Ray-Pec High School was the place to be on Saturday morning, as their home course held the biggest XC meet of the weekend: The Kansas City Cross Country Classic. There were a handful of key storylines to follow, many of which were highlighted in our meet preview on Wednesday. Early on, the C-Team races kicked off the meet, followed by varsity, then junior varsity. Over 30 teams from the KC Metro & beyond were represented.
On the girls' side of things, St. Teresa's won the C-Team race, with Sierra Manning of Mill Valley winning her first race on the grass. The JV race was a St. James Academy / St. Thomas Aquinas affair, with the two taking the top seven spots. Ridley Leiker had a 10-second victory in that race for St. James.
In the varsity race, pre-meet favorite Anjali Hocker-Singh didn't run, which isn't all that unusual for a high-caliber runner that had a big meet last weekend. Instead, we got a battle we weren't expecting. Gracie Jacobs (St. Teresa's) was pegged to be a clear #2 behind Hocker-Singh, but Amy Gotfredson (Olathe South) gave her everything she wanted, finishing just 0.4 seconds behind. We knew Gotfredson was riding high after a solid performance last week on a tough course in Stillwater, OK. However, pushing Jacobs to the brink is arguably another step forward even from that. Ray-Pec's duo of Maya York and Ashlyn Smith finished side-by-side about 20 seconds later for 3rd and 4th.
Team-wise, Ray-Pec and Olathe South both had multiple runners in the top-10, but the teams to watch were Olathe North, St. James, St. Teresa's, and Christ Preparatory. With Hocker-Singh out, North fell out of the picture. In the end, Christ Preparatory managed to shoot down the big-dogs. Neither St. James nor St. Teresa's had the depth to beat out Christ Prep. The Thunder had the better 1, 2, and 3 runners, but the 29-second pack of Christ Prep was enough to down St. James 90-94. St. James had a good pack time themselves, with their top 5 only separated by 40 seconds.
For Christ Prep, this was their super bowl. After a handful of dominating victories to start the year, beating a program like St. James is as big as it gets. As a non-KSHSAA school, they do not compete in the traditional postseason, so this was their only shot at beating the heavyweights. Needless to say, they took full advantage of their opportunities.
Meet Results | Ray-Pec Course Records
For the non-varsity boys races, Liberty North took the C-Team race, with Tye Sisk (Lee's Summit) winning it individually. Quentin Pittmon led Lee's Summit West to victory in the JV race.
Pre-meet favorites for the varsity race were Micah Blomker individually and Gardner-Edgerton as a team. Similar to Hocker-Singh in the girls race, Blomker did not race. That opened the door for Parker Walion (Gardner-Edgerton) and Liam Adair (Smithville) to go at it. Max Larson (Shawnee Mission South) also jumped into the mix, being entered into the race after MileSplit's initial meet preview.
Ultimately, Liam Adair proved to be the best, defeating Larson 15:36 to 15:42. Walion finished third in 15:59. Olathe South's Dylan Plath and Olathe East's Diego Barron finished 4th and 5th before the rest of the field stormed through.
Team-wise, Gardner-Edgerton cruised to victory with 98 points. Buhler was second with 133. For the Crusaders, they just keep getting better. They beat out Lee's Summit by 10 and Olathe East by 16; two quality teams with experienced rosters. The story going into the meet was how many teams not named Gardner-Edgerton could they beat? The answer was all of them. Buhler has been the program to beat in 4A for several years now, and it's looking like they could run away with it again in 2023.
As for the winners, Gardner-Edgerton needed this one. A return to their winning-ways was just what the doctor ordered after a tough loss at Rim Rock to Free State. The Trailblazers showed that their season is not over and they are still a major contender in 6A, and could be the best team in Kansas by year's end.