Truman coach Randy Maglinger knew he had several girls who were on the fringe of qualifying for the state championships.
At the end of the day, only sophomore Sara Ruckman made it through as the Patriots finished in eighth place (as did the boys team). But Maglinger said there was plenty to be taken from the experience at the Class 4 Sectional 4 meet Saturday at Metropolitan Community College-Longview.
“We kind of have a younger squad and an inexperienced squad when it comes to sectionals,” Maglinger said. “And we took both teams this year. So I think it was really important to get that experience so that they have a knowledge base to tap into for next year. We’re excited about that.”
He added that Ruckman is an example of what can happen after gaining the experience of running against upper-level competition. Ruckman ran the 5-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 50 seconds and finished 20th (the top 30 runners and top four teams advance to state).
“I came here and I thought the course was going to be really easy,” Ruckman said. “And then after I started running, it was harder than I remembered. But I just got in the mindset that I was going to make it.”
Truman freshman Alisha Meyer narrowly missed advancing by coming in at 35th place (21:19).
Blue Springs South sophomore Samantha Nightingale battled the ill effects of bronchitis for the second consecutive week and still managed to finish in fifth place by running a 19:36. But despite a top-five finish, she saw plenty of room for improvement between now and next weekend.
“Horrible,” she said when asked to describe how she raced. “Horrible. I’ve just got to practice harder and take my antibiotics. (Being sick) makes it a lot harder. I’ve been having all these breathing problems and I get all this nasty stuff caught in my throat. But I think I’ll do a lot better (at state).”
The course at Longview was still wet on Saturday morning and many of the runners crossed the finish line with their legs covered in mud. Blue Springs South coach Ryan Unruh said that in those conditions all you can do is hope for the best.
“Today is just one of those days where you just kind of hold your breath and hope everything goes and that she (Nightingale) finishes the race healthy and in a good position,” Unruh said.
Blue Springs sophomore Julia Dury finished directly behind Ruckman in 21st place (20:50) and will also advance to state.
Lee’s Summit West dominated the competition by finishing 52 points ahead of second-place Lee’s Summit North. The Titans had the top two finishers in junior Chelsey Phoebus (18:48) and senior Liga Blyholder (18:56). Juniors Alex Moase (19:31) and Johanna Kleinsasser (19:43) finished fourth and sixth. Lee’s Summit North seniors Rachel Carpino (19:48) and Codi Fritchie (20:06) finished in seventh and 10th place to lead the Broncos.
But North finished first as a team in the boys field with 33 points, 11 points ahead of second-place Liberty and 44 points ahead of third-place Lee’s Summit West. Kolton Sheldon, Connor Moylan and Collin Hubert finished fourth, fifth and sixth to lead North. Kevin Colon paced West with a second-place showing in 16:07.20, just four-tenths of a second behind Raymore-Peculiar’s Devon Young.
Blue Springs missed qualifying by only 20 points and came in at fifth place with 115 points.
“I’m disappointed that we’re not taking a full team to state,” Blue Springs coach Frank Gallick said. “But I thought the guys ran a lot better than last week, so I’m really happy about that because they came out and they competed. We just aren’t as good as the other squads right now. But our future looks bright. We’ve got a good young team.”
Blue Springs seniors Ryan Podjenski and Dalton Joyce as well as freshman Simon Belete did manage to qualify as individuals. Pojenski finished 10th (16:52), Joyce 17th (17:18) and Belete 30th (17:39).
“We’re just moving on,” Podjenski said. “We’re a little disappointed we didn’t make it as a team but knowing that the three seniors that did run varsity this year left behind a good foundation for this team to build on next year is a reward in and of itself.”
Blue Springs South also qualified a pair of runners as individuals. Senior Ian Simpkins (17:25) and junior Marcus Wolfenbarger (17:35) finished 21st and 26th. Senior Shane Wilson was thought to have a chance at qualifying but was suffering from the effects of a spider bite and was unable to finish.
“That was very disappointing,” Blue Springs South coach Troy Harding said of Wilson. “He’s been one of our leaders on our team for four years now, and for him to not be able to race today was quite a disappointment.”
In addition to not qualifying as a team, the Truman boys failed to send anyone through to state. Harrison Harmon finished 47th to lead the Patriots.
Lee’s Summit (Jordan Andrews, 25th) and Raytown (Luke Abouhalkah, 28th) each advanced one runner to state.
On the girls side, Lee’s Summit (Kaitlin Stryczek, 12th, and Delaney Smith, 13th) and Raytown South (Erin Edwards, eighth, and Teri Owensby, 22nd) each sent two to state.
