District 7
Location: Warrensburg High School XC Course
Teams in Attendance
Butler, Conway, El Dorado Springs, Fair Grove, Holden, Knob Noster, Lafayette County, Pleasant Hope, Sherwood, Skyline, St. Paul Lutheran (Concordia), Stockton, Warsaw
What To Watch
Welcome to the Daelen Ackley show.
Ackley is easily the most intriguing athlete to watch in this district as he enters nearly a full minute ahead of his next closest competitor according to season bests and has only lost twice this season in ten tries - eighth place at the Chile Pepper Festival and second place to Kolin Overstreet at the Lamar Invitational.
Ackley is a clear front runner for the state championship so we're looking beyond this meet to his showdown with Malik Stewart at Gans Creek. It should be a doozy. Samuel Wilhelm is another individual to watch in this race as, in most other districts, he would be in a much better spot for the championships. But with Ackley in the mix, it'll be tough for him to pull it off. El Dorado Springs and Stockton are the two best bets to clear the district here as a team.
The individual race on the girls side will probably be much closer with Valorie Slack, Camille Gudde, and Hannah Klaiber duking it out for the victory. Slack and Gudde have been competitive on the state level over the last two years with Klaiber emerging on scene in her freshman campaign. It's talent and experience versus talent and only the strongest will come out victorious. El Dorado Springs appears poised to roll to victory with St. Paul Lutheran and Holden fighting it out for the second spot to state.
Top 2 Teams and Top 5 Individuals (Prediction)
Boys
1. Daelen Ackley - El Dorado Springs
2. Samuel Wilhelm - Knob Noster
5. Trevyn Garringer - El Dorado Springs
Teams
1. El Dorado Springs
2. Stockton
Girls
2. Hannah Klaiber - El Dorado Springs
4. Adrien Martens - St. Paul Lutheran
Teams
1. El Dorado Springs
2. Holden