What do you get when you take the top five runners from the State-champion Emporia High boys cross country team and put them in a room together?
You get the 2007 Emporia Gazette All-Area Boys Cross Country Team of course.
In a year where the Spartan boys dominated nearly every team that took to the course with them, the 2007 EHS boys swept all five spots on The Gazette’s All-Area boys squad.
Led by the stellar season of senior Jacob Davies, who finished as the runner-up at the Class 5A State meet in Lawrence, the Spartans went undefeated against in-state schools this fall, finishing behind only two schools from Missouri and one school from Arkansas in races this season.
In winning the 5A State title over defending State-champion St. Thomas Aquinas by 32 points, Emporia also got top-25 finishes from senior Asher Delmott (fifth), sophomore Lance Sadler (17th), senior Mike Robinson (21st) and senior Tyler Anliker (25th).
Not to be outdone, two individual State champions highlight the 2007 All-Area girls squad.
Senior Michaela Reynolds won her second Class 5A State championship, earning her the nod as The Gazette’s All-Area Cross Country Runner of the Year.
Reynolds bounced back from an injury-plagued junior year to recapture the State title she won as a sophomore, defeating runner-up Ashley Washburn of St. Thomas Aquinas by more than a minute at the State meet in Lawrence.
Olpe’s Sharon Zeller won the Class 1A State title in Wamego to become the first Olpe girl to win a cross country State title since Michelle Stueve did it in 2002. Zeller beat out Hillary Callaway of Rock Hills by eight seconds to win her first title.
With the help of freshman teammate and fellow All-Area selection Katelyn Henderson’s fourth-place finish at State, the Olpe girls won the team title as well, the fifth State title for the Olpe girls.
Joining Reynolds, Zeller and Henderson on the All-Area girls squad was Emporia High senior Abby Lake, who placed 32nd at State, and EHS sophomore Jenna Stanbrough, who came in 52nd at State despite battling a nagging hamstring injury.
For his efforts in guiding the EHS cross country program to one of its best collective seasons ever, Emporia High coach Mark Stanbrough received Coach of the Year honors. Along with overseeing Reynolds’ comeback, Stanbrough helped guide the Spartan boys to their first State title since 1993 and fifth overall after four consecutive runner-up finishes.