Big River Rankings: Rankings #2 2011 (9.29.11)
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For those of you who have followed our rankings over the past few years you know that these are just for fun and hopefully serve to give athletes a little extra motivation as the season rolls along. We will come out with the rankings every few weeks. For those of you who are new and checking out the rankings for the first time we hope you enjoy them and if you have anyone or any team that we missed let us know by emailing Ben at ben@bigriverrunning.com
Also, as we told you in our pre-season rankings Big River Running Company and the Saint Louis Sports Commission have teamed up to host the US Cross Country Championships in Forest Park on February 11th, 2012. We encourage all of you to come out and watch some of America's best distance runners compete for a National Title in Saint Louis! Like the meet on Facebook HERE.
TEAM RANKINGS
TOP 10 GIRLS TEAMS
#1) ROCK BRIDGE– For the second time in a row we have a new number one on the girls side. The ladies from Rock Bridge traveled to the highly competitive Palatine Invitational in suburban Chicago and finished a solid ninth with a 58 second spread. Lee's Summit North fared well at Grandview and Lee's Summit West impressed at Griak but the Rock Bridge performance was comparatively best when you crunch the numbers.
#2) LEE'S SUMMIT NORTH – Coming off of a great start to the season that saw them up-end their rivals from Lee's Summit West the LSN ladies took care of business at Grandview with a six point win over a very good Blue Springs team.
#3) LEE'S SUMMIT WEST – The Titans made their annual trip north to Minneapolis to compete in the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota. The result was a solid seventh place showing that proves they are going to once again be contending for a State title in November.
#4) EUREKA– Eureka, like many teams, was rained out at the Missouri Southern Stampede so we didn't get to see them at a big meet this time around. They did absolutely dominate the Fox Invitational though where they were paced by another Hannah Long victory.
#5) NERINX HALL – Nerinx jumps back up a couple of spots after a big win at the Edwardsville (IL) Invite. Back to almost full strength they got the overall win from Sophia Racette and produced a spread of just 1:44.
#6) BLUE SPRINGS– Unranked last time out these ladies vault up to #6 on the heels of a big win at home and a narrow loss to #2 LSN at the Grandview Invite. Their number one, Julia Drury, provides a solid low stick up front.
#7) WEST PLAINS– The Zizzers either only ran four or only finished four at Hancock so we are not sure exactly what happened but this much is for sure; the four that finished were very impressive. They went 5-6-9-10 which meant they had four in front of team champions Lafayette. Keep your eye on these ladies. If they have a five they are going to skyrocket up this list.
#8) LAFAYETTE- With wins at Parkway Central and at Hancock this tightly-bunched group continues to impress. Their spread was only 18 seconds at Jefferson Barracks, a layout that many feel mimmicks the State course.
#9) ST. TERESA’S ACADEMY – St. Teresa's was fifth at Rim Rock, good for top Missouri honors there.
#10) KEARNEY– The lone Class 3 team on this list, Kearney was second in the crimson divsion at Rim Rock.
TOP 10 BOYS TEAMS
#1) ROCK BRIDGE- These guys made no bones about it after the Forest Park Cross Country Festival; they wanted to go up to the Palatine Invite and show the nation they could compete with anyone. They did just that and then some in beating famed York High School among many others on their way to a runner-up finish at the most competitive meet in subruban Chicago. Only hosts Palatine, ranked 11th or 12th in the country depending on which national rankings list you prefer, were able to top Rock Bridge and only by 16 points.
#2) ROCKHURST- The Hawklets won handily at Rim Rock, besting runners-up Liberty by 68 points. It's amazing how such a dominating performance can now seem ho-hum for a team that has quickly become a powerhouse.
#3) SLUH- LIke Rock Bridge, SLUH went to Palatine but they probably weren't quite as pleased as their Missouri counterparts. Of course that's because they have very high standards. An eleventh place showing there is certainly nothing to sneeze at and their spread (32 seconds) remained shockingly low for such a big race.
#4) WEST PLAINS- The Zizzers won the Hancock Invitational pretty handily with Drew Cargill getting the win.
#5) EUREKA- Eureka put five in the top ten at the Fox Warrior Invitational. These guys have a very legitimate shot to grab a trophy at State in Class 4.
#6) LIBERTY - Liberty makes the move up to #6 on the strength of a runner-up finish at Rim Rock and a sixth place effort at the Roosevelt Heartland Classic in Ames, Iowa.
#7) MARQUETTE- The Mustangs were just 11 points back of #6 Liberty at Rim Rock.
#8) PARKWAY WEST- Parkway West grabbed top honors at the Parkway Central Invite and followed up with a second place finish at Hancock.
#9) PARKWAY CENTRAL -The Colts move up one spot to #9 this week after a runner-up finish on their home course to #8 Parkway West.
#10) BLUE SPRINGS- Blue Springs makes their first appearance in the rankings this year after a win at home over previously ranked Lee's Summit North and a ninth place finish at Rim Rock where they bested another previously ranked squad in Festus. They get the nod at #10 over Lindbergh, a group that appears to be on the rise.
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
All season long 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. Occasionally we miss a runner or two so we apologize if we shorted you or your teammate. Feel free to email Ben at ben@bigriverrunning.com if you know someone who should be on the Big River Top 15. Enjoy!!
TOP 15 GIRLS
#1) Samantha Nightingale, SR, Blue Springs South- Nightingale means business in 2011. She rolled the Rim Rock course in 14:15, narrowly missing a course record and besting runner-up Maggie Montoya from Rogers HS (Ark.) by 21 seconds.
#2) Hannah Long, FR, Eureka- Rain prevented us from seeing a Long v. Nightingale matchup at the Southern Stampede in Joplin. Perhaps it's for the best as the two seem to be on a crash course for an epic battle at State and the mystery of how they compare just adds to the drama. The freshman did race at Fox where she won in 18:53.
#3) Sammy Laurenzo, SO, Liberty North- Laurenzo blitzed an 18:41 at Platte County where she won by nearly a full minute.
#4) Melissa Brown, SO, Oakville- Brown raced three times over the last two weeks, winning twice and finishing second once. Not bad. Her 19:09 at Fox was second-best only to #2 Long and her victory at Hancock was mighty impressive as she beat a very good field by 24 seconds.
#5) Sam Garrett, SR, Rock Bridge- Garrett ran very well at Palatine where she finished as the Lady Bruins number one runner and 29th overall.
#6) Kayla Funkenbusch, FR, Rock Bridge- The fabulous freshman from Rock Bridge finished less than a tick behind her teammate Garrett at Palatine.
#7) Conradette King, SR, Jefferson City- King was runner-up at the Richard Clark Invite in a very solid 19:11.
#8) Brigette Caruthers, JR, Branson- Caruthers rolled a 19:16 at the Nixa Invite, 12 seconds better than she ran on what we think was the same course in week one.
#9) Nicole Mello, JR, Hickman- Mello conquered the hills and the competition at Sioux Passage on her way to the Paul Enke title in 19:25.
#10) Sophia Racette, FR, Nerinx Hall- Racette won handily at Edwardsville in 19:14 over defending Class 2 State champ Courtney Rogers.
#11) Nicole Lee, SO, Clinton- Lee was very impressive at Grandview, winning by 25 seconds over Julia Drury from Blue Springs.
#12) Kiersten West, SO, Lee’s Summit West- West moves up a couple of notches after a very solid 13th place showing at the Roy Griak meet in Minnesota.
#13) Taylor Dickerson, SR, Jackson- Dickerson won handily at Cape Central and then had one of the best performances of the week when she cruised an 18:42 at the Carbondale Invite to win by nearly 40 seconds over Potosi’s Kassie Rawlings.
#14) Alyssa Jones, JR, Rockwood Summit- Jones was runner-up at Paul Enke to #9 Mello and at Hancock to #4 Brown.
#15) Jill Whitman, SO, Cor Jesu- Whitman jumps into the top 15 after a runner-up finish at Parkway Central and a top three performance at Hancock where she bested Arcadia Valley’s Saga Barzowski and Carly Shannon from West Plains among others.
Honorable Mention: Saga Barzowski, Julia Dury, Kaitlyn Fischer, Leah Krause, Lane Maguire, Shannon McCaul, Samantha Phillips, Kassie Rawlings, Courtney Rogers, Carly Shannon, Megan Schulte, Mackenzie Weis, Olivia Willoughby
TOP 15 BOYS
#1) Drew White, SR, Festus- White showed up big at Rim Rock as he always seems to do in important races. His runner-up finish there to Kansas’ Jacob Morgan was a very high level run and he bested previous #1 Zach Herriott in the process. In his post-race comments White hinted his focus will now be on qualifying for the Foot Locker finals. He’d be the first Saint Louis area boy to compete there since Marquette’s Greg Speicher in 1995.
#2) Zach Herriott, SR, Rockhurst- Herriott was third at Rim Rock despite a nasty sinus infection. To that end you could make the argument that he should remain number one and we almost kept him there. Injuries and illnesses happen though and you have to give credit to Drew White for stepping up and getting the job done. We’ll see how Herriott fares at KC Metro if he is back at 100%.
#3) Caleb Wilfong, SR, Rock Bridge- Wilfong hung on gamely at the front for as long as he possibly could at the Palatine Invite against an amazing field but it wasn’t quite enough as he slipped to 12th at the finish. Races like that against national level competition will likely only make him stronger in the end.
#4) Jordan Cook, SR, Rock Bridge– Cook was 11th at Palatine, edging past teammate Wilfong in the final mile. We couldn’t quite justify moving him ahead of Wilfong here but had no problem moving him up to #4.
#5) Drew Cargill, SR, West Plains– Cargill was the Hancock Invitational champion at Jefferson Barracks in 16:27. The West Plains senior has yet to really throw down a fast time this season but the potential is absolutely there.
#6) Brandon Shemonia, SR, Scott City– Shemonia went sub 16 at Cape Central to top the host school’s number one man Billy Leighton by five seconds.
#7) Noah Kauppila, SO, Marquette- The Marquette sophomore climbs one spot to #7 after a 15:40 fourth place showing at Rim Rock.
#8) Nathan Keown, JR, Rock Bridge- Keown was 16th at Palatine proving that Rock Bridge has one of the top 1-2-3 combos in the entire country.
#9) Ethan Lambert, SR, Eureka– Lambert is on the rise after another victory, this time at Fox in 16:25.
#10) Nicolas Stewart, JR, McCluer North- Stewart was the champ at the Hazelwood West Invite in 16:21.
#11) Eric Sivill, SR, Parkway Central- Sivill won his home invite in 16:31 and continues to impress in what has been a breakout season for the senior.
#12) Ryan McAnany, SR, Rockhurst– The boys list was tough this time around and McAnany is one of the reasons why. The senior ran really well at Rim Rock in finishing 11th ahead of several other contenders. It was difficult to compare that performance against Lambert, Stewart and Sivill who ran more low-key meets. You can pretty much take numbers nine through 15 and rank them any way you'd like.
#13) Justin Brown, SR, Truman- Brown took home a one-second win at Blue Springs ansd then finished 12th at Rim Rock in 16:07.
#14) Shane Brown, SR, Festus- Brown was second behind teammate Drew White at their home invite before finishing 13th at Rim Rock.
#15) Amos Bartelsmeyer, JR, MICDS– Bartelsmeyer won the Paul Enke on a tough Sioux Passage course in 17:06 to get the nod at #15 just ahead of Cape Central's Billy Leighton.
Honorable Mention: Ian Fraizer, Shannon Hall, Billy Leighton, Kent Mastroianni, Michael McCulloch, Liban Samatar
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