Andale's boys cross country team captured the first state championship in program history Saturday, Oct. 31, beating defending Class 4A champion Wamego by three points at Wamego Country Club.

The final score: Andale 62, Wamego 65, according to the Wichita Eagle.

The margin came down to a runner who usually isn't among Andale's five scorers. Sophomore Levi Schmidt, normally the team's No. 6 runner, crossed the finish line in 37th place in 17 minutes, 58 seconds. That fifth-scoring finish sealed the title.

Senior Dustin Buchanan led Andale with a fourth-place finish in 16:35. Junior Cade Brown stayed close, finishing fifth in 16:38. Junior Roman Lubbers placed ninth in 16:48, and senior Sam Pavelski came in 14th at 17:04. Those four runners finished within 30 seconds of one another.

Wamego made a late push, placing three runners in the top 15 and three more in consecutive spots at 22nd, 23rd and 24th. Andale needed Schmidt to hold his position. He did.

Senior Rhett Romero (18:57) and junior William Parks (19:05) completed Andale's seven-runner lineup.

A program on the rise

Before this season, Andale had qualified a boys team for state just seven times in school history, the Eagle reported. The program earned its first team trophy with a runner-up finish last year.

Second-year coach Matt Goetz said the group bought into the work and enjoys training together, and he attributed the team's improvement to pack running. Goetz pointed to the Oct. 3 Bishop Carroll meet as a turning point. Racing against Class 5A and 6A programs, Andale finished third, convincing the runners they could compete regardless of classification.

Andale followed that by winning the AV-CTL Division IV championship and dominating its Class 4A substate meet with 22 team points.

Teter, Buhler girls also claim 4A titles

Mulvane's Aubrey Teter won the 4A girls individual state championship at the same meet, finishing the 5-kilometer race in 18:19. She beat runner-up Corbin Starkweather of Buhler by more than 37 seconds.

Teter closed the season with five consecutive victories. After finishing third at Wamego's September meet in 19:45, she improved by nearly 90 seconds on the same course to win the state title.

Buhler's girls captured their third consecutive Class 4A state championship with 45 points, beating runner-up Baldwin (69) by 24 points. Starkweather led Buhler with her runner-up finish in 18:56, followed by Izzy Rivera in fifth (19:43) and Bella Friesen in ninth (20:01).

Other area medalists included Andale's Ayvah Banda, who placed seventh in the girls race (19:49).

In the boys race, Winfield joined Andale on the team podium, finishing third with 83 points. Eudora's Grayson Masterson won the boys individual championship in 16:09, while Buhler's Ryan Cherry earned individual runner-up honors in 16:21.

The state meet concluded the cross country season for all three classes that raced Saturday at Wamego.