Kyle Deeken

Oct 17, 2024

This week marks the informal start of the Championship season in Missouri - a sort of preview of what's to come - with conference championships lining the weekend calendar. Several of the largest conferences in the state headline what is sure to be a fun weekend ahead.

McNair Park in St. Charles will be hopping first on Thursday, and then again on Saturday, with the GAC XC Championships and St. Louis Suburban Conference Championships. The vast majority of the public schools on the Missouri side of the St. Louis Metro region will be in action at either on of these races, with St. Louis County schools locking horns on Saturday and St. Charles, Warren, Lincoln, and Franklin County schools doing battle on Thursday.

The GAC XC Championships will be rife with top individuals in the state, including Ayden Taylor, Hunter Stahl, Maddox Riley, William Doyle, Brianna Krueger, Reese McDevitt, Bella Navaro-Sanchez, and Jocelyn Haynes. The GAC runs all three of their divisions (North, Central, and South) together in one collective race, then parses out the team scores and individual results. There is no reward for winning it all, but Class 5 sleeper Liberty Wentzville should handle the boys race fairly easily over Ft. Zumwalt West, Francis Howell, and North Point, while Class 3 juggernaut St. Charles West looks to perfect score in the North once again this year and hold off Francis Howell Central for the overall victory.

The STL Suburban Conference is much more stacked with top teams across the state - most notably Kirkwood and Webster Groves. Last year, the boys teams were separated by 1 single point in the overall standings and this year may be no different. Graham Stevener is the top seed in the race, not surprisingly, as he has run 15:05.00 in this, his debut season. He has four wins under his belt in five tries so far, with the only loss coming at the Chile Pepper Festival. Dominic Buckman and Corbin Cole will be looking to lead the Statesmen to a signature win and continue to cement their role as Class 4 favorite in 2024. The Parkway Central trio and Parkway South squad, led by 2023 overall runner-up Andrew Rebholz, will be looking to break up these two frontrunner teams, as well as Lafayette freshman Ezekiel Hagen. The girls race will be a fun one to watch as Eureka looks to continue their ascent in the Class 5 ranks, led by Daphne Bishop and Olivia Pearce. Coming off the top Missouri spot at the Gans Creek Classic Elite Twilight race and an emphatic win in Hillsboro, the Lady Wildcats are riding high at the moment. Other individuals to watch include Maleah Eggers (Marquette), Gabrielle Moresi (Parkway Central), Caterina Rossomanno (Rockwood Summit), and Katie Klein (Kirkwood), among others. When the dust settles on the weekend, a much clearer picture of the District 1 picture in Class 4 and 5 should be in focus.

On the other side of the state, the KC Suburban races will be contested, with the Gold Division at Lee's Summit North High School being the one to watch foremost. In the girls race, Blue Springs South is the team to watch, of course, with Lee's Summit West next in line. How will the head-to-head matchup between Ella Rew and Lucinda Wright stack up? Can Ashlyn Wahrenbrock or Paige Stuart break up those two front-runners? We look forward to the answer to those questions. In the boys race, Raymore-Peculiar, led by breakout junior Gabriel Voelker and senior Carter Younger, heads into the race as a strong contender for the title, but Lee's Summit West with their incredible 16-second 1-5 spread, led by Jack Haley, is the top ranked squad on paper. Other notable individuals to watch include Hunter Deleeuw, Kendrick Haines, Derebe Carr, and Isheanesu Nziramasanga. The Red Division will be a fun race to watch, as well, hosted by Blue Division team Kearney. Liberty and Park Hill South bring the heat in this one, with the boys race being Liberty's to lose, but the individual title race being a rather interesting one between Todd Yeates, Connor Nicholson, Patrick Cleary, and Thomas Garrett. On the girls side, Liberty should win this one as well, but Madilynn Conklin and Lily Hurt, as well as Gianna Ezekwe, are sure to duke it out for the individual win.

Heading south, we see the COC, now divided into East and West divisions with the dissolution of the Ozark Conference, appearing to be the premier race in the Southwest corner of the state. Another meet with divisions run together and results parsed out, the COC overall title race should be a fun one between Nixa and Kickapoo. Aaron Ashley is the top-ranked individual with Joplin's Chance Tindall 13 seconds behind and sophomore-on-the-rise Gavin Blaine leading the Chiefs in third. In the girls race, Ozark appears to be the top team to watch again this year, even with the addition of several new teams. Kickapoo and Webb City are not too far behind, though, as the Cardinals are led by top individual, Brooke Hedger.

It will be a busy and eventful weekend, especially with comfortable temperatures and very little precipitation, if any at all.