(Photo: Greg Hall)
Hill, Dick Battle at Ray-Pec; LSW Wins Big, Helias Wins Again
Another epic battle occurred on the west side of the state with Madelynn Hill from Liberty and Miranda Dick of Raymore-Peculiar, MoMileSplit's #3 and #4 athletes in Class 4 respectively, going toe-to-toe at the Raymore-Peculiar Invitational. Hill took the tape first in this one, running away from Dick for the 7 second victory. Hill ran 18:33 for the second time this season and appears to be in top form already. She may be a sneaky pick to make a run at breaking up Findley and Reed when they meet for the final showdown at state this November. Miranda Dick continued her great start running 18:40 in her 2017 debut. She joined six other girls in the state under the 19:00 barrier this weekend. Ray-Pec went 2-3 as Makenzie Stucker was 3rd in 19:18, but it was not enough to beat the Lee's Summit West Titans on this day. They went 5-6-7 led by three sophomores in Madison Hulsey, McKenna Butler, and Addie Mathis. The future, as we know, is just as bright as the present for LSW. They averaged 20:04 with their Top 5 and beat Ray-Pec by 24 points.
It was more of the same from Helias Catholic in the small schools race (both divisions were run together). Abby Hake continued to lead the Crusaders as she grabbed another victory, this time in 20:20.20. Helias was also 3-4-5 in this race and beat Pleasant Hill by 57 points. With three races with underwhelming competition under the belt, Helias has shown that they are a tier above this year and will continue to profile as one of the top 5 teams in Class 3 as they continue to win big. Freshman Aubrey Scott of Pleasant Hill took 2nd in her high school 5K debut, running 20:42.