By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline cross country teams face one final obstacle on their road to another title defense as the Trojans head to Wamego for the State Championship meet on Saturday.
Both teams have looked borderline unstoppable this season, dominating opponents across Class 3A and sweeping both the league and regional meets ahead of state.
For the boys, this meet represents a chance to win a fourth consecutive state title, for the girls, it could be their first back-to-back since 2014-15.
Despite what’s at stake, both teams have remained loose but focused in a good week of practice ahead of Saturday’s final test.
“The kids have been working hard but they’ve had a lot of fun this week as well,” SES head coach Wade Caselman said. “They seem relaxed but I know that tomorrow the game faces will be on and they’ll be ready to go.”
The success that these teams have had stems directly from the veteran experience of seniors Jentrie Alderson and Dylan Sprecker.
That duo has won every single meet of the year within their classification, and will be in search of two individual titles on Saturday, but their impact on their teams goes far beyond results.
“Dylan and Jentrie have been very dominant but they’ve also brought great leadership to our program,” Caselman said. “They’ve brought great work ethic to our teams and those kids really look up to and respect them. You can’t coach that kind of leadership.”
The SES girls team is considered a heavy favorite to win state this season, after they blew Cheney and Smoky Valley, two of their closest competitors in the state, out at regionals last week.
“We feel confident and prepared on the girl’s side and we feel that if we run the way we’re capable of the outcome should be in our favor but you never know what might happen during a race,” he said.
The boys will have a more difficult path to the top step of the podium, as they will once again have to fend off Wichita Collegiate for a shot at the title.
The two have run in four meets together this season, SES holds the advantage 3-1 but lost out to the Knights in their home meet and beat them out at regionals by just a single point.
“We’ve done a great job of closing the gap between our second and seventh runners,” Caselman said. “I think it’s going to come down to less than five points between us and Wichita Trinity so we’re going to need the same kind of effort that we got from them at regionals.”
Regardless of what happens at Wamego on Saturday, both teams have worked tirelessly to continue the winning tradition at Southeast of Saline, and have passed on their passion to the next generation of Trojan runners.
“It’s fun to look back and see how far these kids have come,” he said. “Some of them have been running for us since junior high and it’s been so fun to see them develop as runners but also to see them develop a passion for running.”
The State Meet will be held at the Wamego Country Club on what is shaping up to be a gorgeous morning for the biggest race of the season.
Here is one final look at the 14 runners who will be competing for SES as both teams look to add to the Trojan trophy case.
Runner: Jentrie Alderson
Class: Senior
League/Regional position: 1st/1st
Regional time: 18:20
Season-best time: 18:20
Runner: Abby Commerford
Class: Freshman
League/Regional position: 3rd/5th
Regional time: 20:01
Season-best time: 20:01
Runner: Ashley Prochazka
Class: Junior
League/Regional position: 5th/3rd
Regional time: 19:55
Season-best time: 19:55
Runner: Joni Schroeder
Class: Senior
League/Regional position: 6th/17th
Regional time: 21:26
Season-best time: 21:11
Runner: Sadie Franklin
Class: Sophomore
League/Regional position: 7th/15th
Regional time: 21:18
Season-best time: 21:18
Runner: Cali Augustine
Class: Freshman
League/Regional position: 8th/11th
Regional time: 21:05
Season-best time: 21:05
Runner: Brookelyn Adams
Class: Sophomore
League/Regional position: 9th/13th
Regional time: 21:17
Season-best time: 21:17
Runner: Dylan Sprecker
Class: Senior
League/Regional position: 1st/1st
Regional time: 15:33
Season-best time: 15:32
Runner: Levi Allen
Class: Sophomore
League/Regional position: 2nd/6th
Regional time: 16:48
Season-best time: 16:48
Runner: Damion Jackson
Class: Junior
League/Regional position: 3rd/12th
Regional time: 17:03
Season-best time: 16:30
Runner: Joel Kejr
Class: Senior
League/Regional position: 4th/10th
Regional time: 16:57
Season-best time: 16:57
Runner: Cayden Walker
Class: Sophomore
League/Regional position: 7th/17th
Regional time: 17:32
Season-best time: 17:32
Runner: Nakari Morrical-Palmer
Class: Junior
League/Regional position: 9th/24th
Regional time: 17:49
Season-best time: 17:49
Runner: Drake Augustine
Class: Junior
League/Regional position: 11th/36th
Regional time: 18:26
Season-best time: 18:26