By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline cross country teams posted another pair of podium finishes over the weekend, with the boy’s team finishing runner-up and the girl's team coming in third at state in Lawrence.
On the boys side, the Trojans finished just 21 points shy of the mark to beat set by Holcomb, and 14 points ahead of the defending champs in Wichita Trinity, led on the day by Brayden Walker, who returned to the course to finish 12th after missing several races due to injury.
“I was really excited for the boys,” SES head cross country coach Wade Caselman said. “After not having Brayden for a couple of weeks, we didn’t know where he would be physically but for him to end up being our number one runner was very exciting and the whole team performed well.”
On the girl’s side, the Lady Trojans were favored, but battled some adversity of their own, sliding to third place in a field that saw the top three teams separated by just five points.
Freshman Ava McGraw led the way for the girls with a strong 24th-place finish.
“I thought our girls did a really good job,” Caselman said. “We were hoping to pull off that five-peat, but unfortunately we had some girls come down with some illness that affected their performance. Even despite that to be five points out of first place is an exciting result and I’m proud of the way they ran all season.”
Of the group of runners who took to the course at state, Southeast will lose just two seniors in Cali Augustine and Jacob Tonne, and should be a force to be reckoned with when the 2025 season gets underway.
“We’re going to miss our seniors but we’ve got some young kids that should be able to step into those roles and the kids we had running this year are only going to get stronger,” he said. “We’re really excited about the future.”
Full results from this year’s state meet can be found below.
3A GIRLS TEAM RESULTS
1. Hesston - 104
2. Wichita Trinity - 105
3. SE of Saline - 109
4. Norton - 133
5. Scott City - 145
6. West Franklin - 151
7. Hiawatha - 175
8. Southwestern Height - 178
9. Jayhawk Linn - 199
SE OF SALINE GIRLS RESULTS
24. Ava McGraw (20:39.83)
28. Cali Augustine (20:46.91)
39. Anna Jackson (21:33.46)
45. Regan Duran (21:46.29)
50. Piper Brown (21:54.76)
54. Alea Barnaby (22:07.26)
69. Layla Lund (22:56.68)
3A BOYS TEAM RESULTS
1. Holcomb - 58
2. SE of Saline - 79
3. Wichita Trinity - 93
4. West Franklin - 113
5. Lakin - 124
6. Scott City - 150
T7. Girard - 201
T7. Santa Fe Trail - 201
9. Nemaha Central - 214
10. Jayhawk Linn - 234
SE OF SALINE BOYS RESULTS
12. Brayden Walker (16:47.34)
15. Jacob Bircher (16:52.44)
19. Jacob Tonne (17:05.36)
34. Zach Carlin (17:32.02)
35. Brooks Carlin (17:32.28)
43. Cole Franklin (17:43.55)
78. Caleb Knopf (18:42.26)