With just a few days before the 2009 State Cross Country Meet, Chris Ammen couldn’t fit this week’s conversation into one day. In Part 3 of this week’s edition Chris talks to James Crowe of University City, Jake Holt of East Newton, Greg Hipp of Missouri State University and Yael
T Abouhalkah
of the Kansas City Star.
James Crowe –
What is your favorite memory of the state meet?
My favorite memory of the state meet is Mark Kimble of
Who will win in each class for boys and girls on Saturday in
Class 1: How can you argue against Caleb Hoover and
Class 2: Alex Mason Herky, and
Class 3: Maksim Korolev wins over the notorious
Class 4: Thater and
Who will win in each class for boys and girls on Saturday in
I have been a competitive runner for 40 years, but I love the state meet because I am a fan. The people in our sport are special and the respect runners have for one another is rare to see in another sport. I don’t think young runners will have another experience like this, short of the college championship series. So I love to get together with my fellow XC enthusiasts and celebrate our great sport.
Jake Holt –
What is your favorite memory of the State Meet?
My favorite memory of the state meet was last year when my girls' team finally got that coveted State Trophy. The girls went through a lot of adversity with three of the top five being injured at some point throughout the year. The tears of joy on their faces is something that I'll never forget.
Who will win in each class for boys and girls on Saturday in
Class 1:
Boys
Team:
Individual: Caleb Hoover -
Girls
Team: Midway
Individual: Mackenzie Weis – Midway
Sleepers:
Class 2:
Boys
Team:
Individual: Alex Mason -
Girls
Team:
Individual: Saga Barzowski -
Sleepers:
Class 3:
Boys
Team: West Plains
Individual: Maksim Korolev - Harrisonville
Girls
Team:
Individual: Sarah Jacobsen -
Sleepers: West Plains girls; Sarah White -
Class 4:
Boys
Team:
Individual: Danny Thater - Kickapoo
Girls
Team:
Individual: Emily Sisson - Parkway Central
Sleepers: Kevin Colon -
What do you look forward to the most about the state meet?
I really enjoy getting out of school on Friday and making the trip to
Greg Hipp –
What is your favorite memory of the state meet?
For me going to the state meet is really all about recruiting. An important part of that is getting to see high school runners compete in person. I also want to make some sort of contact with my recruits while I'm there. Last year one of our assistant coaches and I were running all over the course trying to find that perfect spot so we could cheer on our recruits and hopefully catch their eye as they went by so they'd know we were there for them. We had been doing this all day and by the time the 1A race came along we were pretty much the only college coaches left so standing out wasn't very hard anymore. It also made it easy to stand out since by the time the small class races came along we were the only people left there not wearing camo or Carhartts! During the 1A race just before Firehouse Hill eventual state champ Emily Beaver from College Heights Christian passed by me in the lead. As she pass I cheered, "Nice job Emily!" At that moment Emily looks over at me and says, "Hey Coach Hipp," and gives me a big waive. It took me five minutes to stop laughing over the state champ saying hello and waiving to me during her race. Emily now runs for me at
What do you look forward to the most at the state meet?
One of the things I love about going to the state meet is getting to see a lot of our old
Yael T. Abouhalkah – KC Star
What is your favorite memory of the State Meet?
I have two favorite memories of the State Meet.
The best was watching Max Storms, a good running friend and role model for my son, win the Class 2 championship in 2007 as a junior at O'Hara.
The second best was watching the fantastic
And, personally, I'm looking forward to my son, Luke, running at State on Saturday for the first time, representing
Who will win in each class for boys and girls on Saturday in
I'll give a few predictions, keeping in mind I watch Class 4 most closely.
In Class 4 boys, I'll say my choices right now, in order, are LS North,
LS North has had a strong 1-5 spread at every meet it has run; in fact, it usually has been a strong 1-7 with its varsity. That's why I think
Danny Thater of Kickapoo would be my co-favorite right now with defending State Champ Kevin Colon of LS West, who looks as if he's almost over his recent illnesses. That should be a great race, with Caleb Ford of SLUH another obvious contender.
Right near them I would place other KC area runners including Sectional winner Devon Young of Raymore-Peculiar plus Collin Hubert, Kolton Sheldon and Jon LaPlante of LS North. I've also been impressed from afar by Caleb Wilfong of
In Class 4 girls, I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the defending state champions LS West run several times this year, and they should be the obvious favorites.
While Emily Sisson of Parkway Central is the favorite in the Class 4 girls race, I can see a terrific race right behind her among Diane Robison of Parkway Central, Megan Yohe of Liberty, and Chelsea Phoebus and Liga Blyholder of LS West. Phoebus, in particular, always seems to be able to pull out a final sprint to get a victory, so I would especially watch for her.
In Class 3 boys, I've seen Max Korolev of Harrisonville run four record-setting races this year and can't wait to see him go for Matt Tegenkamp's overall State record in
In Class 1 boys, the obvious person to watch is Caleb Hoover of College Heights Christian. Keep in mind that Caleb was only 41st at last year's State Meet in the combined boys times (finishing 2nd in the Class 1 race), far behind others I have mentioned already. He has really improved since last year's cross country season.
I'm not sure they are really a sleeper team, because almost everyone has noticed how well
What do you look forward to the most about the state meet?
The first is seeing the absolute best boys and girls race against each other in all 4 classes. Those are great battles and they really draw out the best efforts from them.
The second is watching --and being proud -- of some of the runners I have run with in the off-season while staying in shape for my own road-racing season in the
And I want to add that I always enjoy seeing, talking to and learning from all the great cross country coaches who serve our kids so well.
Thanks guys. It should be another memorable meet.