2009 4A Cross Country Preview

4A Girls

The 4A Girls division lost hardly anyone to graduation, and 16 of the top 20 from last year are back.   The 2nd and 3rd place finishers Breanna Briggs, and Corinna Papps did graduate though, which may give El Dorado’s Molly Milbourn an easy road to winning another state title.
 
Top 5 Returning Teams
5 – Clearwater brings back 6 from their team that placed 6th last year.   Michelle Babb leads the way for them as the 5th overall returner.   They drop off a lot after her though, and will need to get the rest of the pack to move up to have a chance at a trophy.
4 – Wamego returns a solid 4 from last year’s 3rd place squad.   They were very deep last year, having the 2nd best 6th, and 7th runners in the field. So don’t count them out on reloading with a top JV runner from last year.
3 – Buhler lost their 2nd and 6th runners from last year’s 4th place team. They had the fastest 7th runner in the field last year, and look to be positioned well to grab a trophy this year.   They will be dangerous if they can get their 2-5 to all move up just a little.
2 – Desoto has an excellent shot to win 4A this year as they bring back 6 (with only 1 senior in the group) from last year’s runner-up team. Their top 3 are very good and could all place in the top 20. Lacey Erickson leads them as the 4th overall returner.
1 – Baldwin dominated 4A last year, and has won 5 out of the last 7 State championships. They were 2nd the other two times.   You would have to go all the way back to 1999 to find the last time they didn’t finish in the top 3.   They are led by Connor Twombly who is the 2nd fastest returner & have 3 more girls among the top 25 returners. I think the only way they lose it this year is if someone is deeper than them at 4-5 on Oct 31st.
 
Top 20 Returning Individuals

    1   235 Milbourn, Molly             10 El Dorado                    15:07.25      1
    4    49 Twombly, Connor             11 Baldwin                      15:45.95      4
    5     6 Steffen, Haylee             11 Abilene High School          15:46.58      5
    6   207 Erickson, Lacey             10 Desoto                       15:49.31      6
    7   162 Babb, Michelle              11 Clearwater                   15:49.81      7
    8   672 Becker, Cheyenne            9   Pratt                        15:51.29      
    9   292 Bauer, Michaela             10 Girard                       15:55.91      
   11   198 Haden, Leah                 10 Concordia High School        15:57.30      
   12   635 Hirsch, Katie               11 Perry-Lecompton High Scho    16:03.86      
   13   155 Lund, Brielle               11 Clay Center High School      16:04.77      9
   14   199 Reed, Page                  9   Concordia High School        16:05.37      
   15   104 Nelson, Shelby              11 Buhler                       16:06.12     10
   17   849 Meierhoff, Janni            11 Ulysses                      16:08.08      
   18   818 Strecker, Kristin           11 Topeka - Hayden High Scho    16:09.33       
   19    47 Sigvaldson, Elizabeth       9   Baldwin                      16:10.03     12
   20   471 McCormick, Bridgette        10 Lenexa St James Academy      16:10.53     13
   23   182 Kaus, Katrina               10 Colby High School            16:19.35      
   25   212 Sheridan, Ellie             10 Desoto                       16:23.15     16
   27   874 Roberts, Kelly              10 Wamego High School           16:27.33     18
   28    45 Karlin, Heather             10 Baldwin                     16:31.66     19

 
4A Boys
15 of the top 34 runners from last year graduated, including former champions David Roberts (2007) and Tom O’Connell (2008). Expect to see the medal stand dominated by runners from the top 3 teams.   Tony Weiss of Baldwin is the top returner, but he has several guys on his heels. His teammate Brian Wright ran one of the fastest 1600’s ever (if not the fastest) for a Kansas freshman (4:25), and should be up there in the mix. Other contenders are Riley Woodward & Philip Hudson of Wamego, Nikki Trooien-Smith of Mulvane, and James Wilson of Abilene.
Top 5 returning teams
5 – Iola brings back a team of 4 seniors and a very talented sophomore (Roman Yocham who was 20th last year). They are very competitive at 1-3, but drop off at 4-5.
4 – Desoto also brings back 4 seniors and a freshman. They aren’t as strong up front as Iola, but make up the difference with their depth.
3 – Baldwin – Question…. Have the Baldwin brothers ever been to Baldwin? Please post a comment on here if you know the answer.   Baldwin has a young, talented team of juniors and sophomores. They have the top individual returner in Tony Weiss, and the very talented up and comer Brian Wright.
2 – Wamego has the best returning 1-3 in 4A (Riley Woodward, Philip Hudson, Kevin White). They will need to somehow find a 4-5 that can get in the top 20 (maybe 15) though in order to take down Mulvane.
1 – Mulvane was arguably the best boys team in Kansas last year. They were the top KS team at Rim Rock in 2008 (with their first appearance on the course), and didn’t even have their 3rd or 4th in Evan Landes.   Then they went on to just absolutely dominate at state, putting 6 in the top 17. Their returning top 5 are all among the top 10 4A returners and should be one intimidating pack.  If they’re firing on all cylinders on race day they could score under 40 points.
 
Top 20 Returning Individuals

   2    58 Weiss, Tony                 10 Baldwin                      16:37.63      1
    3   887 Woodward, Riley             10 Wamego High School      16:39.22      2
    6   883 Philip, Hudson              9   Wamego High School           16:42.31      5
    8   560 Trooien-Smith, Nikki        11 Mulvane                      16:50.61      7
   11   132 Snethen, Devin              9   Carbondale/Sante Fe Trail 17:03.18      9
   12   557 Lockwood, Nick              10 Mulvane                      17:06.01     10
   13   556 Landes, Evan                10 Mulvane                      17:06.61     11
   14   555 James, Wyatt                11 Mulvane                      17:09.53     12
   16   886 White, Kevin                11 Wamego High School        17:15.86     14
   17   553 Hansen, Josh                11 Mulvane                      17:18.39     15
   20   419 Yocham, Roman               9   Iola                         17:20.88     18
   21   348 Baumgartner, Zach           11 Hesston                      17:23.47      
   23   353 Heiniger, Cale              9   Hiawatha High School       17:26.67     20
   26   415 Pope, Nate                  11 Iola                         17:28.30     21
   28   822 Lauxman, Jason              10 Towanda - Circle           17:34.45     23
   29   603 Soucie, Brendan             11 Osawatomie                   17:36.70      
   30   219 Hinchey, Austin             11 Desoto                       17:37.17     24
   31   271 Espinosa, Ivan              10 Eudora                       17:37.60      
   34   395 Jimenez, Heber              10 Hugoton                      17:42.75      
   35   856 Mendoza, Israel             9   Ulysses                      17:43.20     26