BIG RIVER 2008 RANKINGS #3
10.27.08
The following rankings include all meets from October 3rd through October 25th.
TEAM RANKINGS
TOP 10 GIRLS TEAMS
#1) LEE'S SUMMIT WEST The Titans remain at #1 after wins at KC Metro, Conference and Districts. At full strength their spread is well under a minute and that is with a front runner who happens to be one of the best individuals in the State.
#2) KICKAPOO The ladies from Kickapoo jump into the #2 spot after wins at the Cowboy Jamboree, Conference and Districts. At Conference they up-ended then #2 West Plains by eight points.
#3) WEST PLAINS The Zizzers posted great showings at Conference, where they were a close second to Kickapoo, and at the Chile Pepper Invitational in Arkansas where they were a solid 4th against a slew of great schools from Texas.
#4) JEFFERSON CITY The Lady Jays have had a great few weeks with big wins at Camdenton, Borgia and Districts. They should not be counted out as a contender for the Class 4 crown.
#5) CAPE CENTRAL We predicted in the pre-season that this group could climb the ranks and that is just what they are doing after a dominating District One win where they scored only 34 points and went 1-2-3 to best a very good Lindbergh squad.
#6) LINDBERGH The Lady Flyers remain at #6 after some great performances over the last three weeks. They were the champions at the Ron Jorgensen Memorial meet on October 3rd. They followed that up with a solid win at the Suburban West Conference Meet where they scored 34 points with a 1:08 spread and finished it off with a runner-up finish at Districts to #5 Cape Central.
#7) WASHINGTON We almost had these ladies on the list in the last set of rankings. Now they are firmly entrentched in the top ten at number seven after a dominating performance at the Parkway West Invitational on October 4th and more recently a District Two title over a very good Eureka squad.
#8) KEARNEY It may surprise some people to see this squad on here but consider this, over the last three weeks they have won three meets with scores of 26, 23 and 22 points. Their spread is only 50 seconds and their top runner is consistently at or under 20:00. You could make the argument that they should be even higher.
#9) RAYMORE PECULIAR The Ray Pec ladies really impressed us over the last few weeks as we must admit that they were not on our pre-season radar screen. They finished second to LSW at the KC Metro Champs on October 4th and won a very tight battle with Lee's Summit North at the Big 7 Conference Meet. At the District Seven meet they were runners-up to LSW.
#10 (TIE) FESTUS It is always so tough to pick the tenth team on the list as there are several other teams that could make a case so we picked two! Festus gets the nod with a very impressive win at the Notre Dame Invite in Cape Girardeau, a runner-up finish at Potosi and a 31 point showing at the JCAA Conference Meet.
#10 (TIE) EUREKA We can't leave such a perennial power off the list just yet. They were second to #6 Lindbergh at the Jorgensen Meet and runner-up to #7 Washington at Districts. Last year their best race was the State Meet. If that happens again you will see them much higher.
.............................................................TOP 10 BOYS TEAMS
#1) SLUH The Junior Bills run their full top seven sparingly but when they run they usually impress. Over the last three weeks the full squad has only raced once and that was at conference where they promptly scored 27 points with a 47 second spread. Pre-season number one man John Clohisy is expected back at State which will make the number 19 team in the country much stronger still.
#2) LEE'S SUMMIT WEST We told you in our last rankings that this squad was a serious threat to up-end SLUH at the State Meet. The last three weeks have proven that to indeed be the case. LSW dominated the KC Metro Champs with a scary low 25 points. They came back and scored only 19 at the KC Mid 6 Conference Meet with a 43 second spread. At Districts their team total was only 26 and that was against a solid bunch from Lee's Summit North.
#3) WEST PLAINS The Zizzers are very good this year and it would be very interesting to see them race SLUH and LSW head-to-head. What we do know is that they won their conference meet over a good Kickapoo bunch and that they traveled to Arkansas for the Chile Pepper Invite and were the runners-up to perennial National powerhouse The Woodlands from Texas.
#4) KICKAPOO It seems like a long time ago now but we haven't forgotten that Kickapoo traveled to Stillwater, Okla. on October 4th and won the prestigious Cowboy Jamboree Meet with 73 points. They were second to West Plains at Conference and were the District Six Champs.
#5) LEE'S SUMMIT NORTH LSN definitely has the "pack" mentality and they showed it at the KC Big 7 Conference Meet which they won with an amazing 17 second spread.
#6) LIBERTY The Kansas City schools are back with a vengeance this year and Liberty is one of the squads leading the charge. They were second to LSN at Conference, first at the Dick and Ron Gregory Invite and were very impressive at Districts, scoring only 29 points.
#7) JEFFERSON CITY - The Jays scored a nice win back on October 4th at the Camdenton Invite where they bested College Heights Christian by three points. They also took home the District Five title over very good squads from Rock Bridge and Lebanon.
#8) COLLEGE HEIGHTS CHRISTIAN CHC was a very close second to Jefferson City at the Camdenton Invite before traveling to the prestigious Chile Pepper Invite whey they finished a very respectable eighth.
#9) ROCK BRIDGE Scored a win at the Parkway West Invite over the host Longhorns and more recently were the runners-up in a very tough District Five.
#10) (TIE) LEBANON - These guys appear to be getting better as the season goes on. They were fifth at Camdenton where they did not appear to be at full strength. They were third to West Plains and Kickapoo at the Ozark Conference and they were a close third at District Five.
#10) (TIE) PARKWAY WEST - The Longhorns have been on the verge of entering the top ten all year long. They are there now after finishing a close second to Rock Bridge at their own Parkway West Invite and scoring a District Two win over a formidable DeSmet squad.
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
10.03.08
All season long (though maybe not as often as the team rankings) we will try to keep an eye out for the top 15 runners in the State. Again, these are the top 15 regardless of Class. It is a lot easier to miss a runner or two so we apologize if we shorted you or your teammate. Feel free to email us at info@bigriverrunning.com if you know someone who should be on the Big River Top 15. Enjoy!!
TOP 15 GIRLS
#1) Emily Sisson, JR, Parkway Central Sisson went down to the Great American Cross Country Festival in Alabama on October 11th and was beaten only by the last two former Foot Locker Champs, Kathy Kroeger and Ashley Brasovan. The only question now seems to be whether or not she can take down Merideth Snow's State Record.
#2) Diane Robison, JR, Parkway Central Robison certainly seems to have benefited from the addition of teammate Sisson. She finished 7th at Great American and has been running even faster than her State Championship season a year ago. A one-two finish looks to be in the cards for the Lady Colts.
#3) Alyssa Allisson, SR, Festus - Allison ripped off a blazing 18:23 at the notoriously fast Notre Dame Invite and then showed she can run well on tough courses too when she won the Potosi Invite a week later in 19:31. She was also her conference champ in 19:42.
#4) Megan Yohe, JR, Liberty - Yohe rises to fourth after notching a huge win at the Big 7 Conference Meet over LSN's Taylor Hynes. She also scored an easy win at the District 8 meet where she led her Liberty team to victory.
#5) Veronica Schabbing, SR, Cape Central- Schabbing must be getting used to winning races. She already had two early season wins before grabbing the Parkway West Invite title on October 4th and more recently the District One championship where she was followed across the line by two teammates.
#6) Chelsea Phoebus, SO, Lee's Summit West- Phoebus was second at the KC Metro Meet in a tight battle with LSN's Taylor Hines, first at the KC Mid 6 Conference Meet in an impressive 18:42 and then bested Hynes and Samantha Nightingale from Blue Springs South
#7) Taylor Hynes, SO, Lee's Summit North - Hynes scored one of the biggest invitational wins of the year when she captured the KC Metro title in 18:22 over #6 Phoebus. She was second at Conference to #4 Yohe before finishing third at Districts behind Phoebus and Nightingale but her other two performances were so good that she gets the nod at #7.
#8) Courtney Wood, SO, Neosho - Wood jumps to eighth on the basis of two dominating wins at Conference and Districts where she won by 15 and 24 seconds respectively over Branson's Erin Huddleston.
#9) Ashley Scott, SR, St. Clair - Scott is undoubtedly one of the most consistent performers on this list. She was third at the Jorgensen Meet in 19:20 and first at Borgia in 19:17 on a difficult course.
#10) Samantha Nightingale, FR, Blue Springs South - The top freshman on our list, Nightingale has had a very nice run over the past three weeks with third place showings at the loaded KC Metro Meet and at the very tough KC Big 7 Conference Meet. Nightingale did finish in front of #7 Hynes at Districts where she was second to #6 Phoebus but Hynes beat her twice before that thus the young BSS star lands at number ten.
#11) Sarah White, SO, Potosi - White ran a nice race at Borgia where she was second to #9 Scott and bested Jeff City's Brianna Watson and Ladue's Natalie Todd.
#12) Briana Watson, SO, Jefferson City - Watson was impressive at Camdenton where she bested Nixa's Liz Reida and Erin Huddleston from Branson. She was third at Borgia behind #9 Scott and #10 White. More recently she was the District Five Champ over her very capable teammate Alicia Anderson.
#13) Natalie Todd, SR, Ladue - Todd was fourth in our pre-season rankings way back in August before falling out of the top 15 as she battled back from injury. She wowed us with a huge run at her home invite where she finished second to #2 Robison and bested #9 Scott. She then won the Suburban East Conference Meet handily before finishing fourth at the Borgia Meet.
#14) Erin Huddleston, SR, Branson - Huddleston has battled Nixa's Liz Reida three times and the Neosho duo of Courtney Wood and Jessica Jackson twice over the past three weeks. She didn't come up with any wins but she did run at or below 19 minutes each time and finished ahead of Reida, who just missed making the rankings, two out of three times.
#15) Jessica Jackson, Neosho - Jackson slips in for the number 15 spot just ahead of a host of great runners that include Nixa's Liz Reida, Washington's Celia Venezia and Parkway West's Natalie Becker. Jackson earned it though with strong showings at the Central Ozark Conference Meet and the District Six Meet where she was third behind #8 Wood and #14 Huddleston.
TOP 15 BOYS
#1) Jacob Swearingen, SR, Potosi Swearingen was victorious at his home invite on October 11th and second to his teammate Niggeman at Borgia. Bottom line is that he is still number one and will remain there unless someone beats him at State or beats his time there.
#2) Danny Thater, JR, Kickapoo Thater was runner-up at the prestigious Cowboy Jamboree Meet in Stillwater, Okla. and was a run-away winner at the tough Ozark Conference Meet. He was third at Districts but there are rumors he was sick and he would remain at #2 on the strength of his previous performances anyway.
#3) Nick Happe, SR, Francis Howell North It was three weeks and three wins for Nick Happe as he took home individual honors at the Parkway West Invite, the GAC South Conference Meet and at Districts. Does he have two more in him?
#4) Matt Estlund, SR, Chaminade We mentioned in our last week that Estlund would rise through the ranks as he continued to improve his fitness level after early season setbacks. He won the Jorgensen Meet in 16:21 and then announced his full return with a big-time win at the very tough MCC Conference Meet over DeSmet's Connor Callahan. He also notched a win at the District Three Meet.
#5) Connor Callahan, SR, DeSmet Callahan sped his way to a 15:38 and a big win at the Notre Dame Invite on October 4th before finishing runner-up to Estlund at MCC's. He notched a District Title by ten seconds and should have a smooth ride at Sectionals before the State Meet where he is definitely still a contender for the win.
#6) Maksim Korolev, JR, Harrisonville Korolev wins meets, plain and simple. Over the last few weeks he has won at Excelsior Springs, Clinton and at the MRVC Champs. His biggest win though came at the KC Metro Meet on October 4th where he bested Lee's Summit West's Kevin Colon and O'Hara's Max Storms among others. We suspect he will give Swearingen a run for his money in Jefferson City.
#7) Kevin Colon, SR, Lee's Summit West- Colon drops to #7 but only because Estlund and Korolev have run so well the last few weeks. Colon has continued to impress with a runner-up finish at KC Metro, a win at the KC Mid 6 Conference Meet and a victory in District 7.
#8) Nick Niggeman, SR, Potosi Niggeman was just nine seconds back of teammate Swearingen at their home invite and captured the title at Borgia in 16:02 which is every bit as tough as the State Course if not tougher.
#9) Max Storms, SR, O'Hara Storms was just two ticks back of #7 Colon at KC Metro and scored wins at the Helias Invite and the St. Mary's Fall Classic.
#10) Phillip Palomino, SR, West Plains Palomino was second at the Ozark Conference Meet to #2 Thater and was a very impressive eighth at the Chile Pepper Invite in Arkansas.
#11) Austin Cookson, SR, SLUH Cookson looked very good in his two most recent outings. He was third behind Estlund and Callahan at the MCC Meet but not by much and then closed the gap on Estlund at Districts where he finished just five ticks back.
#12) Ben Chapman, SR, Glendale Chapman had a big run at the Cowboy Jamboree where he was third in 16:31 on a tough course. He was third at the tough Ozark Conference Meet behind Thater and Palomino and then got a win at Districts over Nixa's Jack Taylor who was one of the guys who just missed out on the top 15.
#13) Michael Weis, SR, Lebanon Weis scored a nice win at Camdenton over Jeff City's David McAdams and Helias' Seth Raithel on October 4th. He was fourth at the Ozark Conference Meet which was arguably the toughest conference this year and then nipped McAdams at the line for the victory at the District Five Meet.
#14) David McAdams, JR, Jefferson City - McAdams has run very well over the last few weeks but just hasn't quite cracked the winner's circle but that's just a testament to the tough schedule that he and his Jeff City mates have faced. He was second to Weis at Camdenton and at Districts and was third at Borgia behind #1 Swearingen and #8 Niggeman.
#15) Adam Volkert, SR, Lee's Summit Volkert appears on the rankings for the first time but he definitely earned it. He was fourth at KC Metro, first at the KC Big 7 Conference Meet and second to #7 Colon at Districts.
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