Nov 06, 2025

Class 5 Boys

Individual Contenders

Class 5's big 3 established themselves just over a month ago at the electric Gans Creek Classic Elite Twilight. In that race, Rockhurst's Jack McGovern, Raymore-Peculiar's Gabriel Voelker, and North Point's Hunter Stahl became the second trio of Missourians to all break 15:00 in the same race on Missouri soil (2023 Class 5 State Championships). McGovern would come out on top in a new MO No. 3 all-time mark of 14:44.70, a time that stands as the eighth-fastest time in the nation for sophomores. He has since won three more times and eclipsed the 15:00 barrier once again at last weekend's Class 5 District 2 meet.

McGovern's only loss of the season came in early September when Voelker took him down at the Todd Warner Kickoff Classic. The 2025 Class 5 3200 meter champion has had an exceptional senior season with two sub-15:00 marks of his own, headlined by his 14:49.40 personal best and MO No. 6 all-time mark he posted at the Gans Creek Classic. The KC Suburban Gold Conference champion and District 2 runner-up is looking to capture State gold once again on Friday.

North Point's Stahl has had an incredible breakout season in his own right, dropping his 2024 season best 40 seconds and becoming the 19th Missourian to break 15:00 earlier this year. He has added a course record 15:45.00 at the famous Sioux Passage Park in September and posted wins at the GAC XC Championships and Patriot/Statesmen Classic. A win on Friday would be the first for a St. Charles County male runner in the highest classification since Ft. Zumwalt South's Kyle Rood in 2006.

Watch List Individuals

Rock Bridge's Luke Sievers and Rolla's Cameron Martensen headline the watch list for the Class 5 race. Sievers powered ahead of Stahl after the Confidence Breaker Hill in the District 3 race and never looked back. His 43-second margin of victory may have been helped along by Stahl stepping off the gas toward the end, but his 16:02.55 mark is still No. 2 all-time on the historic course at Sioux Passage and sets him up nicely to go after a second individual state title in Class 5 after he won it all in 2023. He heads into the weekend with a 15:11.80 season best from the Nike XC Town Twilight last month.

Martensen had just barely eclipsed last year's season best of 15:32.27 this year with a 15:32.02 mark at the Missouri Southern Stampede. But at Saturday's District 2 meet, he took a massive step forward with a 15:11.42 posting for third overall. That jumped him all the way up to fourth in the Class 5 rankings and was surely a major confidence booster heading into Friday's showdown.

Team Contenders

The four teams to watch this weekend are surely the District champions: Liberty North, SLUH, Rock Bridge, and Kickapoo.

Liberty North photo

The message Liberty North posted over the weekend sent shockwaves through the Class 5 ranks as their incredible 19-point showing had many questioning if there had been some sort of malfunction with the results. District 4, notoriously the toughest District to qualify through, was a runaway for the Eagles as they took the top 4 individual places. But those who have been paying closer attention this year were not as phased. Liberty North's victories at the Gans Creek Elite Twilight over national contender Bentonville (AR), as well as their 3rd place finish in the Roy Griak Invitational Championship division, were just two of the myriad impressive victories they picked up this season. Their tight group of 4 between 15:23 and 15:31, led by Nathaniel Haberlach and newcomer Joseph DeRouchie, should score very low on Friday and their 5-7 runners all under 16:00 could push them to their second State championship in the last five years.

SLUH and Rock Bridge are similarly looking to use their pack-running prowess to get back to the top of the podium. SLUH's junior leader Jackson Miller has looked to still be shaking off some rust from a lost track and field season, but silenced doubters on Saturday with his decisive District 1 victory. His supporting cast of three were all within a second of each other, just under 16:00, as well. Their 26.5-second 1-5 split will play a major role in their success on Friday. Rock Bridge's spread from 2-7 is also miniscule at 29 seconds with Sievers up front 25 seconds of #2 man Cook Hudson. Their victory in District 3 was decisive, too, at a mere 20 points.

Kickapoo above and Rock Bridge below

Kickapoo has silently moved up the ranks throughout the season and scored their biggest win of the season in District 2, holding off Raymore-Peculiar and Rockhurst. Gavin Blaine leads the way for the crew who also has a 1-5 spread under 30 seconds and a top 5 under 16:00.

Teams to Watch

Just how good was Liberty North on Saturday? Our two teams to watch outside of those big four were the teams that Liberty North dropped a 19-spot on. Blue Springs South is actually the second-ranked team in the State according to our team scores feature with their 30.8-second 1-5 spread and 1-2 punch of Kendrick Haines and Caden Scalfaro both under 15:30 on the year. Their resurgence under Coach Ryan Unruh has been noteworthy and they will surely be in the mix for state hardware on Friday.

Blue Springs South photo

And if we are talking about tiny 1-5 spreads, we cannot leave Lee's Summit West out of the conversation. A mere 17.7 seconds separate Landon Wegleitner at the top from his teammate in the number 5 position. The Titans, coming off their famous 4x800m Relay snub at the Sectional 4 meet this spring, are putting the pieces together at the right time and looking to snag their first State trophy since their Class 4 team title in 2008.