By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Defending Class 6A boys state champion Washburn Rural opened its 2026 cross country season with the team title in Saturday's Manhattan Invitational at Warner Park.
The Junior Blues edged host Manhattan by a 56-67 margin for the team title, while Lawrence finished third in the 11-school meet with 91 points.
Junior Duke Graf paced Washburn Rural with a second-place individual finish behind senior champion Anthony Testa of Junction City, clocking a five-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 01.2 seconds. Testa won in 16:51.9.
Sophomore Julius Wood-Nichols posted an eighth-place finish in the field of 81 runners for the Junior Blues in 17:21.1 while Rural got a 12th-place showing from junior Jaxson Adams (17:34.1), a 13th from junior Clayton Fink (17:36.3) and a 22nd from senior Cohen Thiessen (18:07.2) to round out the Junior Blues' top five.
Hayden junior Nick Newkirk placed 20th in 18:00.3 while junior Oliver Snethen paced Topeka High with a 27th-place finish (18:24.5) and senior Ezra Phelps led Topeka West with a 38th-place showing (18:50.8).
Washburn Rural's girls finished second as a team to Manhattan by a 28-54 margin, with Free State third with 63 points.
Manhattan senior Gabrielle Converse (19:03.3) and sophomore Zara Koehn (19:48.3) posted a one-two finish for the Indians in the field of 49 runners while Washburn Rural sophomore Alyson Hinck finished fourth in 20:18.6.
Rural junior Reese Beardslee finished sixth (20:26.5) while sophomore Morgan Munson placed ninth (20:48.4) to earn individual medals.
Seaman senior Brynn Spencer finished fourth in the season-opening Bobcat Invitational at Wyandotte County Park. [File photo/TSN]
Nine Vikings earn medals in season-opener
Seaman's boys posted a second-place team finish in Thursday's season-opening Bobcat Invitational at Wyandotte County Park, edging meet host and United Kansas Conference rival Basehor-Linwood by a single point (70-71) while Blue Valley Southwest won the team title with 32 points.
Sophomore Trindon Jones paced six Seaman individual medalists with an eighth-place finish, posting a five-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 36.78 seconds.
The Vikings also got a 10th-place finish from sophomore Weston Kennedy (17:54.78), a 12th from senior Conner Bloom (18:00.36), a 19th from junior Emmanuel Armstead (18:20.22), a 21st from sophomore Tate Oliva (18:26.12) and a 25th-place showing from junior Maddox Moore (18:43.10).
Shawnee Heights' boys finished ninth in the team standings as sophomore Miles Hadley earned an individual medal with an 11th-place finish (17:59.40).
Seaman girls finished tied for third with Eudora with 79 points, finishing fourth on a tiebreaker.
Blue Valley Southwest won the team title with 18 points while Piper was second, just three points ahead of Eudora and Seaman.
Senior Brynn Spencer, a returning Class 5A state medalist, paced Seaman with a fourth-place individual finish (20:47.09) while freshmen Brinley Cochran and Morgan Ransom also earned individual medals.
Cochran finished 12th (22:07.17) and Ransom placed 18th (22:34.81).
Silver Lake senior Ali Gerber opened her 2026 season with a third-place finish in Saturday's Silver Lake Invitational at Kanza Park. [Submitted photo]
Gerber third in Silver Lake Invitational
Silver Lake senior Ali Gerber posted a third-place individual finish in Saturday's Silver Lake Invitational at Kanza Park, leading the Eagle girls to a second-place team finish.
Gerber clocked a five-kilometer time of 22 minutes, 55.01 seconds to finish third behind Osage City freshmen Elizabeth Vehige (20:52.47) and Eliana Lowery (22:38.87).
Osage City won the team title by a 51-84 margin over Silver Lake.
The Eagles also got a 14th-place finish from freshman Jessilyn Mohler (24:24.29), a 23rd from sophomore Pearl Eisenbarth (26:09.59), a 26th from sophomore Adrianna Gerber (27:53.54) and a 31st from sophomore Lena Jahr (28:29.15).
Rossville seniors post top-seven finishes
Rossville seniors Payton Shaddox and Madilyn Wonnell finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in Thursday's Mission Valley Invitational girls cross country meet at Mission Valley.
Shaddox was sixth in a five-kilometer time of 25 minutes, 52.76 seconds while Wonnell was right behind in seventh place in 25:53.17.
Sophomore Keegan Pollock paced the Rossville boys with a 34th-place finish in 25:42.31.
