Small School Round-Up Week 9
A
Boys
Since last Friday we have seen most of the top contenders except notably Southwest Covenant. However, those we have seen we got to see them twice. First at Watonga (scored through 5), athletes, Mooreland beat Laverne 121-137. Second Mooreland at home (scored through 4) finishing second behind 2A Hooker but ahead of Sweetwater and Laverne. Mooreland and Sweetwater are super close in my opinion and either team may pull ahead come state. Again remember Southwest Covenant on their best day is certainly the favorites here.
Girls
Same sentiment as always until proven otherwise. Awaiting regionals to see if even a clear second arises. Sorry.
2A
Boys
Hooker boys are back in action after a brief racing hiatus. Over the weekend the bulldogs finished second in the Watonga meet with a 17:56 average and an 18:49 5th man for reference Regent ran a 17:41 average with a 18:34 5th man. Individually Brayden Cowan again won at home in 16:21 where he has consistently been all season. Although I'd still give the edge to Regent I believe the race is closer than I once theorized. I am still confident in Clay McKinney individually, and I think he'll pull Cowan below 16 at the state meet.
Girls
An eerily similar story on the girl's side. The battle is between Regent Preparatory and Hooker. Both ran very similar averages with comparable front and 5th athletes. It will be a shootout for the state title in 2 weeks. Individually Lucy Odea (Regent Preparatory) and Izabella Neville (Hooker) look to be the main two but about 5 other girls I believe on their day could also be a threat.
3A
Boys
Nothing new or surprising to report.
Girls
Every week I stray further from understanding this division. Lakin Gaddy of Alva ran 12:45 at Watonga add her name to the list about 5-10 deep of girls who have a decent chance to win. Another contender in action this past weekend was Kinley Taylor of Jones who ran 12:42 in a deep race at Elgin. Another new name Hanna Rolette of Prague ran an 11:56 at Stroud but I struggle to believe the accuracy of the course with many girls running mid to low 12-minute performances. Hopefully, this course is legit and these athletes are coming together at the right time. Cleveland High School won a slow race at Cushing (many athletes running well slower than normal) Bethel who honestly were my favorites fell to 5th as a team. Again, anyone race come state.
4A
Boys
Zachary Williams's (cache) flu game resulted in a 16:27 winning mark at Elgin, I imagine it was a situation of do enough to win and not much more. Cache men also looked more serviceable as a full squad than they have so potentially a podium for the defending runner-ups. Not a super exciting class this week although the state meet is shaping up to be amongst the deepest in 4A history. Byng also looks quite good in this class I'd rank them second behind Lincoln Christian.
Girls
A more interesting update in this division is the rise of Amidat Olokunola (Cache) who most of the season we put her as a tier below the front runners for the title but after her runner-up performance behind Kenzi Readnour at Elgin I'd put her in the title hunt. Your top 4 in some order is shaping up to be Kenzi Readnour, Baylee Woodrich (Lincoln Christian), Ava Thompson (Byng) and Olokunola. Also happy to see Pauls Valleys 5th inching closer to their 4th the gap between Pauls Valleys 5th and Lincolns needs to be minimal to prevent scorers from other squads driving Pauls Valley's score sky high. At the end of the day, the top 4 for Pauls Valley can only score so few if they improve 10 seconds the next two weeks but if their 5 improves 10 seconds that may be a 5-10 point swing. A team that all season I have largely overlooked but has a strong chance to be in contention with Lincoln and Pauls Valley, is Byng who dominated the Lake County Conference meet with a 13:02 average.