On a chilly Nov. 1 Saturday morning at Lee’s Summit North, Kearney High School Cross Country delivered the kind of drama you talk about for years, with two team tiebreaks, two clutch finishes and two Bulldog squads headed to State.

The girls warmed up fast. Senior Daisy Burnam settled into the lead pack and hammered home a 3rd-place finish in 19:30. KHS stacked the front of the race with six All-District performances from Burnam (3rd), Izzy Fowler (7th), Jordin Vaughn (14th), Abbi McQuillen (27th), Drew Gustason (29th) and Lenny Watts (30th), and with freshman Kadence Vanderau just outside in 33rd. 

When the scores were posted, the KHS girls were tied for first with Capitol City. In cross country, ties are settled by each team’s sixth finisher, and freshman Lenny Watts beat Capitol City’s sixth runner. Decision made: the Bulldog girls earned the Class 4 District Championship!

The boys lined up with a different kind of resolve. All summer, they put in miles with postseason goals in mind, and in the last month, they’d been hit hard, losing senior #1 Isaac Smith and, just this week, their #5 Atlas Owen to season-ending injuries. The mission was clear: top four advances, no excuses. 

Cameron Fowler led the charge with a brilliant 2nd-place finish in 16:20, joined on the All-District roll by Alex Gustafson (18th) and Tristin Barton (22nd). Cameron Daniels and Luke Vanderstel also added outstanding results that contributed to the team score, though they finished individually below 30th place. As live results flickered, the standings seesawed until, incredibly, another tie: fourth place with St. Michael’s, a State berth on the line. The tiebreak again came down to the sixth runner, and freshman Jackson Vasquez, racing in place of the injured Owen, finished four spots ahead of St. Michael’s sixth. The KHS boys were State qualifiers in a photo-finish tiebreak.

Two ties at a district meet is rare; winning them both is special. The girls put six on the All-District list, more than any other school, and the boys punched their ticket despite gutting losses to the lineup. That’s program toughness, top to bottom, built under the guidance of Head Coach Jeff Roberts, Assistant Coach Justin Leon, Assistant Coach Jessica Fowler and Assistant Coach Alan King.

Next up, KHS Cross Country heads to the Class 4 State Championships on Friday, Nov. 7, at Gans Creek in Columbia. Bulldog family, let’s send them off right. This team has earned every step!