(Photo: Greg Hall)
Varsity Girls Gold
Teams: Benton (IL) Bishop DuBourg Cape Central Cor Jesu Academy Farmington Fort Zumwalt East Fort Zumwalt North Fort Zumwalt South Fort Zumwalt West Francis Howell North Freeburg (IL) Incarnate Word Academy John Burroughs Lebanon Liberty (Wentzville) Marquette (St. Louis) Mexico Notre Dame (St. Louis) Oakville Parkivew Parkway South Pattonville Perryville Shawnee Mission West (KS) St. Vincent Ste. Genevieve Troy Buchanan Ursuline Valley Park Visitation Academy Whitfield
Individuals:
Sarah Moore, JR, Ste. Genevieve: Moore is one of the fastest returners of the girls in the Gold Division as she comes in with a 19:28 lifetime best. Fourth last year at FPXC and 19th at Class 3 state, Moore is a solid bet to be Top 5 again in 2017.
Kylie Goldfarb, FR, John Burroughs: Goldfarb flew under our radar heading into this season, but she shouldn't have. She posted a 2:20 800 and 4:52 1500 (5:13 1600 equivalent) in middle school and has already run 12:07 for 3200 at McNair Park and 20:31 at Jefferson Barracks. Goldfarb is 2-for-2 in her high school and she could very well make it 3-for-3 on Saturday.
Abbigael Woods, SO, Liberty Wentzville: Woods finished a distant 34th in last year's gold division race, but she finished out the year with a 19:25 for 26th in Class 4. Jim Marshall was not stellar for her, but the now sophomore came on strong last year and played soccer in the Spring so she should still definitely be one to watch in the Gold race this year.
Olivia Grein, JR, Ste. Genevieve: We're still trying to see how last year's biggest surprise at the state meet kicks off her 2017 campaign and we'll get to see that on Saturday. Grein came out of nowhere to take 4th at the 2016 Class 3 state meet with an incredible 1:15 PR in Jefferson City. She was 12th in this race last year.
Teams:
Francis Howell North - FHN is sneaky this year. They had a very strong track season and returned 5 girls sub-22:00 including Heidi Hauptman, who was 19:38 in 2016. She was their #4, though, at First Capital as Mackenzie Pugh and Paige Hercules are carrying the torch at the moment. We see the possibility that FHN puts 4 girls well under 21:00 -- maybe 3 under 20:30 -- which may be enough this year to take the Gold Division.
Westminster Christian Academy - Profiled earlier as one of the Top 10 teams in Class 3 this year, Westminster will debut this season at Forest Park. They finished the year with 3 girls under 20:40 last year and return them all this year. Isabella Francois is their top returner with Rachel Strothkamp and Ava Hollman trailing just behind. WCA will be a major contender in the Gold race this year.
Shawnee Mission West (KS) - A solid showing at Greg Wilson Classic has Shawnee Mission West looking good heading into FPXC. They have Lindey Rowatt at 20:11 and Dara Williams at 20:17 and 2 more in the mid-21s. With 2 sub-20s on Saturday, it could very well be the Kansans who take the team trophy in the Gold division this year.