Boys
The Contenders
Kyle Hagemeyer - Calvary Lutheran
The door is wide open for anyone to take the individual Class 2 championship and it appears the hometown hero Kyle Hagemeyer is in the driver's seat. His personal best of 15:53.00 came with a win at the speedy Smithton Pumpkin Run and he also owns victories at New Haven, South Callaway, Belle, his home meet, and the Vienna Autumn Classic. Hagemeyer did get beat Steelville's Conner Diaz on Saturday, but the seasoned veteran who's used to running up front should drive the bus this Saturday regardless. Hagemeyer is a major contender to bring home the win after a 14th place finish last season.
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Stockton is once again a team contender led this time by Braden Postlewait. He was 52nd as the team's number 5 at last year's state meet, but he's leap-frogged three of his fellow senior teammates and will enter the state meet not only as the leader for a team title contender, but also as a contender for the individual title. He has run 16:19.80 this fall at Chile Pepper and posted wins at his home meet, Clever, and the District 2 meet to go along with runner-ups at Diamond and El Dorado Springs. Postlewait will want to grab that single point to help his crew repeat as the Class 2 state champions.
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Based on this past track season, Charlie Kinslow was considered the man to beat in Class 2 heading into August. A middle distance specialist, Kinslow is now showing his range with a 16:23.80 personal best this fall. He's posted wins in the small school division of the Ray-Pec Invitational, the Platte County Invitational, the Gans Creek White Division, Bishop LeBlond, and, finally, the District 4 meet this past weekend. He hasn't been able to improve on that 16:23 he posted in the second week of the season, but he's been living around it since then. A 16:30 at Kearney a few weeks ago is very promising. Kinslow should be ready to win another Gans Creek race as he shoots for his third state XC medal and first gold.
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Stover's Blaine Broderson will certainly be running with a heavy heart this Saturday as he competes in honor of his brother, who sadly lost his life in a car accident in October. Broderson has competed twice since that tragedy, posting runner-up finishes in both races. He was the District 4 runner-up behind fellow title contender Charlie Kinslow. He's also posted victories at Butler, Hermitage, and the Vienna Eagle Invitational to go along with a 16:29.06 personal best from Camdenton. We at MileSplit continue to keep the Broderson family in our thoughts. We're looking forward to watching the Stover senior compete in his final race of his career.
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It's not often that you find an athlete who opened their career, first meet of their freshman season, with a super fast time and then never beats it in his career. You know Steelville senior Conner Diaz is staring down that 16:17.89 he ran at the 2019 Vienna Eagle Invitational as he stares down the course at Gans Creek this weekend. Even though he hasn't improved upon that mark this season, he's still shown in his career that he is perennially one of the top Class 2 athletes in the state. He's posted 8 wins or runner-ups in 9 tries this season, with his only non-1st or 2nd place finish coming in the Gans Creek Blue Division race. He has a season best of 16:30.10, a top 5 mark this season, but as we've seen, you know he can move even faster. Diaz is not afraid to go for gold so watch for him to run from the front and challenge for it all this weekend.