Rim Rock Farm XC Classic Girls Gold Preview
After a very impressive two first meets of the season with Alli Cash winning by a wide margin each time, this race will provide some more competition for the US #19 runner. The biggest names to stand out are Colorado's Heather Bates and Hickman's (MO) Nicole Mello. Cash and Bates are no strangers as they have raced against each other this past spring at the KU Relays. Cash won that meeting winning the mile in 4:50 with Bates finishing in 4:56. The Pine Creek (CO) senior is off to a great start running a PR last weekend with a time of 17:38. Mello is a returning Foot Locker finalist where she finished 20th. She has run under 18 minutes for 5K and finished third last fall at the MO state meet despite falling early in the race. Her time of 19:22 at the Paul Enke Invitational is deceiving as it is one of the toughest courses in the nation. It is actually three seconds faster than she ran at that meet last year, showing she is right on track of where she was last year when she had a breakout season. Both of these girls will need to have a great race to stuck up with Cash who is coming off of a 13:16 performance which is currently US#1 for 4000 Meters. Last year Cash was fourth in this race but has made huge jumps since then. Also, all three girls who beat here last year will not be in the field as one graduated and the others will not be returning this year. 
The field will be incredibly deep field as Pine Creek will bring three other girls under 18:40. Add in a slew of KC, Missouri girls and this field has the potential to be one of the strongest in years. Freshman sensation, Ashley Coonfield, who was run 19:03 already this season will test her abilities at the 4K distance. Top ranked Missouri team and 5 time defending state champs, Lee's Summit West will bring their team that features two girls at 19:10 or faster in Kennadee Williams and Kiersten West. Both of these girls are returning all-state performers from the fall. Williams had a strong outdoor season finishing fourth in the 1600m and appears to be the top girl for the Titans this year. Another KC team, St. Teresa's will bring Lane Maguire who is off to a hot start. She has finished second in both of her races and beat all of the LSW girls in the first meet of the season. Her teammate, Courtney Coppinger, is also a strong runner and is coming off of a sixth place finish at the Paul Enke Invite.
In addition to Cash, five more of the top ten girls in the state will be featured in race including #2 Kaelyn Balch. Balch leads a strong Bishop Caroll team that should be in the mix for the team title. Balch is undefeated on the season. As well #6 ranked Alex Miller of Garden City is also undefeated. Alaina Schroeder of Manhattan is coming off of a 7th place finish at the Missouri Southern Stampede and should be in the mix for this race as well.
The team side will be a great battle with Pine Creek coming in as the favorites. Their times are greatly ahead of any other team. If they duplicate their performance from last week they should be returning to Colorado with some hardware. Lee's Summit West is always a team that will compete to win. Every year Coach Jesse Griffin produces one of the best teams in the Midwest. This year they have a strong set of juniors in Kennadee Williams, Kiersten West and Elizabeth Nolke. Their team also includes Kiersten's little sister, Kourtney, who is off to a solid start running 19:24 for her first 5K. St. Teresa's lost to the Titans 25-40 in a small meet to begin the year but comes in ranked fourth in the state of Missouri. Two other top ten teams, Kearney, #7, and Marquette, #9 will be in the field Saturday. Two Kansas teams will be battling it out with Garden City and St. Thomas Aquinas being the top KS teams headed into the weekend. Garden City has three girls in the top 15 with Alex Miller leading the way. Aquinas features a great pack with only a 30 second spread. Both of these teams should be towards the top. We will see here who is the top ranked team in Kansas as these two teams are yet to meet this season.
(User Photo Credit: GreenCarew)
More Coverage