Even with one of the worst heat waves we have seen in recent memory, Missouri athletes were blazing the courses all across the state all week. Adjusted time schedules accommodated the weather somewhat, but triple digit heat indexes wreaked havoc on nearly every afternoon/evening meet regardless. With a reprieve and some rain on the horizon, we are expecting to some amazing performances this upcoming week, especially with a handful of the biggest meets of the year taking place this upcoming weekend.
Each Monday this season, we will be running a poll with five candidates for Performer of the Week that was, highlighting five athletes from around the state who did something amazing in the last seven days. Vote for who you think deserves the honor!
Polls open at 7:00am on Monday and remain open until 5:00pm on Friday. The athlete who wins will move to our end-of-the-season "Performer of the Year" poll and will not be nominated again for the weekly poll for the rest of the season. Athletes who were nominated and do not win will not be eligible to be nominated for one full week.
-----
Previous Winners:
Week 1 Winner: Noah Green - Liberty Wentzville
-----
--
Here are this week's nominees:
Jack McGovern - Rockhurst
McGovern may do many more amazing things this fall, but a sub-15:00 opener in a 90-degree heat index at the Tim Nixon Invitational deserves some recognition in our athlete of the week poll. He ran 14:56.50, his fifth career sub-15 mark, and a US #41 in the early goings.
--
Isaac Ungeheier - Raymore-Peculiar
Surprise! Ray-Pec got an impact transfer this year in Isaac Ungeheier. The former Kansas City East Christian Academy runner dropped a 64-second personal best at the City Auto Memphis Twilight XC Classic Saturday night, running 15:58.61 for seventh overall.
--
Lucas Amador - Parkway Central
Fleet Feet pushed the races on Wednesday back an hour plus, but kept the Varsity Boys at 6:00pm at the Fleet Feet Cross Country Classic, meaning the competitors would have to compete with a heat index near 105 degrees on the 2 mile course. As a result, Lucas Amador would run 22 seconds slower en route to the win than he did last year - 9:52.80. Still impressive given the conditions.
--
Reece Sickler - Westran
The theme continues - Westran's Reece Sicker dropped a massive performance in sweltering conditions at the Salisbury 3500. He ran a course record 10:45.50 for the ~2.2 mile race. That is about 4:54 pace per mile.
--
Kyle Hathcock - Springfield Catholic
A couple of teams who should find themselves in Class 3 when it is announced this Friday were not listed in the Class 3 division at Saturday's SWCCCA Richard Clark Invitational so Springfield Catholic would end up going 1-2 there. Kyle Hathcock led the way with a 16:03.88 mark, 72 seconds ahead of his teammate.