Girls
The Contenders
Seems like just yesterday when Carolyn Ford was demolishing the entire field as a freshman to win the Class 5 State Championship in 2019. Three years later, Ford is search to bookend her career with her second individual crown. She's looked solid all year. She won the Gans Creek Classic in impressive fashion, beating Julia Ray by 18 seconds, and running the No. 5 time on the course all-time 18:00.30. She looked in classic Carolyn Ford form at the District 3 meet as she absolutely torched the field from start to finish, running 18:39.01 on the challenging Parkway Central course, and made a statement that she isn't going down without a fight this year. She has the home field advantage and the silent assassin could close out her career with a bang.
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Josie Baker is undefeated the season except for a tenth place finish at the Gans Creek Classic and a twentieth place finish at the Chile Pepper Festival. She hasn't improved upon that 18:14.40 personal best that earned her eighth place overall, but she's shown she can run with just about anyone this year. She's posted two big victories heading into the big dance, with wins at the STL Suburban meet and District 1. Josie has gold flowing through her veins, and even state level gold, and she's beaten everyone she needs to beat this year at least once. Seeing her atop the results on Friday would not be surprising.
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Talk about bursting onto the scene. It was an 18:09.60 at the Nike XC Town Twilight meet that vaulted Mae Walker to the top of the state ranks and put Rock Bridge's No. 2 on the minds of every Class 5 coach in the state. Since then, she's finished third to her teammate Ford and Josie Baker at the Patriot/Statesman Classic, won the CMAC Championship (Ford was not in attendance), and was runner-up at the District meet, once again to Ford. The freshman was 18:58.80 at the Gans Creek Classic and should cap off a stellar first year of high school with a big performance.
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Abigail Brackenbury - Blue Springs
Abigail Brackenbury has had a phenomenal season that has gone somewhat unnoticed outside of the western part of the state. She has posted wins at the COMO Kick-Off, Tim Nixon Invitational, Raymore-Peculiar Invitational, Grain Valley Sock It To Cancer Invitational, Missouri Southern Stampede Green Division and, finally, at last weekend's District 4 meet. She's heading into Friday's November Classic with an 18:27.50 personal best and looking to help her Lady Wildcats land on the podium for the first time since 2006.
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Grace Tyson - Lafayette Wildwood
Unfortunately, we haven't seen the reigning Class 5 champion since the Forest Park Festival as she's been nursing an apparent injury. Word on the street is that she was held out of the district meet out of an abundance of caution so Tyson may be ready to step back into the fold on Friday. Even at 90%, she's still a force to be reckoned with. Don't be surprised if the Indiana University commit goes for it all after her long layoff. She was tearing the scene up before that with wins at the FZN Invitational, Memphis Twilight, and Forest Park Green Division. The Lady Lancers will need her if they hope to climb to the top of the team podium.