Ten team and ten individual state titles are up for grabs over the next two days in Columbia, as the MSHSAA State Championship cross country meet takes place at Gans Creek.
The five-kilometer course will welcome competitors from Classes Three, Four and Five on Friday, Nov. 7, including several from our area. In Class Four, both the Warrensburg boys and girls teams will field full squads. The girls team is led by Skyler Knight, who finished the District Four meet at Lee’s Summit North last weekend in second with a time of 19:10.34. Also on the team that finished third at the district meet are Falin Hudson, Talita Wiederholt, Molly Christensen, Alex Kientzy, Danielle Smith, and Stella Cone. Warrensburg’s boys finished second in the district team standings to Lincoln College Prep. They’re led by Luke Youngblood, who finished eighth individually with a time of 16:53.95. Travis King and Elias Morgan had top-12 finishes, while Carson Hennrich, Ross Broeker, Hayden Hunter, and Evan Wittmaier rounding out the lineup. Race time for the Class Four Boys is at 11 a.m., followed by the Class Four Girls.
In Class Three, two boys and two girls teams from our area are in contention for state titles. In the boys race that begins at 9 a.m., Centralia’s Nolan Spickert will look to lead his Panthers, after the sophomore won the race in District Three with a time of 16:14.00. Wesley Robertson finished in fifth, and Jensen Decker finished ninth, helping Centralia to post a second-place district finish in Linn. Chillicothe qualified their team after finishing third at the District Four meet in Platte City. Luke Thompson leads the Hornets after finishing the district meet third with a time of 16:38.97. Oak Grove’s Jaxon Weber finished the race sixth to become one of two Panthers to qualify for state. Oak Grove is among eight programs who will only have individuals competing in the boys’ state meet.
The girls meet will follow at 9:45 a.m., where Knob Noster will look to build on their District Four title. The Panthers recorded 42 points to win the meet, 20 better than second-place Saint Michael the Archangel and 44 points better than third-place Moberly. Lyla Stiles leads the Panthers, as she finished third in the meet with a time of 20:44.41. Teammates include Summer Stiles, who finished ninth, and Lillian Bridges in 11th. Moberly will be led by Cora Howen, who finished fourth in the meet. Oak Grove’s two individuals at state finished in the top ten at districts, with Sophia Rivers winning last weekend’s meet in 20:19.42 and teammate Hannah Smith placing eighth. Odessa’s Natalie Doney was second. The two MRVC schools are among nine area schools with individual competitors in the state field.
The meets for Classes One and Two will take place Saturday morning.