Woodland boys repeat, claim another MSHSAA Class 2 cross country crown

It’s back-to-back state championships for the Woodland Cardinals, making good on their 2023 state championship with another big victory at Saturday’s MSHSAA Class 2 state championships.

Led by reigning Semoball Coach of the Year Ryan Layton, who similarly took home NFHS MSHSAA Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year honors after last season, it was never in doubt.

The Cardinals finished with the top score in Class 2 at 89 points, defeating second-place Elsberry High School by 20 points to take home the title once more.

South Shelby, Hermann, Jefferson and North Platte finished third through sixth respectively, while East Carter finished at No. 7.

Chael Lichte of Lexington took home the individual state championship with a 16:31 run, just six seconds behind that of Woodland’s Reed Layton a season ago. Liche was one of five runners to complete the course in less than 17 minutes.

Unlike last year, the Cardinals couldn’t take home the individual crown but instead used an all-around team performance to put forth a winning result in a loaded Class 2 field.

In fact, the Cardinals actually improved upon their result, dropping from a 96-point performance in 2023 to just an 89 in 2024.

“It's really exciting for it to actually happen, but it's also a little bit of a sense of relief,” Ryan Layton said. “We kind of had ourselves in a situation where we would probably have been a little bit disappointed in anything other than first place, and that's a tough spot to be.

“A lot of the emotion that I felt, but also the team, was some relief that we went ahead and got it done.”

Calvin Layton led the Cardinals with a No. 12 finish, followed closely by Hayden Vangennip with a 13th finish less than two seconds behind him and Drew Garner in 30th.

Those three comprised the All-Staters for Woodland, with Drew Garner narrowly making the cut in the 30th position with an 18:05 run to help hold the edge.

Lastly, the final two qualifying scorers finished 45th and 47th as Seth Wilkinson and Rawlend Filer respectively finished well enough to secure Woodland a second consecutive title.

Woodland’s five qualifying runners all finished inside the top 50. The best that any other school can say is that its five runners finished inside the top 70, making a true testament to the depth of this Cards squad.

That depth was a quintessential piece in this year’s victory, marked by the strides that the supporting cast made in order to make this possible.

At the top, Vangennip improved on his time by 20 seconds to rise from 41st in 2023 all the way to 13th this fall with All-State honors in Class 2 bestowed upon him, finishing right behind Layton among the team’s strongest.

Garner’s run brought him from a 51st finish last season up to No. 30 this season, rising 21 spots and securing a third All-State spot.

But those anchor positions at No. 4 and No. 5 may have been the most drastic of improvements for the Cardinals this fall, as that is where the championship was won.

Wilkinson and Filer’s finishes might not pop out on the stat sheet, but considering how the duo finished 123rd and 130th last fall, they showed serious improvements.

“Those two sophomores kind of cut their teeth on the state meet last year,” Layton said. “They learned some things, and they definitely went to work in the offseason to try to prepare themselves to do better this year.

“There was never a doubt in my mind that they were going to perform well today because of how they have gone about it over the last 12 months.”

Had they not improved, cutting their time by nearly a full minute each, there was no chance that Woodland could take this year’s championship home.

And yet, they did, and Woodland will bring home its third state championship in its school’s history across all sports because of it, marking the end of a marvelous season for Layton’s Cards.

For the community of Marble Hill and at Woodland High School, there’s plenty of celebration to go around as the Year of the Cards just keeps rolling.

“I can't speak for what it means to anybody else, but we're sure getting a lot of support, Layton said. “Community members reaching out, wanting to do things for the kids to try to celebrate this achievement.

“As far as my part of it goes, I would say it's a dream come true, but that would be selling it short because I don't think I had ever dared to dream of winning back-to-back state championships.”