The 20th season of WP Cross Country came to an end at the state meet on a new course in Columbia, Missouri. It was a season of frustration in not being able to defend the boys Class 1 title string of 19 straight, but a season of opportunity to shine in class 2 and hope for the future as the boys and girls both learned that they can run with the class 2 crowd.
Phillip Pattison capped his outstanding career with a 21st place finish, running a new PR of 16:54. This was two seconds off the school state course record set in 2017 by Max Davies. Phillip will hold the school record for the new course and has set a high bar for those that will follow. He was not satisfied with his performance, as the competitor in him was hoping for 15th or better but it is the rare runner who can be all-state in class 1 and then repeat that the next year in class 2. Phillip becomes just the 7th WP runner to achieve all-state status three times in their career.
Charlie Kinslow finished his freshman campaign as the most decorated freshman in WP history. No other freshman had broken 18 minutes once and Charlie did it twice in his last two races. He finished 71st in a new PR of 17:44, an awesome achievement for this hard-working freshman. Ryan Pattison ran in the top five for the first part of the race on this day. He faded, however, as he was still recovering from a bug that kept him home earlier in the week. He finished 156th overall.
The two state-qualifying girls also ran well on this new, flat/fast course. Lexi Elmore ran her best time since her sophomore campaign and finished 52nd at 21:25. Lexi finishes her career with two all-state finishes in class 1, a state team title and a state team third place finish. Bella Clark was the other girl to run for WP this day and she also set a new PR on the course, finishing 72nd with a time of 22:00. She continues to impress her coach and teammates with her improvements, going from a 26-minute runner as a freshman to a 22-minute runner as a junior.
This was a very different course than years past, nary a hill to be found. Very flat with some long stretches of straight lines and probably slightly harder for the spectators to move about. Coach Lowe really looks forward to being able to get Sophia Rush along with Katie Tharp and Katie Groom on the course next year as it really is a sprinters course and all three of those girls are really strong over track-like ground. This same ground will also make times easier for Hunter Sadell and Isaac Helmich who love those easy rolling courses. As the 20th season comes to a close, Coach Lowe would like to thank the parents for all their work this year. It makes coaching so much easier with a great bunch of parents. Also, please look for a future article, which will reveal the top WP runners over the last 20 years. Until then, keep running on!!