After one three-peat streak ended on Friday in Class 5, another emerged on Saturday. In the driving rain, the state's next big dynasty made another stamp on their legacy.
The second race of a day that had already experienced a great deal of rain throughout the early morning, the Class 3 girls race ended up being quite probably the most miserable of the day from a weather conditions standpoint. As the girls crossed under the 1K split monitor, a strong and steady rain, with wind blowing it side-to-side, had begun, soaking both the runners and the course on an already brisk morning.
St. Charles West's Brianna Krueger emerged first from the starting line chaos and immediately moved to the front. The heavy favorite in this race, Krueger made her presence felt right away as, even after navigating probably the muddiest part of the course after the first turn, she crossed the pads at 1K in 3:25 - the fastest first split of the weekend. Nearly eleven seconds back was Owensville's Ilene Limberg and a chase pack of Kelly Frank, Martina Ressel, Madalyn Mahoney, and Hollyn Zangaro had formed at 3:38.
"I don't like to leave any doubt so (taking the lead early) was just kind of what I wanted to do," Krueger told MileSplit after the race.
Krueger had extended her lead to 18 seconds as she crossed the 2K mats and made her her way back down the first long straight away. With the rain still falling steadily, this part of the course was becoming soggier by the second, but Krueger continued to push the envelope. Limberg crossed the mats second with Notre Dame's Ressel in third now and her teammate Lily Coy in fifth. Frank had moved back to fourth. The athletes were starting to separate from each other as Limberg came through in 7:22, Ressel 7:25, Frank 7:28, and Coy 7:34. Mahoney was fifth in 7:40. Even after losing five places from 1K to 2K, St. Charles West was still flexing their muscles in first with 51 points. Herculaneum was 85 points behind in second and Owensville was another 24 points back in third, looking to achieve the rare feat of not earning a plaque at the District meet, but then earning one at the State meet.
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Herculaneum moved up nine spots in the third kilometer, but it hardly made a dent in the St. Charles West onslaught. With their top 5 in the top 31, they were still holding tough with 52 points, now 75 clear of Herculaneum. Krueger had pushed the lead to 24 seconds after being the only one to split under 4:00 on that portion of the course. It was probably the most destroyed part of the course at this point and would only get worse as the day would wear on.
Not much movement had taken place in the top 5, but the gap between the 2nd and 3rd place teams had widened with Owensville dropping back 12 spots from Herculaneum. An unfortunate stumble in a particularly wet spot from Lutheran's Mahoney had moved Lutheran St. Charles to 5th and Notre Dame de Sion into 4th, but the margin was still razor thin. St. Charles West's Claire Horstmann now found herself in 6th with her teammates Genevieve Wacker and Miley Jackson at 10th and 11th. With Melaina Beilsmith still sitting 31st, the Warriors had essentially secured their third team championship, led by Krueger now 27 seconds ahead of the field. 
The final time for Krueger of 18:46.20, all alone in the driving rain, would end up being 19 seconds clear of the next closest runner. The win capped off an incredible season for the St. Charles West sophomore, headlined not only by the State title, but also wins at the District 3 meet, GAC XC Championships, Orchard Farm Invitational, Parkway West Invitational, First Capital Invitational, and, most notably, the Forest Park XC Festival. The 18:46 mark was 38 seconds off her 18:09.58 at the Missouri Southern Stampede, but was still impressive given the conditions.
"This has been a dream I've had for a really long time and it just feels so good to get out there and make it happen," she noted.
Freshman Kelly Frank dominated the final kilometer of the race, running a 3:36 final split, to finish second in a personal best of 19:05.00, making her one of very few runners in the field to run a personal best. She won four varsity races this season, including the Class 3 District 4 meet. Owensville's Ilene Limberg led her squad to their first ever team trophy with her third place finish, the highest of her four all-state finishes. Owensville is one of very few teams in state history to finish in the top 4 at the State meet after finishing 3rd or 4th at the District or Sectional meet. The Notre Dame Cape Giradeau duo of Martina Ressel and Lily Coy came across 4th and 5th, respectively.
For St. Charles West, the three-peat effort was a dominant effort indeed. Their 51 points total was 62 clear of Herculaneum, who picked up their 25th team trophy in program history and first since 2017. The Warriors may not be finished, too, as they return 4 of their top 7 and will be seeking out the four-peat in 2025. But Herculaneum is returning their entire top 7 from the runner-up contingent. Junior Claira Davis was the team's leader all season, but this time it was freshman Amaya Ferguson who was first across for the Blackcats in a personal best 20:33.60 for 17th overall. Sophomores Finley Hamtil and Emerson Reeves also picked up all-state honors with 23rd and 26th place finishes, as well. They will be seeking out their 12th state championship, but first since 2012, in 2025.
Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau)'s Martina Ressel (above) and Lily Coy (below)
After 3rd place Owensville was Notre Dame de Sion, a team with 7 non-seniors on their squad, picking up their first team trophy since 2013 and 13th overall.
2nd Place Herculaneum
3rd Place Owensville
4th Place Notre Dame de Sion
Other notable performances: St. Michael's Isabella Rosenberg ran 0.1 seconds faster than 2023, but finished 25 places better, going from 33rd to 8th. Knob Noster, the 6th place team by 11 points, picked up their first two all-state athletes in program history with Lyla Stiles finishing 16th and Adeline Applegate finishing 29th. Lawson's Jocelyn Calvert ran a 1:06 season best 20:23.20 to finish 12th on the day, a year after finishing 23rd in her personal best of 19:43.00. Clever's Cali Smith had the biggest improvement of anyone year-over-year, running 2:00 faster than her 2023 State trip. After finishing 135th in 2023, she was 25th this fall - 110 places better year over year and all-state, to boot!