West Platte Girls Edge New Haven In A Tight Race
Five schools went home with eight trophies as three of the top four teams in both divisions were the same. The lone different team on the girls side was West Platte as they were able to pull off the improbable victory over the favorite for the vast majority of the season - New Haven. By a mere 5 points, West Platte, coming from the strong District 8, was led by sophomore Lexi Elmore in 10th. Coming off her 20:25 personal best at the district meet, Elmore ran her 3rd fastest time of the season - 21:25.09. Junior Lindsay Goodwin was the #2 in 19th and she was followed in the scoring by two freshmen - Sophia Rush (28th) and Katy Tharp (44th). The key to West Platte's late season success was a late season resurgence from former all-stater Lea Moose. Struggling throughout the season, Moose was able to turn in back-to-back times under 23:20 and keyed the victory in 46th as the Blue Jays #5. You will see the entire top 7 from West Platte again next year as they return to defend their title.
Only 5 points back, New Haven would have been sure winners in Class 1 had it not have been for unfortunate injuries to Class 1 preseason #1 Julia McIntyre. Nonetheless, the Shamrocks were still led by a McIntyre as freshman Emma McIntyre finished 5th (21:12.18). She has some challengers next year, but may be a significant challenger alongside her sister in Class 1 next year. Second across the line for New Haven was senior Abby Grater as no other Shamrocks were in the top 25th (she was 27th). They did put the rest of their top 5 in the top 50, though, as sophomore Grace Allgaier was 30th, Julia was 40th, and junior Lydia Lagemann was 47th. Unfortunately for the New Haven ladies, it was not enough to overcome a huge day from West Platte. But they will be returning two top 5 talents and graduating one from their top seven so they may be the favorite in Class 1 next year.
Lutheran Kansas City parlayed their boys team's third straight trophy into their third trophy in the last five years. With three girls in the top 25, the Lady Knights looked strong with sophomore Lauren Ada in 8th, senior Anne Thomas in 22nd, and junior Madison Chiappetta in 25th. Their 4th and 5th runners were a little bit too far behind for Lutheran KC to make the push for first, though, but with 133 points, they were in no-mans land 24 points behind New Haven and 32 points ahead of Liberal.
Fourth and fifth place were separated by razor thin margins throughout the weekend and Class 1 girls was no different. Liberal, led by sophomore Cailee Lake in 7th, was able to hold off St. Joseph Christian by a mere 3 points. Junior Mary Bean was 36th and sophomore Taylor Ray was 38th.