Ray-Pec, LSW, Blue Springs South Make it Four KC Teams in the Top Four
"Week In Review: It's a Kansas City State, We Are All Just Living In It"
- Article Title, Sept. 11, 2017
The truest article title concocted all year was the one presented above. It was proven on Saturday as four Kansas City area schools swept the four podium spots in the Class 4 Girls race. Not to be outdone, two Kansas City area schools took home trophies on the boys side, too, shipping 6 of the 8 possible trophies in Class 4 out west. Raymore-Peculiar was the favorite headed into the day, but they were bested by a stellar day from Park Hill South. Ray-Pec, led by junior Miranda Dick's 4th place finish and junior Makenzie Stucker in 8th (19:03.79) as well as sophomore Marissa Dick in 14th (19:21.28) appeared to be set up to take home the crown, but could not compete with Park Hill South's 4 in the top 30. Sophomore Gracyn Kloth was their #4, taking 59th in 20:23.65 and Laurana Mitchell, another junior, was 83rd in 20:44.01. All 5 girls will be returning for 2018 which should make Raymore-Peculiar a strong contender to win it all next year, especially if they get progression from Kloth and Mitchell and they remain healthy on their front end. We spoke with the girls and Coach Jay Johnson.
In third was another young KCMO-area squad, Lee's Summit West. The Titans regained their status as a great cross country squad after a three year hiatus from the podium last year, set the state record for most points by a track team at the state meet (109) en route to their dominating Class 5 victory this spring, and then parlayed that successful last school year into another trophy in 2017. The third place finish was led by four underclassmen so, much like Ray-Pec, it appears that Lee's Summit West is set up for sustained success, as well. West only put one girl on the podium individually, sophomore Madison Hulsey (19th, 19:31.53), but benefited from all 5 girls from 19-67 and within 1:01 of each other. We caught up with the Lee's Summit West girls after they received their trophy:
Behind the incredible 1-2 finish from Victoria Findley and Danielle Hotalling, Blue Springs South was able to snag 4th as a team. Sophomore Lauren Low and senior Emma Bassford joined forces to take 39th and 40th, putting the Jaguars in a very good spot behind their two senior leaders. Freshman Jayme Opdahl did not finish end up finishing, but she was the team's #5 through the first and second mile. As a result, sophomore Paige Fallis became the team's #5, coming through in 136th. Even with this creating a 3:26 1-5 split, the Jaguars were able to hang on for 4th, just squeaking ahead of Washington by 3 points.