By Jimmy Gillispie
When all of the KC Suburban Conference cross country meets were completed Saturday, six different schools had won titles.
At the KC Suburban Gold meet, Liberty North won the boys conference championship, and Blue Springs South took home the girls title. The girls’ team race was tightly contested, but the Jaguars clipped Raymore-Peculiar by 12 points.
Blue Springs South scored 40 team points, after all five of its scoring runners in the top 15. Ray-Pec placed four runners in the top 14.
Leading the charge for Blue Springs South was senior Mya Trober. She won the meet, finishing the 5K course in a time of 18:51.76 – 21 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Following her was junior Caitlin Grover (4), senior Amy Woolsey (9), senior Mckenna Ledgerwood (11) and junior Magdalene Boley (15). Sophomore Emmerson Allen finished 17th as the Jaguars’ sixth runner.
Ray-Pec finished second as a team, and its top runner also finished second. Sophomore Ashlyn Smith’s time was 19:12.89, just three seconds ahead of Park Hill sophomore Natalie Gerdes. The next scoring runners for Ray-Pec were junior Alexis Borum (7), Avery Raymond (8), sophomore Isabel Chatfield (14) and senior Caitlin Figge (21).
ON the boys side of the meet, Liberty North (38) scored nearly half of Ray-Pec (74), which edged out Blue Springs South (79) and Lee’s Summit North (86) to finish second.
Liberty North was led by a pair of top-three finishes. Sophomore Sage Wilde and senior Ethan Lee placed second and third, respectively. Junior Grayson Tapp (6), sophomore Collin Kleinhen (13) and junior Asher Curp (14) were the final scoring runners for the Eagles.
Ray-Pec senior Luke Voelker won the meet, in a time of 15:39.22. Junior Blake Borum finished 10th for the Panthers. The next three Panthers to finish were sophomore Rydan Deckard (19), senior Christopher Obersteadt (21) and junior Derek Nissen (23).
KC Suburban Red
Park Hill South won the girls division of the KC Suburban Red meet with a low score of 37. The Panthers clipped Lee’s Summit (51) and Staley (57) to win the meet that included just five full teams.
Park Hill South’s top five runners were junior Ella Conklin (4), sophomore Lauren Bishard (5), sophomore Mia James (7), sophomore Mackenzie Wright (10) and junior Abigail Kindred (13).
Staley sophomore Avery Adair won the race in a time of 20:33.
The boys side of the meet was won by Central (St. Joseph), with 40 team points. Staley scored 71 to finish runner-up, just ahead of Oak Park’s (74) and Lee’s Summit (77).
Staley senior Andrew Atkins won the 5K race. His winning time was 16:32.4. Central senior Berhe Usman was runner-up, finishing 14 seconds behind Atkins.
KC Suburban Blue
There were just four full teams in KC Suburban Blue meet, and it was Kearney that came out victorious. The Bulldogs scored just 27 points, as all five of their scoring runners finished in the top eight individually.
Kearney freshman Alexandria Kinstler won the meet, beating Platte County sophomore Sisely Mitchell by just four seconds. The next five Kearney runners placed fifth through ninth. They were junior Abby Elam, sophomore Heidi Adams, sophomore Liela Murphy, freshman Olivia Brock and junior Isabella Donze.
Smithville freshman Naomi Hunter finished third in the race, helping her team place third. Platte County finished second as a team.
The boys meet was a nailbiter for the team title. Platte County just edge out Smithville, scoring 28 points and winning by just a single point. Both teams’ top five runners finished in the top 11 individually.
The top five Platte County runners were senior Andrew Early (1), sophomore Andrew Johnson (2), senior Jace Trimble (4), junior Kage Audas (10) and sophomore Kade Meinke (11).
For Smithville, it was junior Asa Kellner (3), freshman Liam Adair (5), senior Isaac Edson (6), senior Carter Massie (7) and sophomore Quentin Zimmer (8).
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