Samantha Nightingale, Blue Springs South, SR
Last Year: 1st, 17:59
Best – 17:15, AVG – 17:50
Nightinale is a force. The girl just dominates. Look at her margin of victory – 1:13 (sectionals), 1:00 (districts), 1:36 (conferences), :42 over KS girl, 1:29 over next Missouri Finisher (KC Metro) :21 seconds (Rim Rock). She is the defending state champ where she beat a very talented field, including a Colleen Quigley who is now the fifth runner for the number one ranked college team in the nation. As good as the other girls are, if Nightingale brings her A game a repeat will happen. Oh, and I forgot to mention, she is an Al-American.
Hannah Long, Eureka, FR
Last Year: Was not in High School
Best – 18:00, AVG – 18:29
Long is one of, if not the best freshman girl Missouri has ever seen. She ran an incredible 18:00 at Forest Park to win by 17 seconds over a super competitive field. While she has not blown the field quite as much as Nightingale, she certainly has won by a considerable amount every time she has raced. Long has pure talent, coming off of a middle school career where she ran 5:06 full mile. Coming into this weekend, she could challenge Nightingale, or at least has the best shot to give the Blug Springs South senior a run for her money.
Nicole Mello, Hickman, JR
Last Year: 11th, 18:59
Best: 17:57, 18:32
Mello has been on the rise lately. Her time of 17:57 makes her only the second girl from Missouri this year to crack the 18-minute barrier. While the Ha-Ha Tonka course, breaking 18 minutes on any course is incredible. She has two things that Long does not have. A sub 18 minute PR (okay, Long is only .30 seconds off of that) and experience. Mello has two all state performances in her first two seasons. The Hickman junior could easily be in the top three, even higher if she performs well.
Conradette King, Jefferson City, SR
Last Year: 9th, 18:56
Best – 18:02, AVG – 18:47
King, who is running well late in the season, was only 3 seconds behind Mello at sectionals. While she has only won one race the entire season, she has ran against great competition consistently. With her last XC race representing her school, King could be looking at a top five finish.
Bridgette Caruthers, Branson, JR
Last Year: 6th, 18:54
Best – 17:57 (last year), AVG – 18:47
Caruthers is not quite having the season she had last year but she is still have a fantastic year. She was third behind King and Mello at her sectional but still ran a blazing 18:22. The past four weeks she has been around 18:15 consistently showing she is ready to run a fast time at state. She has experience at the state meet finishing All-State in both of her two years.
Hannah Richardson, Kirkwood, SR
Last Year: 61st, 20:18
Best – 18:52, AVG – 19:37
Richardson has turned it on the last few weeks and is starting to have a lot of success. It all started when she won the Parkway West Invitational over a very talented field. She was second at her district behind Alyssa Jones, who was top ten last year, and the finished second the past two weeks to Hannah Long. She ran an 18:55 this past weekend at sectionals on a difficult Parkway Central course. Watch for her time to go way down and her to be towards the top this weekend.
Melissa Brown, Oakville, SO
Last Year: 143rd, 21:10
Best – 18:30, AVG -19:21
I don’t think anyone saw this coming. The 143rd place finisher last year has had a breakout super sophomore year. She finished third at one of the deepest fields this year at Forest Park and pretty much every meet since then she has finished second to Hannah Long. This past weekend she was just a bit behind Richardson, showing it will be anyone’s race in a couple of days.
Kayla Funkenbusch, Rock Bridge, FR
Last Year: Was Not in High School
Best – 18:17, AVG – 19:08
Funkenbusch is the second girl in the incredibly talented freshman class. She pushed Long for a bit at Forest Park but ended up second with a time of 18:17. She finished fourth this past weekend at her sectional behind Mello, King, and Caruthers, but if she is having a good day she is very capable of beating most, if not all of those girls. Watch for Funkenbusch to lead a very talented Rock Bridge crew.
Lee’s Summit West Trio
West: 12th, 19:06, Williams: 20th, 19:34
Whoever Coach Griffin’s top runner is will almost certainly be in the top 10. He has two very talented sophomores in West and Williams and yet another amazing freshman in Samantha Phillips. Kiersten West has been the top harrier from LSW for most of the year but Kennadee Williams finished third behind Nightingale and Lane Maguire to lead the Titans this past weekend. Any one of these three could be in the top ten, its just a matter who steps up. This shows the depth and talent of an ineradicable program at Lee's Summit West.
Kristen Adams, Francis Howell, SO
Last Year: Did not Compete
Best – 19:04, AVG – 19:43
We give her the last spot because she won her sectional. She has emerged to be the top runner on a fairly strong Francis Howell team. While may other girls not on this list have beaten her in season, she is running well when it counts. Her 19:04 at sectionals was a PR. Doing so, she beat Sophia Racette, who boasts a 18:39 PR. She could surprise many people with an amazing race on Saturday and sneak into the top ten.
To show how deep this field is, a girl who finished 7th last year is not on the list (Alyssa Jones), as well as five other returning All-State runners. It will truly be anyone’s race for the top ten spots, as this could be the closest race of the day.
Class 1 Boys
Class 1 Girls
Class 2 Boys
Class 2 Girls
Class 3 Boys
Class 3 Girls
Class 4 Boys