(Photo: Greg Hall)
Varsity Boys Gold
Teams: Benton (IL) Bishop DuBourg Cape Central Chaminade Fatima Fort Zumwalt East Fort Zumwalt North Fort Zumwalt South Fort Zumwalt West Francis Howell Francis Howell North Freeburg (IL) Fulton School at St. Albans Holt Jackson John Burroughs Ladue Lebanon Liberty (Wentzville) Marquette University High School (WI) Mexico Oakville Parkivew Parkway North Pattonville Perryville Shawnee Mission West (KS) St. Clair St. Vincent Ste. Genevieve Valley Park Warrenton Washington Whitfield
Individuals
Alex Dukes, SR, Mexico: FPXC was Dukes's breakout race in 2016. Running to a 17:39 victory (on a tough day, remember), Dukes used his Gold Division title to vault him to a fantastic junior season, capped off by an 11th place finish at the Class 3 State meet. After a 9:35 3200 this spring, Dukes should be a favorite to repeat in 2017.
Ean Buffington, SR, Jackson: Buffington was 16:19 as a freshman and absent his sophomore year, but he went 16:03 in 2016 and ran 9:52 on the track this past spring. He was 22nd in the green division in 2016 and has already ran 16:29 this season in Memphis. Buffington will be up front for sure in this race.
Jared Neikirk, JR, Central (Cape Girardeau): Neikirk is exploding on to the scene in 2017. After a 9:58 at Fleet Feet Arnold, Neikirk turned around and beat the aforementioned Buffington at the Jackson Invite, running 12:06 for 2.35 miles (5:08/mile). He's turned in a 17:28 at Jefferson Barracks, too, but we see Neikirk touching the low-16s in this race and going for the W on Saturday.
Teams
Ft. Zumwalt West: FZW has always been deep across the board, but never had a superstar up front. They lost some solid scorers from their 2016 team, but they have already put together another solid contender out of St. Charles County. At last week's Granite City Invite, Noah Lee was their top finisher in the 3 Mile with his 16:13 (~16:40 5K) and he has 6 teammates who ran sub-18:00 equivalents. The Jaguars will look to pack up to try to take home the Gold Division title in 2017.
Jackson: Ean Buffington leads the way, but he has some quality production behind him. With a low score from Buffington (we're thinking Top 3 at least), Jackson will have to pack up in the Top 50 if they want to take home the trophy this year. But after their Memphis Twilight performance, they could very well do it.