By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

At the 2006 Class 1A State Championships, Ness City didn't qualify its boys' cross country squad and didn't have a single runner earn all-state. Colton McNinch didn't go out for cross country. Kyle Calvin consistently posted times over 20 minutes for 5-kilometers.

The next year, Patrick Younger took over the cross country program.

"Then we, if not doubled, then tripled, our mileage, which definitely changed," Calvin said.

At first, runners and families didn't buy into the program of higher mileage. Then, Ness City won the first meet of the fall, believed to be the first title in program history. Since then, the Eagles have developed into an elite program, regardless of classification, gained bigger numbers and continually churned out all-state runners.

"We actually had success, so it kind of paid off, when we won our very first meet, we were all kind of shocked," Calvin said.

In 2007, McNinch joined the squad and finished ninth at state, while Calvin and Dustin Schuler picked up all-state honors for an Eagle team that earned a runner-up finish.

Last year, Ness City set a state record for lowest team score (14 points), won the state team title and McNinch earned the individual title. This year, McNinch and Calvin could finish their careers with another title and one of the best runs of any area cross country team in history.

"They are extremely talented," Hill City coach Brad Eckols said. "They work very hard and they are very impressive to see at a meet."

Ness City, ranked No. 1 all season in Class 1A, will run for the title at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning at Wamego Country Club.

The Eagle girls, who finished second at regionals in their first year of having a full team, will run at 9:30 a.m.

"When I got here, I saw the talent that we potentially had," Younger said. "I really thought they could handle the miles, and looking at the times -- I give Kyle a hard time all the time because what he ran his freshman year until his next year, he dropped a couple minutes. Miles aren't everything, but they are a lot of it. You have got to have kids first be willing to do it and then have the kids be able to do it. I'm kind of blessed with those."

Last season, the Eagles became the first area boys' team to win a team championship since Quinter captured the 2-1A crown in 1996. McNinch ran 17 minutes, 7 seconds to win the individual crown by 14 seconds. A win Saturday would put McNinch in rare company; only 32 boys in Kansas history have won two or more individual titles. Just one area boy, Phillipsburg's Billy Wuggazer (1989-90) has accomplished the feat. The lone area girl is Grinnell's Wanda Rebarcheck (1978-79).

As a team, Ness City's second straight state title would mark one of the area's best dynasties. Only three area schools have won at least three straight titles, Wheatland (1980-87), Hill City (1977-81), and Hays High (1970-73). The runners -- and several rival coaches -- believe the Eagles could post a perfect score of 12 points. Tribune-Greeley County is ranked No. 2 in the state, but the Eagles have defeated the Jackrabbits several time this season, including regionals on Saturday. A win would mark the first back-to-back titles by a 1A boys' team since Johnson-Stanton County did it in 1998-99.

"We were actually hoping to probably break our score from last year, but it's probably going to be pretty tough to do it," said Calvin, who came back from a preseason car accident. "It's kind of on our minds, but I think after regionals, we realized how hard it was going to be."

On the girls' side, junior Kendra Pfannenstiel finished second last year at state. Even though her times are slightly slower than 2008, Pfannenstiel, along with Downs-Lakeside senior Rachel Renken, Bird City-Cheylin's Naomi Reeh and Tribune-Greeley County's Madison Moser, are the favorites for the individual crown. The Eagles could capture a top three team showing, too.

"It's not really where I've wanted to be," said Pfannenstiel, who also participates in dance and cheerleading. "I've thought my times would be faster than they have been. I think I have focused on a lot more things this year, a lot of different stuff."

The Eagle girls, who finished second at the regional to Greeley County, are paced by Pfannenstiel and freshman Lacie Bourne. Both are former volleyball players, who finished third and seventh, respectively, at the regional.

"Lacie this year reminds me a lot like Kendra from last season," Younger said. "Kind of no one knew her, and then at the end of the year, the workouts start getting a little easier as they get in better shape."

Younger, a former Oak Park (Mo.) High School runner, ran for Highland Community College and Fort Hays State University in college. At Highland, he ran in a low mileage program, while Fort Hays was a high mileage program under Tiger Hall of Fame coach Jim Krob.

"Our coach at Hays really stressed team, too," Younger said. "That was kind of neat. I never had a coach that really stressed it. ... I think that has kind of helped us over the years. I tell the kids that it's a lot more fun when you have a team."

Younger's tenants have formed a juggernaut at Ness City. He has built strong squads and seen increased numbers, including the addition of McNinch in 2007. As a freshman, McNinch focused on getting thinner. Younger said McNinch "had a weight problem," and McNinch didn't participate in any fall sports in 2006. He often ran on his own and enjoyed the sport. In the spring, he ran distance for Younger during track. The fall, though, still raised questions.

"I didn't really know what to expect," McNinch said. "... It's just been goal by goal. I never saw myself here today, but I thought maybe winning a regional meet or maybe placing top five at a state meet and just progress from there."

Including track, McNinch, who runs all year long, including during basketball season, has four individual/relay crowns and two team titles, including the 2008 team track championship. This year, McNinch finished in the top-25 at the Rim Rock regional race and helped Ness City continually beat higher classification schools. Ness City, with harder practices, has beaten all but one Western Athletic Conference school and has defeated Hays High School, ranked No. 8 in Class 5A, at several meets.

"Since the first week of the season, we have done a lot of hills, which is a lot more than we have done in the past," Younger said.

"It has been a little bit tougher than last year," said junior Josh Snodgrass, the team's No. 3 runner.

McNinch and Calvin have finished 1-2 at several meets, despite Calvin suffering a preseason injury.

In the summer, he was driving to the lake for a family function when he fell asleep at the wheel, went into a ditch, went end over end and hurt his shoulder.

"The doctors basically said he is fortunate enough to be alive," Younger said.

A few days later, Calvin had seven screws placed into his shoulder. One doctor said it would two months before he would start running, another one said six weeks. Calvin, though, started running after two weeks and didn't miss any meets.

Calvin, third at state cross country last season, was fourth at the regional. In addition, freshman Wyatt Beckman has come back from a mowing accident that caused a finger injury to finish ninth at the regional. Ness City defeated Greeley County by two points on a regional, 20-22, a margin they Eagles will look to widen on Saturday -- en route to another state title and continue the turnaround under Younger.

"I am hoping that will make us better and hopefully get them to run their best," Younger said.

Other 1A qualifiers

Wheatland-Grinnell, led by senior Mason Gillespie, qualified for state with a third-place team showing at the Wheatland regional. Gillespie was third at the regional. Other qualifiers include: Hoxie sophomore Luke Friess, Bird City-Cheylin senior Vance Churchill, Quinter senior Brandon Smith, Victoria junior Collin Schmidtberger and Victoria freshman Isaac Dreiling.

The girls' side includes: Kensington-Thunder Ridge sophomores KimbraLee Adams and Madelin Reneberg, Almena-Northern Valley junior Kayla Field, Quinter sophomore Addie Johnson, Otis-Bison freshman Hannah Bannister and sophomore MacKenzie Boone. In addition, the Downs-Lakeside girls qualified as a team. Renken, the defending Class 1A champion, was second at the regional.