State XC 2018: Class 2 State Preview

Class 2 Boys Qualifying Teams

Alton

Bowling Green

Clark County

East Carter

El Dorado Springs

Fatima

Lamar

Lexington

Maplewood-Richmond Hts

New Haven

Spokane

St. Michael the Archangel

Stockton

St. Vincent

Whitfield

Woodland

2017 Rematch in Class 2 Boys

It look like we are going to have a sort of replay of the 2017 Class 2 Boys race with Defending State Champion Caleb Cornelius of Saxony Lutheran looking to retain the belt. He comes in with the third fastest time in the Class 2 this season with a 15:54. Kolin Overstreet was 5th last year and has the fastest time in Class 2 this year with a 15:34 to lead the challengers. Next is last year's Runner Up Malik Stewart with a season best of 15:47, then Nathan Frazee (12th in 2017) at 15:56. There is also one new contender in the form of El Dorado Springs wonder freshman Daelen Ackley who has ran 16:08 this season. I'm rolling with the defending champ as the favorite, as Cornelius has had the most consistent season so far. He's won 6 of 10 races so far, with three second place finishes at the hands of Blake Morris (who I picked second in Class 3) and a 9th place finish at Chile Pepper where he beat every Missourian not named Christian Baker (1st in Class 4) and Max McDaniel (1st in Class 3). I'm rolling with Kolin Overstreet for second place, as he's had a strong year as well winning 8 of his 10 races this season. I'm going with freshman Daelen Ackley at third as he seems to be getting stronger as the season goes on, and he actually won his most recent meeting with Overstreet after getting beat by him a few weeks prior. I wouldn't be shocked if jumped up to 2nd, or possibly tried to give Cornelius a run for his money. I then think it will be Stewart and Frazee in 4th and 5th respectively.

Team Title Contenders

Lamar has won back to back State Championships in Class 2, but it looks like they won't quite have the guns to make it a three peat unless they have a breakout day on Saturday. I'm not going to lie, I had a tough time with the picks for this as it seems to be a very, very, very close race. However, after some deliberation I've landed on Fatima walking away with the Class 2 Boys title. Although they are ranked a mere 5th in the virtual meet, they have have had consistency from 1-5 that most of the teams above them have not. They also ran really well on the State Course at the Capital City XC Challenge just a few weeks ago. Second place looks to be a battle between Stockton and El Dorado Springs, and I think Stockton pulls that one at out narrowly. Following those two I think will be Clark County in the last podium position. 

For Full Class 2 Boys Rankings and Team Scores Click Here