State XC 2018: Class 4 State Preview

It looks to be a four-way race heading into Saturday for the Class 4 Boys Individual Crown. Clayton Whitehead comes in with fastest time with a 15:11, followed by Christian Baker (15:22), Chandler Gibbens (15:26), and Tom Seitzer (15:28). Last year Gibbens was the highest finisher of the four with a 4th palce finish, followed by Seitzer in 5th, Whitehead in 17th, and Baker 29th. In their only match up Whithead defeated Seitzer at the Greg Wilson Classic, but that was a LONG time ago. Seitzer also defeated Gibbens at Rim Rock placing 4th to Gibbens 6th. None of those three have raced against Christian Baker yet this season who has won every race he's ran this season, except for a 5th place finish at the highly competitive Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Arkansas, where he was the top Missouri finisher. Though I think Gibbens and Seitzer could win, I think the more likely scenario is a race between Christian Baker and Clayton Whitehead up that final hill towards the finish. Really I think this race could go either way, but if I was forced to make a pick (which I will be later in this article) my gut says Christian Baker will walk away the State Champion Saturday narrowly over Whitehead, with Seitzer third and Gibbens forth.

Which Teams Are Getting On the Podium?

This is a tough one. There are three teams I think that have a really good chance at the team title, with those teams being Kirkwood, Lafayette (Wildwood), and Rockhurst. Kirkwood and Rockhurst have looked very strong all season long, and Rockhurst got back Wes Porter last week to boost their chances heading into the weekend. Lafayette has always looked good, but the last few weeks they've really kicked up a notch and have put themselves back in the hunt for the title, and in fact just beat Kirkwood at the Sectional 1 Meet. I'm going to pick Kirkwood to win it with Christian Baker winning it all and the best 3-4-5 total out of the three. I'm taking Rockhurst over Lafayatte as well as that big 1-2 punch of Setizer and Porter, and I think they also have a slight edge 3-5. So that Kirkwood, Rockhurst, and Lafayette 1-3 leaving us one more trophy to predict.

I have SLUH, Hickman, and Ray-Pec as the teams fighting for that last trophy. I think SLUH has the best chance to win that trophy, but I wouldn't count Hickman completely out as they actually have the better 1-4 on paper, and there's a long history of number 5 runners running out of their minds at Oak Hills. Ray-Pec I think could also sneak in and claim a trophy, but I think its SLUH at 4, Hickman 5, Ray-Pec 6. If I were to make a sleeper trophy pick, I'd give it to West Plains. The last two weeks they have really come on strong, winning both their District and Sectional. If I've learned anything, its never sleep on the most storied team in State History.

For Full Class 4 Boys Individual Rankings and Team Scores Click Here.

For Last Year's Results Click Here.

For Photo and Video Coverage from 2017 Click Here.