23.90 ranks third in school history and was nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Henry Cloyd, of McLouth, who led the Bulldogs to the team title.

• Rossville's Julia Streit was the girls' winner at Royal Valley in 20:17.83, beating Cornerstone's Evelyn Gentry by 20 seconds after losing to her earlier this year. Streit was one of five Bulldawgs in the top 11 and seven in the top 14 as they ran away with the team title.

• After losing a series of battles with Washington County's Natalie Harlan, Centralia's Olivia Kuckelman finally topped her rival once again with a 20-second win at the Nemaha Central Invitational. Kuckelman finished in 21:15.20. Axtell's Quinn Buessing was the boys' winner in 17:58.40, leading a 1-2 finish by the Eagles with Simon Schmitz second. Axtell placed four in the top six overall and cruised to the team crown.

• Olpe swept the individual titles at the Wabaunsee Invitational with Nolan Redeker winning the boys' race by 54 seconds in 18:15.81. Macy Smith took the girls title by more than a minute in 21:16.93.

VOLLEYBALL

• Wabaunsee captured the title at the Olpe Invitational, going 5-0 and topping host Olpe 25-12, 25-16 in the title match. Alexis Hafenstine had 61 digs and 3 aces, while Maddie Wertzberger had 29 kills, including seven in the title match, and Lauren Schutter added 28 kills and Laurel Barber had 22.

• Oskaloosa handed Pleasant Ridge its first Northeast Kansas League loss on Tuesday night, taking a 25-22, 25-18 win to forge a tie atop the league standings. Both teams are 9-1 in league play.

• Lebo captured the title at the Burlington Invitational on Saturday, going 5-0. The Wolves won their pool and then topped Iola 25-13, 25-14 in the semifinals and Lyon County League rival Waverly 19-25, 25-22, 25-13 in the title match.

The Wolves are tied atop the league standings at 4-0 with Burlingame after both picked up sweeps on Tuesday.

•  Valley Heights stayed undefeated in Twin Valley League play with a sweep of Hanover and Linn. The Mustangs are 10-0 and lead defending champion Centralia by one game.

• Royal Valley swept Jefferson West and Perry-Lecompton to improve to 9-0 in Big Seven League play and 21-0 overall.

• Silver Lake picked up a big sweep of Class 2A No. 1 Wabaunsee on Tuesday night, winning 25-18, 25-18 and 25-21, 22-25, 25-23. The losses were the first in league play for the Chargers, with Rossville taking sole possession of first place in the league with its sweep of St. Marys on Tuesday.

• Chapman swept Wamego to take over sole possession of first place in the North Central Kansas League standings at 4-0. Concordia's split with Marysville dropped the Panthers a game back.

GOLF

• Osage City's Laci Davenport shot a 3-over 39 and won a playoff with Anderson County's Madison Stevens for the title at the Council Grove Invitational. Davenport led the Indians to the team title as well.