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Gans Creek Championships Cross Country Course will be where the best teams and runners in Class 2 go head-to-head on Saturday at the 2021 Missouri Class 2 State Cross Country Championships.
Class 2 State Virtual Meet | Class 2 XC Individual Rankings
The boy's individual title race looks to be pretty open heading into the weekend, with several boys consistently running in the low to mid 16's. Tanner Talley (New Covenant Academy) placed fourth last year and enters the meet with the fastest time in Class 2 with a 15:37. He's closely followed by last year's runner-up Nathan Hinrichs (New Bloomfield) who owns a season-best of 15:48 from the Gans Creek Classic earlier this season.
Class 1 fourth-place finisher last year Ryan Cardenzana (Blue Eye) enters the race with a 15:55 season-best, and Rex Heath (Principa) who placed third last year enters the meet with a season-best of 16:19 and will be upfront as well.
Stockton appears to have the edge in the team title hunt heading into the weekend, as they lead Principia in the virtual meet by 29 points. Alton is twelve back of Principia, and Blue Eye is a further nine points back. West Platte, Steelville, and Arcadia Valley also could make plays for a team trophy this weekend.
COVERAGE: MSHSAA Class 2 State XC Championships
Three-time defending Class 1 State Champion Riley Arnold (Blue Eye) makes the jump to Class 2 this year and will look to add another gold medal to her name. She owns the second-fastest time in Class 2 this season with a 19:07 she ran at the Gans Creek Classic.
Her biggest competition looks to be the streaky Samantha Sharp (Brookfield). Sharp has the fastest time in Class 2 this year with an 18:55 from the Gans Creek Classic but hasn't run with much consistency this season. However, she clearly has the talent and it just takes one good race this Saturday to become the champion.
In the team title race, Hermann holds the top spot in our virtual meet and is 26 points clear of Summit Christian Academy. Blue Eye is 35 back of Summit, and North Platte is 27 points behind them. St. Pius X (Kansas City) and Steelville are both 32 points further back, but with this race being "so clear" with the placements, I'd almost guarantee you there will be a shakeup when we look at the scores on Saturday.