Boys
The Contenders
After a fantastic sophomore cross country campaign which saw him finish 3rd at the Class 5 State meet and drop an eye-popping 14:42.33, we were wondering just what Sage Wilde had in store for his junior season. He has hardly disappointed. Wilde opened up the season with three straight sub-15 victories at the newer faster Tim Nixon Invite, Olathe Twilight, and Missouri Southern Stampede. In fact, of his first 5 races, his slowest mark was 15:01.80 at Gans Creek. He enters this year's state meet with a 14:36.20 personal best and the only athlete in the whole country who's beaten him so far is Class 3 dynamo Connor Burns. He's on a crash course for his first career individual state championship, but will have to do battle with the man who beat him last year in order to grab the top spot.
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Andrew Hauser was also coming off a stellar sophomore campaign in which he ran a state record 14:38.15 and became the first Missourian boy to win the NXR Midwest Regional meet, but the opening to his junior season had much fewer fireworks that Sage Wilde's. It wasn't until October when Hauser really put his stamp back on the state when he dropped a 14:56.40 at the Nike XC Town Twilight meet. But, Hauser has run tough on tough courses and is coming off an absolute master class in cruising for the win at the Class 5 District 3 meet. Regardless of what the times say, his resume is still strong and he has every bit of a chance at repeating as the Class 5 champion this Friday morning. The Bruins will certainly need that one point as they shoot for a team title.
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Ian Kemey may be the strongest #2 man in state history. At last year's state meet, he finished 4th overall and capped off his junior season with a 14:51.99 at Garmin RunningLane. He's turned in some solid performances this season, including a 15:07.50 season best at Nike XC Town, but much like his teammate, the times haven't been as incredible as we may have expected. Any seasoned cross country fan/coach/athlete will tell you, though, time doesn't matter in XC and Kemey has also run tough on tough courses. He cruised to as close of a second place finish as you can get with Hauser at the District meet. He's the key to their team title run as if he and Hauser can add up to 5 points or fewer between them, the Bruins are in really good shape.
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Tyler Harris was the key to the Chiefs' 2021 team championship as he finished in 8th place in 15:34.40. This season, as Kickapoo returns their entire top 5 and hopes to repeat, he will head to Gans Creek with a 14:58.60 personal best from the Chile Pepper Festival and five marks under last year's personal best of 15:20.20. He's coming off a statement win at the Class 5 District 2 meet in 15:14.75, 17 seconds ahead of his next closest challenger, and looks ready to guide his squad to another "peak at the right time" performance. He'll be right in the mix, shooting for a single point to help his team repeat in 2022.
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Hobbs Campbell has used a breakthrough junior year of track to rocket to the top of the Class 5 ranks this fall. He's run under 15:40 four times now after only doing it once last season and has a big win to his name at the COC Championship meet. On Nixa's home course, he dropped a 15:21.23 to run away from the strong field of state level competitors. He's also posted runner-up finishes at the Raymore-Peculiar Invitational and Richard Clark Invitational, as well as a 3rd place finish at the Missouri Southern Stampede to Sage Wilde and Tyler Harris. Campbell has the range to hang on to a fast pace in the beginning and close it down on the final stretch. Look for Campbell to challenge for a top 5, and potentially even top 3, spot this Friday.