Class 4 State Wrap Up


Parkway West Not Denied Hardware in 2017, Take 3rd On Boys Side

It was a rough year for the Parkway West boys in 2016. Coming in as one of the strongest pack-running teams in the state, they fell just short of a team trophy and were shut out completely from the podium on both the girls and boys sides. Junior Blake Selm was the closest to a medal as he received the dreaded 26th place finish. This year was different for the Longhorn boys, though, as they were able to pack up again with one of the strongest returning squads in the state and try to reach the podium this time. Our predictions pegged West for the victory, assuming that there would be 4 boys all-state for West. On Saturday, there were 3 boys all-state for the Longhorns as seniors Selm, Andrew Lofgren, and Cerow Aligab all went out with individual hardware, placing 14th, 15th, and 23rd respectively.


Fellow senior Matyas Csiki-fejer was 31st and Kyle Andersen made it 5 seniors in the top 5 with his 37th place finish. The boys put on a clinic for everyone in this one, doing exactly what we thought they would with 5 boys in the 15-40 range and pulling off a 20 second 1-5 split. On this day, it would not be enough to grab the championship as Blue Springs got 5 fantastic performances in their own right and West Plains put their top 4 in the top 16, but it was enough to get that coveted trophy for which they had been working all season. This trophy was Parkway West's first since 2009 and 10th in school history.


The girls were nearly shut out this year as many of the Lady Longhorns had tough last homestretches, but junior Chloe Hershenow was able to hang on and walk across the line for 25th. She was not the only one on Saturday who had to force their legs forward with all their might in order to get across the line. 

We caught up with the Parkway West boys after they received their trophy:


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West finished just ahead of the reigning champion Rockhurst Hawklets. Rockhurst lost #1 John Luder to graduation, but retooled, exhibited incredible depth throughout the season, and was able to get back to the podium for a 4th place trophy, just edging out Lafayette. Led by Tom Seitzer's first ever sub-16:00, senior Peter Campbell and sophomore Wesley Porter were both able to grab their own all-state medals finishing 22nd (16:23.28) and 24th (16:24.22) respectively. With junior Andrew Connor, the typical #3 man, not too far behind in 34th (16:36.02), it appeared that Rockhurst might actually, in fact, be ready to pull off the  repeat in Class 4 boys - a feat that has happened twice since Ft. Zumwalt South's 2005 and 2006 victories (St. Louis University High 2012-13, Lafayette (Wildwood) 2014-15) - but a 75th place finish from #5 Will Reboulet would pull them down to 4th. The podium visit was Rockhurst's 3rd in a row and 4th in school history. 

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