The Class 2 girls kicked things off on day 2 of the 2022 MSHSAA State Cross Country Championships. The ladies had to endure chilly temperatures, a light rain, and windy conditions at 9:00 a.m. Smithton senior Riley Bryan, just over 2-years since she took up running, won the Class 2 state title, a year after winning the Class 1 crown. The Missouri State University signee won handily in the rough conditions in 19:04.
The North Platte Lady Panthers dominated the team race, putting four girls in the top-19 to dominate, scoring just 64 points. Hermann added a 2nd-place trophy for the school trophy case, a year after taking 1st and running with just six girls. The Bearcats scored 89 points and were led by a 2-3 finish by Katy Menke and Amelia Uthlaut. Hermann's 3-4-5 finishers were a pair of Alainas and an Elaina. Freshman Elaina Uthlaut was the 3rd finisher in 43rd, after #2 Amelia Uthlaut was 3rd overall. After Elaina Uthlaut finished, Hermann's Alaina Worland and Alaina Heaney finished close behind in 45th and 46th.
Spokane senior Lily Hunsucker ran a great race and was in as high as 4th place and as low as just 14th at each of the first four kilometer markers, before her body failed her and she willed her it down the homestretch, walking, and collapsing at least once, before eventually making it across the finish line.in 110th-place in the Class 2 Girls race.
Making one of the handful of wide turns at Gans Creek, runners in the Class 2 Girls race run just after the mile mark.
Familiar Name and Face
Bearing a strong resemblence to her sisters, New Covenant Academy senior Anna McCune (#574) runs just after the mile mark in the Class 2 Girls race. McCune's sisters Claire McCune and Katie McCune starred for the New Covenant Academy and Summit Prep co-op teams in the previous decade, before All-American college careers at Drury University. Claire and Katie are now competing at Arkansas as graduate students.