District 4
Class 4 District 4 will be taking place at Brookdale Farms in Eureka, MO on Saturday. From the handful of meets in our data base this course looks to run pretty fair, but the meets held there have been early on in the season so it could potentially be a lot faster than it looks when compared to end of season times.
This is one of the most competitive districts in the State on the boys side. There really isn't a cut and dry favorite with No. 6 Marquette and No. 4 Parkway West both pretty evenly matched. I think I'd give the slightest of slight edges to Marquette in this one. Behind them is a really good Lafayette team and an emergent Parkway South team. Parkway Central also could sneak into the top 4 if they have a good day. Parkway West recently finished ahead of all these schools at the Suburban Conference Championships, but Marquette didn't have their best day and I think are a strong candidate to bounce back. Parkway South was next out of these schools followed by Lafayette.
The top runners in this race also all squared off at the Suburban Meet, with Thomas Andersen (Parkway West) placing third with a 16:13, Aiden Murphy (Lafayette - Wildwood) was forth at 16:16, Stone Burke (Marquette) was fifth with a 16:18, Ethan Koop (Marquette) was sixth with a 16:20, and Andrew Ahrens (Parkway Central) was seventh with a 16:21. So with all of those guys within two seconds of each other, I think its a real crap shoot on who wins. I'd also include Connor Del Carmen (Marquette) as a possible champion even though he was 50th in that race, as he has ran 15:50, 16:33, and 16:37 this year.
The girls race is also pretty stacked. Class 4 No. 2 Eureka, who have been one of the best teams in Missouri this year, are the favorites to win the team title. In the virtual meet the Wildcats have all seven of their runners in the top 17 which is really impressive. They recently just won the Suburban Conference Championships by 34 points against most of the competition they'll be facing this week. No. 5 Parkway West will likely finish second like they did at the Suburban Meet, but Lafayette is just behind them. Forth place gets really tricky between Northwest (Cedar Hill) and a Marquette team who looked to be a State Trophy contender before the year started.
Freshman sensation Grace Tyson (Lafayette - Wildwood) will be the heavy favorite to win the individual title. She won the Suburban Conference Meet with an 18:56, defeating Leah Kleekamp (Eureka) at 19:12, Kathryn Yates (Parkway West) at 19:14, Tabitha Bevan (Parkway North) at 19:17, and Anna Lombardo (Eureka) at 19:17. We are likely looking at a rematch between those girls, but I think Tyson should win comfortably.
For the Full District 4 Virtual Meets Click Here
"Expert" Picks
MileSplit "Expert" | Girls Teams | Boys Teams | Girls Individual | Boys Individual |
| Ryan Taylor | 1. Eureka 2. Parkway West 3. Lafayette 4. Marquette | 1. Marquette 2. Parkway West 3. Lafayette 4. Parkway South | 1. Grace Tyson 2. Leah Kleekamp 3. Anna Lombardo 4. Kathryn Yates 5. Tabitha Bevan | 1. Thomas Andersen 2. Stone Burke 3. Connor Del Carmen 4. Nikolas Malek 5. Aiden Murphy |
| Kyle Deeken | 1. Eureka 2. Parkway West 3. Lafayette 4. Northwest | 1. Marquette 2. Lafayette 3. Parkway West 4. Parkway South | 1. Grace Tyson 2. Leah Kleekamp 3. Anna Lombardo 4. Kayla Voelker 5. Kathryn Yate | 1. Thomas Andersen 2. Ethan Koop 3. Stone Burke 4. AIden Murphy 5. Andrew Ahrens |