6A Girls Cross Country Preseason rankings

This season, barring injury or nonparticipation, 74 of the girls who stepped to the start line at last season’s state meet will be back racing this fall. Eleven of the 12 teams that qualified for state last year return at least five runners.

As always freshmen will play a huge role in how this season shakes out (six freshmen placed in the top 15 at state last fall), but these rankings are based on what teams have coming back and how the track season went.

TEAM RANKINGS
1. Derby: Last year’s Score and Place: 86 - 1st Scoring only Returners: 98 - 1st

This season’s preseason rankings start where last season’s ended, with Derby on top. The Panthers pulled off a huge upset by becoming the first school outside of Northeastern Kansas to win a 6A girls cross country title. Tenth place finisher Laura Burke has moved on to Wichita State, but numbers two through six return. When I broke out only returners from last year’s meet, Derby is still the champion with 98 points based on only returners. Super sophomores Emily Hornbeck and Amber Green should return. Last fall they placed 11th and 12th respectively at the state meet. Hornbeck surprisingly failed to qualify for the state track meet as an individual thanks to a brutal regional meet where her 11:33 in the 3200 was not good enough to be in the top four and qualify for state. That same time a week later would have been good enough for fourth at the state meet. Her teammate Green finished 10th in the 1600 last spring at the state meet. Tori Lewis, Valerie Nielson and Brenna Kleman all should also return.

2. Blue Valley Northwest – Last Year: 157 – 7th Returners: 128 – 3rd
Blue Valley Northwest is one of the perennial 6A powers that slipped a little last year. After winning in 2007, the graduation of Laura Roxberg was felt and Northwest slipped to seventh. They return their 1-2-4-5-6 runners including top 25 finishers Catie Miller and Anna Roxberg. Roxberg slipped to 24th overall last year after a 10th place finish on the state championship team.

3. Manhattan – Last Year: 106 - 2nd Returners: 149 – 6th
Much like Blue Valley Northwest, Manhattan gets this high of a ranking based on tradition. Marley Crusch and Brooke Grieger are gone, but three consecutive second place finishes speak for themselves. Brianna Heikkinen showed she has the capability to be an elite runner as she finished 15th last year as a freshman. She also had an excellent spring finishing fifth in the 3200 and 12th in the 1600 at the state track meet. The 5-6-7 runners will have to step up or a freshman will have to burst onto the scene, but Manhattan has the tradition to hold in the top three.

4. Shawnee Mission South – Last Year: 127 – 5th Returners: 103 – 2nd
Shawnee Mission South returns an impressive pack only losing its number four to graduation from last year’s team. The knock on this team will be a lack of a front runner. Hayley Cline, Jordyn Smith and Allie Antrim provide a solid pack up front. A lackluster spring on the track is another worry. Shawnee Mission South did not qualify any of its ladies from the cross country team for the state track meet in a distance event.

5. Topeka Washburn Rural – Last Year: 167 – 8th Returners: 148 – 5
Washburn Rural is my darkhorse team. They are young (three of last season’s top four were freshmen). They have now experienced number one in Avery Clifton to lead them. They got valuable experience at last season’s state cross country meet. Things are heading in the right direction with the Junior Blues. Clifton has set herself apart in class 6A as she dominated both track on the track last spring after improving all through her cross country season. Aparna Dasraju, Rachel Graf and Alyssa Golz should return to be a solid group of sophomores. Like Shawnee Mission South, Washburn Rural did not make much noise at the state track meet outside of superstar Clifton, but I like this team a lot if all the girls return.

Individual Rankings
1. Avery Clifton – Senior, Topeka Washburn Rural
Clifton has become a dominant force in the Kansas XC scene and even has potential to make noise nationally. She has the ninth fastest 3200-meter time in Kansas history with her 10:40 performance last spring. The Junior Blue senior will dominate Rim Rock this year.

2. Danielle Walker – Senior, Maize
Walker has continued to steadily improve as she has become more focused on distance. This last spring she dropped the 400 at state track to focus on the 800-1600 double. It paid off in the form of a gold in the 800 and a silver (two seconds behind Clifton) in the 1600. Walker has the speed and there is no doubt about that, so I like her just slightly over the next runner on this list due to that speed.

3. Lisa Imgrund – Senior, Shawnee Mission Northwest
Imgrund is a very experienced runner with back-to-back top five finishes at the state cross country meet. The Shawnee Mission Northwest senior was third as a sophomore and fourth last year. She took second in the 3200 (37 seconds behind Clifton) last spring and was fifth in the 1600.

4. Emily Hornbeck – Sophomore, Derby
Now is when it gets a little harder. Hornbeck finished 11th as a freshman and failed to qualify for the state track meet as an individual last spring. Her 11:33 at regional would have stood up well at the following weekend’s state track meet. Hornbeck should be hungry after a disappointing finish to her freshman track season.

5. Brianna Heikkinen – Sophomore, Manhattan
Heikkinen will lead a very strong program this year. She got a chance to watch senior Marley Crusch lead the pack last season, but now it is her time if Manhattan is going to stay in the top three at state. Heikkinen finshed fifth in the 3200 and 12th in the 1600 at last spring’s state track meet.

There you guys have it. My 6A Girls team and individual rankings. Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at cparker@kwch.com. If you like these type of rankings I will do the same for all of the other classifications for both boys and girls.