In the Class 5 Girls race, an individual state championship was won by the razor thinnest margin of all time, though it ran very similarly overall to the boys race. 
Photo: Clark Halferty
The first race of the day on that chilly Friday morning started out hot as the ladies took advantage of the best course conditions that anyone in any of the 10 races would most likely have. Eureka's Daphne Bishop led a group of 11 girls through the first kilometer in 3:33, with the top 30 coming through in 3:35 or better. The wide running lanes in this part of the course allowed for the girls to spread out wide across and bunch up close. The early advantage in the team race belonged to Blue Springs South at 114, though the margin between first and fourth was a mere 11 points.
A significant amount of movement occurred as the girls moved down the "final" straightaway and prepared to finish the 2K loop. Pre-race favorite Elyse Wilmes moved to her rightful position up front as she led another horde of girls around the turn in 7:12. Five girls came through under 7:13 with Cor Jesu's Mary McKenzie, St. Joseph's Savannah Amann, Blue Springs South's Ella Rew, and Joplin's Ava Doll. The top 30 girls were in 7 seconds of each other at this point and Blue Springs South had widened their gap. After starting out in fourth, Father Tolton had moved up to second as they turned the corner and Eureka retained their third place position.
Photo: Brandon Daniels
Like nearly every race that the Gans Creek Recreation Area has hosted, the long straight and usual loneliness of the third K flipped everything on its head. Wilmes fell all the way to 13th as McKenzie pushed into the lead. All season long she had been chasing her 17:40.90 personal best from the 2023 State meet and as she came through 3K in 10:57, she was a bit off of that pace, but still sat a second ahead of Bishop, and two seconds ahead of Doll, Amann, and Liberty North's Lucinda Wright. Bishop's 8-place climb along with freshman Claire McKinnon's 9-place improvement had bumped Eureka into the lead in the team standings, a solitary point ahead of Blue Springs South. The race was officially on.
As the girls moved into the back part of the course, Wright pounced. She jumped into the lead and carried the front pack through in 14:40, nearly a second ahead of second-place Bishop. McKenzie was on Bishop's hip in third now with Doll and Amann not far behind. Liberty Wentzville sophomore Bella Navaro-Sanchez climbed another two spots after climbing six from 2K to 3K. She was now sitting sixth with Webb City's Brooke Hedger just behind her in seventh. In the team race, Eureka had blown it open as Blue Springs south had lost 15 points and the Wildcats had gained 7. A massive swing of 22 points had Eureka firmly in the driver's seat and staring down their first ever team state championship.
Photo: Clark Halferty
As the girls emerged from the back part of the course, Navaro-Sanchez and Wright had broken away from the rest of the group and were now all alone, battling it out for the victory. The 2:14 half-miler Navaro-Sanchez had a slight advantage over Wright as they rounded the curve and headed down the final straightaway. It was Liberty Eagle versus Liberty (North) Eagle as the two underclassmen headed toward the finish line. As the adage goes, it is easier to chase than to be chased and Wright was closing the 20-30 meter gap that Navaro-Sanchez had opened up and closing it fast. As they came to the line, the freshman veered to her right to try to slip past the sophomore, but Navaro-Sanchez "saw her shadow," as she would tell MileSplit after the race, and made one final surge to cross the line in first, stepping ever so slightly in front of Wright to seal the victory. It was 18:08.30 to 18:08.40 with both girls closing their final kilometer under 3:30 and taking it all the way to the final meter of the 5000 meter race. For Navaro-Sanchez, it was the first win of her middle or high school career. 
Photo: Brandon Daniels
"At first I didn't think I could do it," she told us right after her race. "I saw a bunch of girls in front of me and said ooh, I don't know if I can do this. And then (I replayed in my head) what my coaches say over and over 'You just have to push through. We've done the work, we've done everything we could, we just have to show what we're capable of.'"
Wright was all smiles about her race, too, even though she came in second. "I was not expecting to get second. I was hoping to get around top 10, but it truly is a blessing to be in the spot that I am right now."
"It was a super good race and every single girl that was running out there did so good. It was a super fun race."
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Savannah Amann finished 3rd a year after finishing 6th in Class 4. Her 18:14.60 was her second fastest mark of the season, behind the 18:08.40 she ran at the Northwest Last Chance. Joplin's Ava Doll finished 4th in her first career cross country season, running an 18:17.80 personal best. Rounding out the top 5 was Webb City's Brooke Hedger in a personal best 18:20.20.
Photo: Brandon Daniels
As for the team race, after cementing their lead on the back side of the course, the Eureka ladies closed out the victory with a steady final kilometer and claimed the top spot with 104 points. The upset victory may have been written on the wall long before this race, though. Eureka was the second best Missouri team at the Gans Creek Elite Twilight, just 11 points behind St. Teresa's Academy, a race that vaulted them into the spotlight and placed them firmly in the state trophy conversation.
"It was amazing what that race did for us," said Daphne Bishop. "Everyone ran a PR, everyone was happy, so we were able to start training off of that. And when we saw we were third in the State, we started to say we might have a shot."
Since then, they picked up victories at the Frank Schultz Invitational, STL Suburban Championships, and Class 5 District 1 meets. On the day, the girls put it all together to pick up their historic win.
"It was always the goal going into this year," said senior Olivia Pearce after the race. "But once we won Districts, we were feeling a little more confident."
Bishop added, "We've always wanted to win. Like, if we could...let's just shoot for it. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, but let's just shoot for it."
When asked if she thought this victory was coming, Bishop said, "To be honest, I like to think realistically, and I was like, 'we'd have to have a good day.' And we did, so it worked out!"
Blue Springs South finished as the runner-ups for the second year in a row, earning their eighth team trophy in a row. Ashlyn Wahrenbrock led the way, though that honor usually falls to senior Ella Rew. The Jaguars' top 2 were 11th and 13th respectively. They were the only two on their team in the top 40, but they were still able to secure 134 points to hold off pre-race favorites, Father Tolton, for second. For Tolton, it was their sixth trophy in seven years, but first non-first in the last four years. Tolton had two all-staters in Elyse Wilmes (20th) and Madison Taylor (22nd), but they were not as high as the pre-race rankings had positioned them. All things considered, an off-day for the Trailblazers was still good enough for a third place trophy. In fourth was St. Teresa's Academy, 3 points ahead of Liberty, led by freshmen Ella Messner (6th) and Caroline Bowen (26th). The Stars are not graduating a single senior from their top seven and only have two juniors.
Photo: Brandon Daniels
Other performances to note include an 18:32.90 personal best from Jackson's Annika Barks. Her 12th place finish was one place better than her 13th at the Class 5 District 1 meet and her time was a 38-second season best. She moved up 9 places from last year. Troy's Jocelyn Haynes nearly matched last year's personal best of 18:38.40 with her 18:39.60 mark for 17th. The now three-time all-stater started her racing season at the Gans Creek Classic after suffering a leg injury early on, but fought back impressively, showing just how talented she is. Park Hill South's Madilynn Conklin closed out a quietly solid season just 3 seconds off her personal best from 2023, running 18:26.80 for 10th place. The fastest overall split of anyone in the entire race belonged to Parkway South's Natalie Lena. Her incredible 3:22 final kilometer moved her up 12 spots from 36th to 24th. In fact, she started the race in 86th through the first kilometer, meaning she moved up an astounding 62 places throughout the race to earn all-state honors in her junior year.
Two girls improved year-over-year by over two minutes: Jackson's Emma Niedbalski (30th) and Blue Springs's Tavia Briles (36th). Niedbalski subtracted 2:37.40 and Briles dropped 2:24.90 from 2023. Twelve more girls improved by over a minute, chief among them all-state athletes Reese McDevitt (1:30.40), Natalie Lena (1:19.70), Lucy Rines (1:12.80), Alyssa Ritter (1:11.60), Sofia Hoerchler (1:10.30), and Brooke Hedger (1:03.50).