With one of the biggest Kansas City meets of the season behind us, many teams are leaving the metro (mainly for Topeka & Joplin) to avoid competition fatigue. After all, everyone just saw each other five days ago. One meet that will provide unique matchups, though, is the Bonner Springs Invitational. With a good mix of Johnson County schools, a few KC Public Schools, some private schools, and the addition of Leavenworth & Lansing, this meet certainly has some storylines to follow.
Meet Information
9:30AM Boys Varsity
10:00AM Girls JV
2:00PM Girls 8th
2:30PM Boys 8th
Preview & Analysis
The biggest storyline to follow on the girls side may be how Christ Preparatory fares against some of the larger schools. They dominated the competition in Wamego's 4A division last week, and have been a strong force the last few years. Without KSHSAA membership, they often get lost in the shuffle, but with all 5 runners under 20:00 at Wamego, this team could very well perfect score this meet.
Elizabeth Kurtz and Eiley Nicholl are the top runners so far this season, running 19:25 and 19:29 last week. Adelaide Hydeman was their top runner in week 1, though, so this could be a pack of Christ Prep up front. Maybe the only hope at breaking up the leaders would be Lansing's Grace Steger. She ran 20:16 at Topeka last week, and the Steger name isn't to be taken lightly from Lansing runners. Jackson Steger turned out to be elite for the Lions last track season.
For the boys, it's a more evenly-matched team race. Blue Valley Northwest and Leavenworth could both challenge Christ Prep for the team title. BV Northwest looks best on paper, thanks to the speedy times at Olathe Twilight, but Christ Prep's 33-second pack time will be tough to beat at WyCo Park. Leavenworth will look to their leader Jonathan Purvis to be their low-stick in first place, but they'll need big races from their 4-5-6 runners: Joshua Coulson, Devin Kaminsky, and John Phillips.
Joining Purvis in the individual battle will be Blue Valley's Noah Summers and BV Northwest's Jacob D'souza.