By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the coming weeks TopSports.news will recognize Shawnee County's all-time best teams in 21 sports as part of our Best of the Best project. The project continues with boys cross country and readers will have the opportunity to vote for teams in that sport through July 25, with the top teams in all categories announced in late July and August. To cast a vote for the Best of the Best, click on https://take.quiz-maker.com/poll4868071x75d4DC58-151 while email votes/nominations will be also accepted at
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Local boys cross country teams have captured 12 state team championships in a whopping five decades, dating back to Topeka West's first title in 1968 through Washburn Rural's crown in 2019.
Now its time to see which one of those teams deserves the top spot on TopSports.news' Best of the Best list.
Topeka West won its first of four state boys cross country titles under Hall of Fame coach Joe Schrag in 1968. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Jim Casper coached Hayden to its first of the school's six state boys cross county championships in 1975. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Hayden won the Class 4A state cross country championship in 1981, the Wildcats' first of five boys titles under Ben Meseke. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Legendary Hall of Fame coach Joe Schrag established Topeka West as a state power in the late 1960s and 1970s and the Chargers won their fourth championship in 1985.
Schrag led Topeka West to their first state championship in 1968 and the Chargers added titles in '74, '77 and '85.
Hayden followed West's lead with its first team title in 1975 under Jim Casper and Hall of Famer Ben Meseke followed with a dominating run from 1981 to 1995, with the Wildcats running off five Class 4A championships.
Bob Karr's Seaman team added to the city's success in the 1970s with a 6A title in 1979, giving Topeka teams four state crowns in the decade.
Matt Swedlund's Washburn Rural team won the Class 6A boys cross country title in 2019, winning the city's first title in 24 years. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
After Hayden's championship in 1995, county teams experienced a long title drought before Matt Swedlund's Washburn Rural team ended that gap of more than two decades with the 6A championship in 2019.
Meseke's '82 team posted a 44-point win in the state meet while his '92 team won by 49 points as Matt Peacock won the individual title.
Seaman won state by the closest margin, taking a six-point victory over perennial state power Shawnee Mission South in '79.
Vote for your favorite team at https://take.quiz-maker.com/poll4868071x75d4DC58-151 while readers also have the option of writing in a candidate.
Vote as many times as you wish. Final selections will be based on reader vote as well as input from TSN contributors and current and past local sports media professionals.
Votes in boys cross country will be accepted through July 25 before TSN publishes our Best of the Best lists in late July and August.
NEXT UP: Football (ballot will be published on TopSports.news on Wednesday).
