Since 2006, Big River Running Company has been providing the fans and athletes of cross country with a set of XC Rankings that are just for fun that we hope serve to give athletes a little additional motivation as the season moves along.
The rankings are based on a number a factors including the MoMileSplit database and Virtual Meet features. If you feel we missed someone please feel free to comment or email peverett@milesplit.com.
Now on to the rankings...
TEAM RANKINGS
Girls
#4 Lee's Summit West
1. Ste. Genevieve – These girls continue to roll on. After scoring a perfect 15 at their conference meet, they scored a 22 at Borgia.
2. Nerinx Hall – These girls average 19:42 with a top 5 split of under 90 seconds at Jefferson Barracks. While a number of teams ranked below them had impressive weeks as well, the Markers hold on to the #2 spot..
3. Francis Howell - Looked very impressive at conferences (a recurring theme with the top teams). When we run a Class 4 Virtual Meet on best times, the defending champs are #1.
4. Lee’s Summit West – Since we are talking about impressive conference races, the Titans claimed their 10th consecutive conference title while resting 40% of their top 5.
5. Eureka - These top teams all have all-state caliber runners up top. The Wildcats have had some nice improvement in the middle of their line-up and move up a spot to #5.
6. Rock Bridge – The Bruins rolled at the Border War scoring 30 points in an 18 team field.
7. Festus - A healthy Katiln Elbl makes this very good team even better.
8. Lafayette (Wildwood) – We think Eureka is solid and these girls were only 9 points back at the Suburban West Conference.
9. Lee’s Summit North – The Broncos cracked our Top 10 last time and did not disappoint, winning the KC Suburban Gold championship..
10. Branson – We considered a number of teams but it was Branson’s win at the Central Ozark Conference large school meet that earned them a spot..
Boys
#6 Festus
1. West Plains – 28 at the COC meet. These boys are going to be tough to beat.
2. Lafayette (Wildwood) - The Lancers had a 31 second 1-5 split to win the Suburban West Conference.
3. Rock Bridge - While the #2 team is young, the Bruins bring a core of seniors who raced last fall in Jefferson City.
3. Liberty - Suburban Gold Conference winners, the Blue Jays appear to be “Back on Track.”
5. St. Louis University High - MCC Champions, but more importantly, the defending Class 4 Champions.
6. Festus – The Tigers join Rock Bridge and Lafayette as the only school with both their boys and girls team in our top 10.
7. Raymore-Peculiar – Only 7 back of #4 Liberty at the KC Gold Conference.
8. Rockhurst – We haven’t seen results from their top 5 for a couple of weeks now and we are looking forward to the District and Sectional races over the next few weeks in Class 4.
9 Potosi – The Trojans looked very impressive at Borgia placing 4 in the top 7.
10. Liberty North – It’s really hard to rank these final spot as there are a number of deserving teams. The Eagles won both the Kearney Invitational and the Blue conference over the last few weeks.
Top 15 Individuals
Girls
#7 Nicole Lee
1. Taylor Werner, Ste Genevieve – Our # 1 ranked runner shows no sign of taking her foot off the gas.
2. Hannah Long, Eureka – With her iron levels back in balance, Hannah has looked very strong.
3. Jill Whitman, Cor Jesu - The State Champ in the 3200 is on a winning streak - the Southern Stampede, Parkway West, and a win over #4 Racette at conferences.
4 Sophia Racette , Nerinx Hall – Cruised to a comfortable 2nd place finish at her conference meet against Whitman.
5 Jamie Kempfer, Festus – We know this girl is in the elite class of runners based on her previous performances but check out the results (times and team scores) from her conference meet to learn even more about her.
6 Maddi Leigh , Francis Howell – We saw how good this freshman was at Forest Park and we are looking forward to seeing how she performs in the coming weeks.
7. Nicole Lee, Clinton - 1:15 margin of victory at Helias Catholic Invitational.
8. Ann Campbell, St. Teresa’s Academy – No posted results since winning the KC Metro.
9. Maddy Brown, Parkway West – Conference champ by 33 seconds.
10 .Mia Jerman, Ste Genevieve – 2nd overall her last three races. Pretty darn impressive when you consider the person who was first. Learn more about Mia in Missouri XC Sessions.
11 Courtney Rogers, Lutheran St. Charles – The former Class 2 XC Champion told us she intends to close out her senior season with a bang and we see no reason to doubt her.
12. Arnica Zitting, Francis Howell – A 3rd and a 2nd the last few weeks, this Howell senior was 11th at state in Class 4 back in 2011.
13 Tabitha Griffith, Farmington – Winner of Notre Dame and Farmington the last few weeks. In a recent interview with Tabitha, she talks about the coaching advice that made her a different runner.
14 Elizabeth Carpino, Lee’s Summit North– Elizabeth repeated as Gold Conference champion.
15. Annika Sisson, Lee’s Summit West – Despite some great performances by the honorable mention crew, Sisson holds down the #15 spot after taking a week off of racing.
Honorable Mention: – Katie Anderson (Nerinx Hall), Sam Farmer (Rock Bridge), Tori Holder (Branson), Sammy Laurenzo (Liberty North), Madsion Nasteff (Liberty) Sarah Nicholson (Lafayette) ,Emily Sorell, (East Newton)
Top 15 Individuals
Boys
#1 Kauppila
1. Noah Kauppila, Marquette - #22 ranked national runner and the clear #1 in Missouri as we head into districts.
2 Evan Schulte, Rock Bridge - In all the races we have for Evan in 2013, he has been sub 16.
3. Camden Barrett, West Plains – Defeated #4 Haik at conferences.
4. Spencer Haik, Glendale - We’ve said this a few times already but it’s worth repeating. Spencer is a multi state champ in Missouri and the top returner from last year’s state XC Championship.
5. Stephen Mugeche, Blue Springs – KC Gold Conference Champion by 22 seconds over Fambrough.
6. Cole Rockhold, Truman – Red Conference Champ.
7. Dylan Quinsnberry, Lafayette (Wildwood) – 2nd to Noah at conferences, came back to win this past weekend, running a 15:36 at Castlewood.
8 Ryan Way, Republic – East Newton, Springfield Catholic and Central Ozark winner, Ryan is rolling.
9. William Thompson, Rockhurst - No recent results but an interview with MileSplit.
10. Tyler Gilliam Festus – Has bested his teammate Karls over the last few races.
11. Jason Fambrough, - 2nd to #4 Mugeche in the Gold Conference.
12. Michael Karls, Festus - Is Gilliam/Karls or Karls/Gilliam the best 1-2 punch in the state for guys?
13. Clayton Adams, Kearney – The next two runners ran 1-2 in a different order over a 5 day period but the Kearney freshman put up an impressive win at conferences.
14. Ty Hughes, Liberty North – 2nd to Adams at conference after winning Kearney.
15 Sean Conlin, Ft Zumwalt East – Sean’s 15:40, a 39 second margin of victory vaults him into the top 15
Honorable Mention: Austin Del Rosso (Desmet), Malik Holman (Mexico), Austin King (Potosi), Quinlan Moll (Kickapoo), Andrew Moore (Ste Genevieve)
