The Kansas City area has been absolutely dominating the Girls Distance scene in 2018. KC holds all of the top 10 times in both the 800 , and the top 8 times in the 1600 and 3200 in Class 5. On the surface that just looks like a cool stat, but then when you sit down and start to think about it you realize that because the way state qualifying works a lot of these girls aren't even going to make it to State. Lee's Summit West and Raymore-Peculiar luck out to be Class 5 Sectional 3, because all the other power KC schools are in Sectional 4, and its going to be a blood bath.
800
Earlier I stated how all of the top 10 times in Class 5 came from KC. Well out of those 10, 8 of them are in Sectional 4. Likely due to the strength of the Sectional, Victoria Findley and Kaitlyn Lewis aren't even running the 800, and that still leaves 6 potential State Medalists battling for 4 State Qualifying spots. I'd be willing to bet that we are going to have a 2:17 800 runner miss out on a State berth just because this Sectional is so good. It's also very likely the that the 5th and 6th place finishers will run faster than the winner of most of the other Sectionals.
State Rankings (Bold = Sectional 4)
| PLACE | ATHLETE | GRADE | TEAM | TIME | POINTS | |
| 1 | Jana Shawver | 2018 | Lee's Summit West High School | 2:11.41 | 10 | |
| 2 | Taiya Shelby | 2018 | Park Hill High School | 2:15.87 | 8 | |
| 3 | Emma Roth | 2018 | Park Hill South High School | 2:16.13 | 6 | |
| 4 | Addie Coppinger | 2019 | St. Teresa's Academy | 2:17.58 | 5 | |
| 5 | Madelynn Hill | 2019 | Liberty High School | 2:17.97 | 4 | |
| 6 | Audrey Parson | 2020 | Lee's Summit West High School | 2:18.37 | 3 | |
| 7 | Tessa Valdivia | 2019 | Blue Springs High School | 2:18.90 | 2 | |
| 8 | Alyna Thibault | 2020 | Blue Springs High School | 2:19.03 | 1 |
1600
Sectional 4 also lays claim to 7 of the top 8 1600 runners in Class 5. Danielle Hotalling who is ranked 6th in State with a 5:08 isn't competing likely due to the fact that she's ranked 5th in the Section. That still leaves 6 potential State Medalists fighting over 4 spots. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes 5:05 or lower to make it State from Sectional 4.
State Rankings (Bold = Section 4)
| PLACE | ATHLETE | GRADE | TEAM | TIME | POINTS | |
| 1 | Victoria Findley | 2018 | Blue Springs South High School | 4:52.67 | 10 | |
| 2 | Tessa Valdivia | 2019 | Blue Springs High School | 5:01.63 | 8 | |
| 3 | Emma Roth | 2018 | Park Hill South High School | 5:06.26 | 6 | |
| 4 | Madelynn Hill | 2019 | Liberty High School | 5:06.78 | 5 | |
| 5 | Madison Hulsey | 2020 | Lee's Summit West High School | 5:07.73 | 4 | |
| 6 | Marti Heit | 2018 | Park Hill South High School | 5:11.61 | 3 | |
| 7 | Elaina Hubner | 2018 | Blue Springs High School | 5:13.68 | 2 | |
| 8 | Abigail Juedemann | 2019 | Lindbergh High School | 5:14.94 | 1 |
3200
The 3200 isn't quite as brutal as 5 of the top 8 runners are from Sectional 4. However, it looks like either Tessa Valdivia (11:05.88) or Marti Heit (11:08.21) won't be advancing to the State meet despite them being nearly 20 seconds faster than 9th place in the State Rankings. It's not unreasonable to think that all 5 of the ranked girls from Sectional 4 could break 11:00 this weekend, leaving a sub 11 sitting at home for the State Meet.
State Rankings (Bold = Section 4)
| PLACE | ATHLETE | GRADE | TEAM | TIME | POINTS | |
| 1 | Victoria Findley | 2018 | Blue Springs South High School | 10:35.25 | 10 | |
| 2 | Elaina Hubner | 2018 | Blue Springs High School | 10:57.60 | 8 | |
| 3 | Makenzie Stucker | 2019 | Raymore-Peculiar High School | 10:58.33 | 6 | |
| 4 | Danielle Hotalling | 2018 | Blue Springs South High School | 11:00.85 | 5 | |
| 5 | Miranda Dick | 2019 | Raymore-Peculiar High School | 11:01.50 | 4 | |
| 6 | Madison Hulsey | 2020 | Lee's Summit West High School | 11:04.97 | 3 | |
| 7 | Tessa Valdivia | 2019 | Blue Springs High School | 11:05.88 | 2 | |
| 8 | Marti Heit | 2018 | Park Hill South High School | 11:08.21 | 1 |
Now I'm not advocating for any changes to the State qualifying system (though I do wish we'd return to the 4 class system), but I thought it was important to share how strong Sectional 4 is this year. Its unfortunate for those who won't qualify, but it will make for some very fun races to watch on Saturday.