photo credit: Lance Erickson
Weekend #1 of the 2012 XC Season was a wet one.
Results and Photos are starting to come in across the rain soaked state of Missouri.
This article will be updated frequently as new results and photos arrive.
Rain shortened the course by about 150 meters. Thomas Chabrecek of Crane led the boys with Dakota Shoemaker 7 ticks back with Liberty Mountain View taking top team honors. For the ladies it was Katelyn Hatz taking the home town meet followed by Lexi McNeil, the sophomore from Plato. Springfield Catholic won the girls team title but Strafford was only 5 points behind.
Liberty Invitational (photo credit for al Liberty Invite Pictures: Greg Hall)
Conditions were certainly sloppy after 7 inches of rain fell over the past two days. We are still waiting for official results but reports are that Rockbridge took top honors in both the girls and boys team races. Nathan Keown won the guys race while Liberty North's Sammy Laurenzo showed a strong finishing kick to take home gold in the girls race.
The St. Joseph Central Boys finished 2nd and were led by the 3rd and 4th place overall finish by the Bachman twins.
Girls
The LS West girls team kicked off its 2012 season in fine fashion Saturday morning, easily winning the Kris Solsberg Invitational on a rainy, rainy day on the 2.1-mile Longview course.
The Titans - 5-time Class 4 State champs - packed their five scoring runners in the top 10.
LS West, ranked #1 in the preseason statewide poll by Big River Running, scored 25 points. St. Teresa's - the No. 2-ranked squad in Missouri - finished second with 40 points. LS North placed third; the Broncos are ranked 7th.
Individually, junior Nicole Lee of Clinton broke away from the pack before the mile mark and cruised to a solid victory. Lee is the 10th ranked runner in Big River's preseason poll.
While printed results were not immediately available, I can say that the "usual suspects" ran well for both teams. LS West's Kennadee Williams, Kiersten West and Samantha Phillips - plus freshman Kourtney West - were up in the lead packs during the race. So were Lane Maguire, Courtney Coppinger and Ann Campbell for St. Teresa's.
Boys
The Warrensburg boys team edged LS North to win the Kris Solsberg Invitational on a rainy Saturday morning at the 2.1-mile Longview course.
Warrensburg scored 48 points and LS North scored 50. Truman placed third.
The Tigers' top runners were fairly far ahead of the Broncos at the 1-mile mark, but LS North packed in well and surged toward the end of the race.
Still, Warrensburg eked out the victory, defending its reputation as the 6th-ranked team in Missouri, per Big River Running's preseason rankings. But LS North served notice it could be a force to be reckoned with as the season progresses.
Individually, Truman junior Cole Rockhold took the lead shortly after the half-mile mark, then continued to add to his margin before crossing the finish line well ahead of the second place runner. Rockhold was rated as the 5th best runner in Big River's preseason rankings.
New Haven Short Course (Results Posted)
The defending state champions in Class 1, Linn started their title defense with a win. They were led by Tyler Rush, whose 11:31 was a new course record for the 2.2 race. St. Dominic won the girls team title.
SWCCCA Meet (Results posted)
Class 4 1600 Champion Spencer Haik of Glendale kicked off the XC season with a win. Teammate Chris Mooneyham was just a few seconds back. Not to be outdone Ellyn Atkinson of Glendale cruised to an almost 37 second margin of victory.
Katelyn Evans (r) of Seckman won the Girls Senior Race (races are by grade) while her younger sister Kelsey (l) finished 4th in the Freshman girls race.
St. Marys Invitational (Results Posted)
Have photos to share? - email peverett@milesplit.com
