By Huey Counts
When Brayden Walker looked at the Southeast of Saline meet schedule for 2025, he felt rather good about the opportunity to race twice as a senior on his school's home course.
But, then the Southeast Invitational, slated for late September, was cancelled because of muddy course conditions and then the anticipated selection as the host site of a Class 3A regional meet did not come to fruition.
"We went into the season thinking we'd run two meets here," the Southeast senior said moments after winning Saturday's Salina Invitational, "but it ended up working out."
Southeast's course ended up as the landing spot for the Salina Central-hosted meet which needed a new location because of the log-removal work being done at its usual location, Bill Burke Park.
The Trojans switched up their schedule, opting to join the meet on its own campus rather than make the trek to the Riley County Invitational. The swap meant the Trojans' athletes would be racing a number of 5A and 6A competitors.
"It was good to race against bigger schools," said junior Piper Brown, the low stick for Southeast's girls. "We already do race against bigger schools a lot because of some of the meets we're in."
Walker took full advantage of Saturday morning's cooler temperatures to clock the best time of his prep career, claiming the individual title in 15 minutes, 48 seconds, pulling away late from Garden City's Trevor Fry for the 11-second win.
"I went with about 1K left and it was right into the wind, he said. "(Fry) is a tall guy, so I knew he would have to work hard. I felt him weaken a little bit, so I just went, and he dropped off after that. I put 10 seconds on him really quick."
The Trojans, who put their top five runners into the top 20, finished with 50 points, good for a three-point victory in the team race over Junction City.
Jacob Bircher was fifth in 16:46.04, Zachary Carlin 12th in 17:16.94, Brooks Carlin 13th in 17:17.52 and Edgar Calzada 19th in 17:36.98 for Southeast, the No. 1 team in 3A in the most recent Kansas Cross Country Coaches' Poll.
Anthony Testa (16:14) placed third for Junction City, ranked sixth in 6A, and Liam Deniau-Young finished fourth (16:21) for Central, currently ninth in 5A.
With the postseason quickly approaching, Walker was ecstatic about how his team performed and was quick to point out the performance of Calzada, a first-year runner.
"We averaged 16:54 and that's one of the faster times in 3A right now," he said. "I think this definitely gives us some confidence.
"We've had a few different fives this year, but (Calzada) PR'd by nearly 40 seconds. With a few more meets and training he can do even better."
Southeast's girls also put on a strong display. Brown ran a season-best 19:59.12 to place behind only Central standout Kaylie Shultz (17:27.82). She was joined in the top 10 by teammates Ava McGraw, seventh in 20:58.04, and Anna Jackson, eighth in 20:58.64.
"I was excited because I knew it was going to be cooler weather and we obviously know the course very well," Brown said. "Many of us have our PRs here, so I was excited to know we would all run pretty fast times.
Through four runners, Southeast led the team race, but after the fifth and final scoring competitors crossed the finish line the Trojans ended up third with 67 points, behind both Central (52) and Dodge City (60).
"Based off past meets, I feel like our runners one through four are pretty strong," Brown said, "but when we get to our fifth, we are going to have to cut down that time. If not, I don't know if we have a possibility of making it to state as a team."
Helping Central's girls to the title were their trio of freshmen, Raylin Jesen (11th in 21:17.04), Callie Van Court (12th in 21:22.05) and Emily Shurts (17th in 21:46.30), all of whom ran personal bests.
Alina Arceo turned in her best time of the season, 21:10.38, in finishing 10th for the Salina South girls. South's Elian Moreno's 16:57.54 secured him eighth.
