By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
BONNER SPRINGS -- Wyandotte County Park provided the backdrop for the 2025 United Kansas Conference cross country meet Thursday. The Seaman girls and boys teams were the top local finishers, with the girls finishing fifth and the boys coming in second while the day was also highlighted by the return of senior star Ryin Miller.
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer was the individual runnerup in Thursday's UKC cross country meet. [File photo/TSN]
In the girls race, Seaman junior Brynn Spencer finished in second place with a time of 19:46.90, behind conference champion Elizabeth Arenas of Piper.
“I was very proud of how I ran today, despite running alone most of the race,'' Spencer said. "I knew there were lots of rolling hills on the course, so my goal was to push up the hills and use the downhills to get some energy back.”
Seaman senior Ryin Miller returned from injury to place third in Thursday's UKC meet in Kansas City, Kan. [File photo/TSN]
Miller, the 2024 Class 5A runnerup and a five-time state champ in track, finished third in the race in a time of 20:36, which was her first race of the season due to an injury. Miller talked about dealing with the prolonged injury and the opportunity to race Thursday.
“This season has been very challenging and the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face as an athlete,'' she said. "There are so many highs and lows in sports, but because of the lows we grow, learn and truly are stronger because of it. I’ve been extremely fortunate with injury in playing four sports.
"Today was great to toe the line and give it all for my team considering that I’ve had zero running-related training. I still have lots of work to do to finish getting totally healthy and increasing my mileage and fitness again.”
Spencer and Miller were both recognzied as first-team All-UKC with their respective finishes.
Seaman senior Brody Anderson won his second straight UKC individual cross country title Thursday. [File photo/TSN]
In the boys race, Seaman senior Brody Anderson won his fifth race of the season in a time of 15:38.30.
“The race went great today and I’m excited to get back-to-back conference individual titles,'' Anderson said. "Coach (Luke) Wiens and I had a plan to get out and do enough to win while feeling great. The course ran well, not my favorite, but I can’t choose where I run and have to adapt to each situation I’m put in.”
With the season coming down to the final two weeks, Anderson talked about the regional race next weekend.
“I feel great going into regionals and trust my fitness and the training of Coach Wiens to put myself in a great spot against a stacked regional,” he said.
With the victory, Anderson was named first team All-UKC while junior teammate Conner Bloom finished 11th in 17:18.50, garnering second-team All-UKC honors.
In the junior varsity races, both Seaman teams had medalists -- Zoey Gooden and Kennedy Gatewood for the girls and Tate Oliva, Camden Dutton and Stephen Miano for the boys.
Next Saturday, October 25, Seaman and Topeka West will be heading to Wichita’s Clapp Park for regionals while Shawnee Heights will be traveling to Haskell University in Lawrence for their regional race.
Team Scores & Individual Results
Girls Varsity
Basehor-Linwood 51, Piper 51, DeSoto 82, Lansing 85, Seaman 104, Turner 168
Seaman
2. Brynn Spencer 19:46.90; 3. Ryin Miller 20:36; 37. Kinley Robinson 23:45; 39. Avery Villines 23:52.70; 42. Jaydin Frickey 24:00.90; 45. Hannah Wempe 24:19.90
Topeka West
24. Phebe Phelps 22:57
Shawnee Heights
31. Kendall Lewis 23:15.50; 48. Arantza Urbina 25:06.30; 51. Adelaide Davis 26:03; 52. Piper Geil 27:13.20
Boys Varsity
DeSoto 23, Seaman 74, Basehor-Linwood 79, Piper 83, Leavenworth 131, Shawnee Heights 151, Turner 195, Lansing 210
Seaman
1. Brody Anderson 15:38.30; 11. Conner Bloom 17:18.50; 18. Weston Kennedy 18:05.60; 22. Emmanuel Armstead 18:24.50; 30. Maddox Moore 18:52.40; 36. Drake Spurlock 19:12.20
Shawnee Heights
14. Max Esquibel 17:43.50; 38. Ronin Wiggs 19:18; 39. Cash Reitcheck 19:24.40; 43. Deyton Coufal 20:00.80; 45. Carter Vincent 20:26.10; 55. Lennox Garretson 21:48.10; 59. Boston Valdivia 24:00.80
Topeka West
19. Ezra Phelps 18:07.40; 25. Cameron Parrett 18:40.10; 26. Maks Rodriguez 18:40.90; 27. Rhys Green 18:43.90
Girls Junior Varsity
DeSoto 16, Lansing 53, Basehor-Linwood 63
Seaman
2. Zoey Gooden 24:52.90; 7. Kennedy Gatewood 25:47.10; 18. Emma Gonzalez 27:46.80; 25. Bailey Martin 29:32.70
Shawnee Heights
14. Natalia Venegas 26:56.70; 28. Alyson Moss 29:49.50; 35. Brooklyn Binkley 32:33.10
Topeka West
16. Lily Phelps Roper 27:09.80;
Boys Junior Varsity
DeSoto 22, Seaman 48, Basehor-Linwood 65, Piper 85, Lansing 155
Seaman
5. Tate Oliva 19:22.90; 6. Camden Dutton 19:43.50; 8. Stephen Miano 20:05.50; 14. Cody Moses 20:15.40; 15. Trace La Row 20:26.80; 19. Max Roark 20:45.10; 20. Eli Mott 20:59.60; 21. Abe Heffley 21:05.50; 26. Landen Poe 21:27.90; 28. Gabe Ferguson 21:35; 29. Nick Horton 21:41.40; 30. Levi Rodecap 21:46.40; 31. Aaron Haynes 21:47.30; 42. Wesley Eckert 23:15.60; 43. Josh Horton 23:24; 53. John Holloway 24:31.70; 54. Davis Yarnell 24:50.70; 74. Landon Hall 33:36.30
Topeka West
35. Mason Gore 22:16.80; 55. Jack Morgan 25:34.10; 56. Erich Abbo-Mott 25:40
Shawnee Heights
37. Jakob Rouland 22:24.60; 46. Xain Brown 23:47.90; 60. Colton Geil 26:17.90; 66. Jackson Osborne 28:32.90
