The first weekend of October is often the final horizon before we enter the conference meets. We are officially 30 days away from District meets and 36 days away from State meet races. Many teams will be running their final big meet of the year before they gear up for the grand finales - let's take a look at some of the meets we are watching this weekend.
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Missouri Teams: Battle,
Christian Brothers College,
Ladue Horton Watkins,
Lindbergh,
MICDS,
Maplewood-Richmond Hts.,
Marquette,
Rockhurst,
Springfield Catholic,
SLUH,
St. Francis Borgia,
St. Joseph's Academy
Of course, the headline in this meet is that SLUH and Rockhurst will do battle on the course that will eventually host the Nike Cross Regionals Midwest meet where both teams will surely be vying for a berth to Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon. These teams, who are arguably the top two in the entire state at the moment, met at the
Forest Park XC Festival earlier last month and SLUH easily handled the Hawklets. How will
Jackson Miller respond to
Jack McGovern's state record last weekend? How will the ultra-deep SLUH team line up in their attempt to take out Rockhurst head-to-head once again? Can Rockhurst pick up some more help from their pushers? It will be interesting to see how this one turns out.
St. Joseph's Academy is the top girls team of the group and had strong performances last weekend from
Audrey Jackson and
Emily Strohschein. They will be looking to continue to climb the Class 4 ladder on the quintessential cross country course in the Midwest.
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Three Class 4 contenders do battle at this meet under the lights in Memphis. The Frank Horton course is flat and fast and one of the more well-lit twilight meets around, and has expanded over the last two years due to increased competitiveness. Watch for the battle between West Plains, Central (Springfield), and Farmington's boys' teams.
Rock Bridge is the strongest team in the field, though, and will be looking for a big day after what might be characterized as a disappointing evening last Friday by their standards. They were, of course, missing #3 man
Hayden Jokerst which surely hurt their performance. Jokerst is entered on Saturday night, though.
Forrest Connell and
Henry Steele have been running strong, but will be looking to top returner heading into the season
Baron Carratura to be closer nearby Saturday night. A stalwart top 4 team in Class 5, Rock Bridge is looking to re-enter the conversation this weekend.
On the girls' side, we are watching West Plains foremost and frontrunner
Kaebrynn Gunter. Their lack of numbers has pushed them behind other top Class 4 teams, but if they can take down an upstart Farmington squad head-to-head, that will go a long way toward building some momentum heading into the time of year where the Zizzers are usually dominant.
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3. KC XC Classic - Raymore-Peculiar XC Course
Missouri Teams: Central (St. Joseph), Centralia, Glendale, Kauffman School, Lee's Summit North, Liberty, Liberty North, North Kansas City, Notre Dame de Sion, Park Hill South, Raymore-Peculiar, Raytown South, Rockhurst, Ruskin, Smithville, St. Teresa's Academy, Staley, Summit Christian
The KC XC Classic is a true "border war" with several of western Missouri's top teams doing battle with several of eastern Kansas's top teams like St. Thomas Aquinas, St. James Academy, Olathe West, Mill Valley, Blue Valley Southwest, and others.
On the boys side, the top Missourian individuals to watch will be Nathaniel Haberlach, Joseph DeRouchie, Nolan Spickert, Leo Butler, and Beckett Andreasen, while Kansas brings Andrew Claar, Graham Anderson, Archer Brewer, Lincoln Allen, and Luke Jansen. Liberty North, assuming they run all of their top guys - it's possible they don't after racing the last two weeks - will be the team to watch. They are one of the top three teams in the entire state right now and will be looking to bounce back after a mid-tier finish at the Gans Creek Classic Elite Twilight.
On the girls side, the top Missourian individuals to watch will be Lucy Wright, Lily Hurt, Tessa Perdue, Caroline Bowen, Polly Fendler, Ella Messner, and Silvia Caruso. Basically, a three-way fight between Liberty, Liberty North, and St. Teresa's Academy, with St. Teresa's having the significant edge if, like Liberty North's boys, they decide to trot out their top squad for a third straight week. Liberty may only be running a JV team here, as well, as they are also listed for the Chile Pepper Festival in Arkansas. St. Teresa's was the top Missouri team at the Gans Creek Classic Elite Twilight last Friday and fared quite well at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota two weeks ago. The top Kansans are Molly DeGregorio, Audrey Howard, Eiley Nicholl, Adyson Burton, and Brooklyn Huigens.
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Missouri Teams: Blue Springs, Blue Springs South, Boonville, Branson, Buffalo, Central (St. Joseph), Dora, Fair Play, Father Tolton, Hickman, Kearney, Kirkwood, Lee's Summit, Lee's Summit North, Lee's Summit West, Lexington, Liberty, Liberty (Wentzville), Lincoln College Prep, Lutheran (Kansas City), Nerinx Hall, Nevada, Owensville, Park Hill, Parkview, Southern Boone, St. Charles West, St. Joseph Christian, Thomas Jefferson Independent, Warrensburg, Washington
The always massive Chile Pepper Festival features some of the best teams in the country, including Bentonville (AR), Southlake Carroll (TX), Bentonville West (AR), and more from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and, of course, Missouri.
Top Missouri individuals to watch - Boys: Parker Williams, Noah Green, Jack Tittle, Jacob Meyers, Hudson Robinett, Kellen Robertson, Will Twiss, Klayton Hayes
Top Missouri individuals to watch - Girls: Bella Navarro-Sanchez, Ellie Lichte, Brianna Krueger, Addison Smith, Phoebe Engelbrecht, Bailey Baier, Grace Murphy, Paige Posson, Angelina Cottone, Ella Davidson, Emma Glavin
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The Parkway West Dale Shepherd Invitational is the most competitive meet of the weekend on the eastern side of the state with several top teams set to square off against each other.
On the boys side, we are watching for the battle between Parkway West and Jackson, two teams in Class 5 District 1 looking to crack a berth to State in a few short weeks. The individual battle between Jackson's top two - Chase Wendel and Carter Sander - and Lafayette's top two - Ezekiel Hagen and Mason Steinbruegge should be an interesting one. SLUH will also have their B squad in the field - a similar squad to the one who finished fifth in the Green division at the Forest Park XC Festival.
On the girls side, Cor Jesu Academy is the headliner, but appears to be sitting their top group this weekend. Lafayette's Kelly Archambeault is the top-ranked individual followed by Parkway South's Leah Grither and Parkway North's Andie Hylan. With Cor Jesu's top group out, and Webster Groves sitting out a handful of their top girls, it appears to be Lafayette's race to lose as they should dominate the field in this one.
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Quick Hits:
- Aidan Morris takes to his home course at the Notre Dame Invitational this weekend with his main challenger being Woodland's Max Layton. We are also looking to see if Martina Ressel can keep moving up toward 17:57.30 personal best from last November. She hasn't raced since the Festus Bowles-Wright Invitational two weeks ago.
- Nixa hosts the Riann Lubinski Invitational on their famous course. It will feature a fun battle between Reeds Spring's Anna Ross and the three-headed monster of Chaseley Guyear, Emma Hurst, and Brianna Bidinger.
- Kickapoo, Joplin, and Bolivar head to the speedy Camdenton Laker Invitational on Saturday. Gavin Blaine is not too far off the 15:00 barrier and could make a challenge on a great Saturday morning for cross country racing. Emery Spencer is a heavy favorite, nearly a minute ahead of the field in the girls race.
The first weekend of October is often the final horizon before we enter the conference meets. We are officially 30 days away from District meets and 36 days away from State meet races. Many teams will be running their final big meet of the year before they gear up for the grand finales - let's take a look at some of the meets we are watching this weekend.
--
Missouri Teams: Battle,
Christian Brothers College,
Ladue Horton Watkins,
Lindbergh,
MICDS,
Maplewood-Richmond Hts.,
Marquette,
Rockhurst,
Springfield Catholic,
SLUH,
St. Francis Borgia,
St. Joseph's Academy
Of course, the headline in this meet is that SLUH and Rockhurst will do battle on the course that will eventually host the Nike Cross Regionals Midwest meet where both teams will surely be vying for a berth to Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon. These teams, who are arguably the top two in the entire state at the moment, met at the
Forest Park XC Festival earlier last month and SLUH easily handled the Hawklets. How will
Jackson Miller respond to
Jack McGovern's state record last weekend? How will the ultra-deep SLUH team line up in their attempt to take out Rockhurst head-to-head once again? Can Rockhurst pick up some more help from their pushers? It will be interesting to see how this one turns out.
St. Joseph's Academy is the top girls team of the group and had strong performances last weekend from
Audrey Jackson and
Emily Strohschein. They will be looking to continue to climb the Class 4 ladder on the quintessential cross country course in the Midwest.
--
Three Class 4 contenders do battle at this meet under the lights in Memphis. The Frank Horton course is flat and fast and one of the more well-lit twilight meets around, and has expanded over the last two years due to increased competitiveness. Watch for the battle between West Plains, Central (Springfield), and Farmington's boys' teams.
Rock Bridge is the strongest team in the field, though, and will be looking for a big day after what might be characterized as a disappointing evening last Friday by their standards. They were, of course, missing #3 man
Hayden Jokerst which surely hurt their performance. Jokerst is entered on Saturday night, though.
Forrest Connell and
Henry Steele have been running strong, but will be looking to top returner heading into the season
Baron Carratura to be closer nearby Saturday night. A stalwart top 4 team in Class 5, Rock Bridge is looking to re-enter the conversation this weekend.
On the girls' side, we are watching West Plains foremost and frontrunner
Kaebrynn Gunter. Their lack of numbers has pushed them behind other top Class 4 teams, but if they can take down an upstart Farmington squad head-to-head, that will go a long way toward building some momentum heading into the time of year where the Zizzers are usually dominant.
--
3. KC XC Classic - Raymore-Peculiar XC Course
Missouri Teams: Central (St. Joseph), Centralia, Glendale, Kauffman School, Lee's Summit North, Liberty, Liberty North, North Kansas City, Notre Dame de Sion, Park Hill South, Raymore-Peculiar, Raytown South, Rockhurst, Ruskin, Smithville, St. Teresa's Academy, Staley, Summit Christian
