Previewing the Boys Championship Race
Championship Team Entries:
12 tigers (Festus)
Trenton Childress, Dominik Kayser, Jonah Krieg, Max McDaniel, Simon Ogle, Garrett Rhine
13 Wildwood Lancers (Lafayette)
Harrison Brown, Nicholas Crouch, Cole Johnson, Aiden Murphy, Michael Nicholson, Eric Reed
14 Rock Running Club (Rockhurst)
Luke Hupke, Matthew Ingle, Ben Legg, Patrick Mullen, Wes Porter, Will Reboulet, Tom Seitzer
15 St. Louis XC Club (SLUH)
Grant Brawley, Joe Callahan, Patrick Hetlage, Ryan Kramer, Adam Mittendorf, Lucas Rackers, Noah Scott
Championship Individual Entries:
Alexander Wallach (Kirkwood) - Unattached
Blake Morris (Notre Dame Cape) - Unattached
Clayton Whitehead (Carthage) - Unattached
Malik Stewart (Maplewood-Richmond Heights) - Unattached
Dillon Grover (Blue Springs South) - SouthSide Cross Club
Caleb Cornelius (Saxony Lutheran) - Unattached
Carson Sanders (Orchard Farm) - Unattached
Jonathon Coffman (Herculaneum) - Unattached
Jimmy Dietrich (Lee's Summit West) - Lee's Summit West XC Club
Preston Wheeler (Staley) - Northland Harriers
Christian Baker (Kirkwood) - Unattached
The Missouri contingent in the championship race is stronger than it has been in recent years with three past and present state champions and 19 other all-state athletes. Out of the 36 athletes competing on Sunday, 22 of them have recently brought home medals at the state meet.
Christian Baker and Clayton Whitehead lead the way as the duo went 1-2 in the Class 4 state meet last weekend. Max McDaniel should also find his way near the top with those two after his decisive Class 3 victory. A slew of Michigan and Illinois boys will be packing the front of the race led by Nick Foster (MI), Carter Solomon (MI), Josh Methner (IL), and Tommy Brady (IL), among others.
Two state champion squads in Festus and Rockhurst, along with Class 4 runner-up SLUH and Class 4 fourth place finisher Lafayette will get to take a run at the national caliber squads from across the Mississippi as Wheaton Warrenville South (IL), Hersey (IL), and Neuqua Valley (IL) are the projected top 3 finishers.
Last November, Blue Springs's Victor Mugeche was the highest individual finisher in 10th and Webb City's Ryan Riddle took 16th. Among returners, Max McDaniel was the highest finisher in 37th and Harrison Brown took 41st. The highest finishing team was Parkway West in 8th.