Thousands will converge in Peculiar on Saturday morning for the KC XC Classic at Raymore-Peculiar High School.
The event started as the Kansas City Metro Classic in 2002 in Smithville. In 2004, the Ray-Pec XC course started hosting the event. The course features several curves and twists, especially in the middle of the 5K course.
This year's edition will bring some of the top teams in western Missouri and eastern Kansas together for bragging rights.
Teams to watch include Rockhurst, St. Teresa's Academy, Spring Hill, St. James Academy, Blue Springs South, Lee's Summit, Liberty, Liberty North, Lincoln College Prep, Blue Valley Southwest, and Olathe West, among many others.
The boys field has more than 800 runners entered and the top tier runners are among the best in both states. The top 10 runners feature five each from Missouri rankings and Kansas rankings -- and all are projected to run below 15:30, according to the virtual meet.
In Kansas, Dylan Plath of Olathe South is ranked No. 3. Braxton Theel of Olathe West is No. 4 this year.
Missouri's No. 1 runner this year, Henry Acorn of Rockhurst, is projected to finish third in this field.
All 10 runners in the virtual meet are ranked in the top 12 in their respective states.
Rockhurst is projected to win the meet with Liberty and Spring Hill battling for second. Shawnee Mission South, Park Hill South, Olathe West and Liberty North are all teams that will be battling for fourth.
The Missouri field represented in the girls' race features two of the three fastest runners in 2024 -- No. 2 Naomi Hunter of Smithville and No. 3 Ella Rew of Blue Springs South.
Hunter is projected as the winner in the virtual meet.
Five other runners in the Missouri statewide leaderboard's top 20 are in this field. That includes a pair of freshmen in Liberty North's Lucinda Wright and Ella Messner from St. Teresa's Academy.
In the projected top 10 finishers, Missouri has 6 and Kansas schools claim the other four.
St. James Academy's Quinn Hays, No. 12 in the state rankings, is the top projected finisher from the Sunflower State in fourth in this event.
Olathe West is projected to win the girls' race, but the top five feature three Kansas schools. Blue Springs South and St. James Academy were slotted in second and third. St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Teresa's Academy were separated by 1 1/2 points in the virtual race for fourth.