West Plains Destroys at Hancock; Pleasant Hill Surprises in 3A
While Blue Springs, Rockhurst, and Parkway West were busy battling it out in Kansas, West Plains took to the course at Jefferson Barracks for an equally as tough task on a similar course. Festus junior Max McDaniel took home the individual title, but the Zizzers used some seriously impressive pack running to run away with the team title. Ben Stasney led the way this time as Ethan Hutchinson finished just behind him. They ran 16:27 and 16:29 respectively. Jacob McCrackin and Caleb Boys brought home 4th and 5th and West Plains won with 30 points to Kirkwood's 62. West Plains has the fastest top 4 in the state and there's no argument there. It does not appear that they will have another opportunity to face off with Blue Springs, Rockhurst, and Parkway West all at the same time until the Class 4 state meet, but when that showdown occurs, it will be one to watch. This season, the Class 4 boys race is shaping up to be one of the closest we have seen in a long time.
In the Class 3 race, Pleasant Hill brought home the victory and is showing why we consider them one of the Top 5 teams in Class 3 at the moment. They took down Fulton by 17 points led by Jerod Rottinghaus who took 6th. They currently have a 20 second split overall between their 1 and 5, but used a 41 second split to bring home the victory on Saturday. Individually, it was a rematch of the Fulton Invite between Alex Dukes (Mexico), Mason Gaines (Fulton), and Jack Crull and Jenson Starr (Helias Catholic). Dukes was victorious again and Crull rolled in right behind him this time. It was a fourth straight victory for Dukes as it seems that he has a killer instinct and is eyeing a run at the Class 3 crown. He'll meet some solid foes there, but a Top 5 at the least appears likely. Gaines was 3rd with Starr coming across in 4th.
Maplewood Richmond-Hts. sophomore Malik Stewart continues to have an impressive season and he brought home a victory in the Class 1a-2a race on Saturday. Stewart is coming off of a 17:04 at Stan Nelson that is propelled him into a significant place among the Class 2 studs and Saturday proved that he has the chops necessary to make some hay. Just behind him was Madison (IL)'s Javon Watkins with Cleveland NJROTC's Mark Hutchinson in 3rd. New Haven won the team title as they continue to make their presence felt in Class 1. Joseph Rethemeyer led the way in 5th and they benefited from Dominick Lewis's first sub-20:00 of the year. With 5 under 20:00 now, it appears that New Haven can now make a legitimate argument for the #1 spot in Class 1.