photo credits : Michael Frazier
It appears the the No. 1-ranked LS West girls squad is rolling into great shape at the right time, eager to win its 6th straight Missouri Class 4 State title in a row in two weeks.
On a beautiful fall Saturday, the Titans - led by first-place finisher Kennadee Williams - had five runners in the top seven to finish with 18 points at the Class 4 District 7 event on the Lake Jacomo course. Their 1-5 time spread was just 43 seconds.
The other Sectional qualifiers were St. Teresa's (59), LS North (80) and Raymore-Peculiar (116).
Keep in mind that both St. Teresa's and LS North also are ranked in the top 10 Missouri girls squads by Big River Running Co., but both teams placed far behind the Titans.
The Sectional 4 meet next Saturday at the quick Ray-Pec course will feature the teams named above, plus a tough Kearney squad, Staley and Liberty. All will be hotly contesting the four automatic team qualifiers for the Nov. 3 State Meet.
In the race on Saturday, Williams, a junior, and freshman teammate Kourtney West dueled much of the way. They were shoulder-to-shoulder through the two-mile mark and were still stride-for-stride with about 250 meters to go.
Williams finally pulled ahead to win in 19:07.50. (The "reverse Bronco" Lake Jacomo course record remains the incredible 17:53.12 run by Samantha Nightingale of Blue Springs South at districts in 2011).
Kourtney West was second in 19:10.72, followed by another Titan, sophomore Samantha Phillips in third in 19:30.62. The other LS West runners in the top 10 were junior Elizabeth Nolke in fifth at 19:46.43 and sophomore Kiersten West in seventh at 19:50.90.
St. Teresa's first runner at the two-mile mark was Lane Maguire, in third place, but she did not finish the race. Instead, senior Courtney Coppinger was the highest St. Teresa's finisher in fourth place at 19:45.72. Sophomore teammate Ann Campbell was ninth in 19:54.96, followed by sophomore teammate Hayden Lee in 10th at 19:56.90.