6A GIRLS STATE XC PREVIEW
Unlike the guy’s race, the girls race is very much up for grabs. Let’s start with the regional victors.
Junction City – Emily Venters – 14:43
Olathe Northwest – Hannah Holbert – 14:43
Wichita East – Alex Miller – 15:02
Shawnee Mission East – Sara Hillring – 15:04
Emily Venters: The freshman has already made quite a name for herself. Part of a great 1-2-3 punch for Lawrence Free State, Venters has been a force throughout her first year. Sixth in the gold race at Rim Rock, Venters was the second Kansas finisher, only behind teammate Claire Sanner. Followed by a second and third place finish, Venters has been nothing but great in the championship season. A four second victory at her league meet and a nine second victory at her regional meet puts her as one of the favorites this weekend.
Hannah Holbert: Another runner coming off of two quality wins, Holbert returns after a 9th place finish a year ago. After a start without placing in the top 3 in her first four meets, Holbert won the Eastern Kansas League Meet as well as her regional meet over tough competition.
Alex Miller: Miller has the most wins among the four. Her best, 14:40, comes from a solid victory at the El Dorado Invitational which started a trio of victories with her league meet and regional meet adding to the list. It’s also worth mentioning that Miller was second a year ago…to Alli Cash.
Sara Hillring: Victor by 16 seconds at regionals, Hillring is coming off of her best of the season – just at the right time. Her Rim Rock performance shows she wasn’t quite up with the other regional winners, but the senior looks ready to run well this weekend.
Others: All four raced each other at Rim Rock. Who was the best Kansas finisher? None of them. That was Venters’ teammate, Claire Sanner. Sanner has been right with Venters all year and is no joke. While she did place fourth at regionals, it wouldn’t be shocking to see her cross the line first on Saturday. One spot behind her, Deidra Walker is another runner from the Junction City to keep an eye out for. Walker, junior, is looking to do something her older sister couldn’t do – win a state title in cross country. Dani Walker had quite the career at Maize HS but failed to collect a gold medal in cross country. Deidra is looking sharp this year with a seventh place finish at Rim Rock and two first place finishes after that before fifth at regionals. Cameron Gueldner is yet another runner with a very realistic shot at taking home the first place finish on Saturday. She has experience doing so, finishing first in the 3200m as a freshman. Her cross season has been consistently good – Walker has the best average time in the state, as she is averaging under 15 minutes for 4K. She also had a strong 5K with an 18:33 showing at the Southern Stampede. This brings us to our next girl in the incredibly deep field – Alaina Schroeder. 18:26 at the meet, Schroeder was third a year ago, just off of Miller for second.
I think you get the point – this race is wide open. There are many more that we could talk about. Kayla Davis, Bailey Sullivan, Kayla Doll have all also run under 15 minutes and could come away with a gold medal this weekend.
The team race looks a little less exciting than the individual race. The favorites have to be Lawrence Free State. With the potential to go 1-2-3 it’s hard not to pick them to finish first (I say potential, but look above – it’s wide open). Olathe East and Maize are two more teams to watch out for. East, led by Kayla Davis, looks to match up well with Lawrence Free State on their 1,4, and 5 runners but can’t quite match the strong trio up front. Maize is led by Deidra Walker and has decent depth to go along with. However, it looks tough for anyone to beat Lawrence Free State.