Girls
Team Qualifiers and Podium Contenders
District 1 Qualifiers:
Cor Jesu Academy Lafayette Wildwood Kirkwood Parkway West
District 2 Qualifiers:
Raymore-Peculiar Kickapoo Lee's Summit West Nixa
District 3 Qualifiers:
Rock Bridge Francis Howell Central Ft. Zumwalt West Ft. Zumwalt North
District 4 Qualifiers:
Blue Springs Blue Springs South Liberty Liberty North
Top 5 Contenders
Blue Springs
Blue Springs' girls have shown that they are just as much title contenders as anyone else in the state. Led by Abigail Brackenbury, they've picked up key victories at the Missouri Southern Stampede and District 4 meet. They've been runners-up to Ray-Pec at the Ray-Pec Invitational and Blue Springs South at the Tim Nixon Invitational. Brackenbury and Kyla Weems will lead the way for the Wildcats, but they'll need quite a bit of help if they hope to take out those two squads plus the other big contenders on Friday. But we won't count them out, especially not after this past Saturday's performance.
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Cor Jesu Academy
A fearsome threesome resides in Cor Jesu once again as Adie Luna, Mary McKenzie, and Maria Luna headline another stellar Cor Jesu squad. The crew has held their own with the best of the best around the St. Louis area and, even if they haven't come out on top, they've still been able to hold tough no matter what. Key performances include a 3rd place finish at the Missouri Southern Stampede, a 5-point victory over Lafayette at the Parkway West Invitational, and a 37-point performance at the District 1 meet en route to a victory. The key resides at 4 and 5. Can Anna Stirton and Elizabeth Hanson bring it home for their Chargers? It could be a historic day indeed if so.
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Lafayette Wildwood
If Grace Tyson is back and at full bore, then it may be all over but the crying for everyone else. Lafayette has looked strong even in her absence as the Barnard sisters have held down the fort nicely. With Tyson's season best 18:22.58 in consideration, even though it came nearly 2 months ago at this point, the Lancers are just ahead of everyone else in the virtual meet. The key, as it always seems to be in these cases, is numbers 4 and 5. They have two girls in the 19:50s, but it might not be enough to hold off the challengers. If Lafayette can put 5 girls under 19:30, and their top 3 in the top 10, they should be able to count the score.
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Raymore-Peculiar
It was the biggest drubbing of any Class 5 team race on Saturday. Ray-Pec's girls scored 28 points, 88 better than 2nd place Kickapoo, and landed their top 5 girls in the top 9 in incredibly impressive fashion. The 1:00 1-5 split and 19:20 1-5 average is very scary. Not only that, but if their top 2 stars of Ashlyn Smith and Avery Raymond can get them top 15 individual finishes, it may be all Ray-Pec on Friday in the team race. It would be their first championship since 2001 and first trophy since 2018 after a 5th last year.
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Blue Springs South
We haven't talked much about the defending state champs yet, but that's because all year they've been doing what they do best: packing up and snatching crowns. There is nothing flashy about this year's squad. No Samantha Nightingale or Tori Findley or Mya Trober. But what they lack in firepower up front, they more than make up for in smart team running. Led by Magdalene Boley and her 18:56.80, the girls are sporting a 1-5 split of 34 seconds and a 1-5 average of 19:19.28. They were bested by their cross town rival on Saturday by a nose, but look for the Lady Jaguars to find a way once again on Friday in their quest to repeat as team champs.