State Cross Country results

Park Hill's Kainen Utt came in 46th place at the Class 4 Missouri state cross country meet over the weekend with a time of 16:58. Park Hill South's Gus Whitman finished 97th while Tucker Melles sprained an ankle earlier in the week which prevented him from finishing the race.

FALL PREVIEW: Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

Park Hill South will defend its 2011 conference championship with most of the same runners that helped contribute to clinching it last year. The Panthers return three all-conference runners in seniors Lendon Calhoun and Mason Homoly as well as their top runner sophomore Tucker Melles. Melles burst onto the scene last year as a freshman, qualifying for the state meet before finishing 43rd overall.

“He’s been running races all summer long,” head coach Brad Banning said of Melles. “He also swims, so he’s coming back in great shape.”

Also returning for the Panthers are senior Jacob Bowlin, juniors Westley King, Chase Whorton, Eli Williams, and Keaton Murray, and sophomore Gus Whitman.

Overall, Banning says his junior and sophomore classes make up a large portion of the team with about 13 runners in each class. It’s certainly not a problem, as it should help Park Hill South field quality varsity as well as junior varsity teams, which help fuel competition between the individual runners.

They will start the season off at the Liberty Invite on September 1st followed by the Ray-Pec Invite on September 8th.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW: Park Hill South looks to build on success

Park Hill South will come into the 2011 boys cross country season with a conference title to defend. With standout runner James Bowlin graduated and now competing at Johnson County Community College, the Panthers come into this season with only a basic idea of what kind of athletes they’ll be throwing against the competition this fall.

Coach Brad Banning says his team has seen its share of highs and lows in recent years, but after last year he’s hoping they can build and continue the success.

“The past couple years have been kind of down, but now we’re hoping to be on the up,” Banning said.

Senior leadership will prove to be a foundation for what is otherwise considered a young team. Contributions will come from seniors Tim Albright, Barrett Hudson, Mitch McDonald, and Peter Thomas.

“A lot of the younger kids are probably going to be stepping up this year. We’re real young, but we’ve got a lot of numbers which is good. 50 runners is the most we’ve ever had,” Banning said.

Also returning are juniors Jacob Bowlin, Mason Homoly, and Lendon Calhoun.Young runners Banning sees promise from so far in the early days of the preseason from freshman Tucker Mellis and sophomore Keaton Murry. More individuals will emerge once the team gets into actual competition as the groups first event, the Liberty Invitational, usually serves as an official time trial and sets the teams for events moving forward.

“We are a younger team and I’d like to see us continue growing in numbers,” Banning said. “The future looks bright and I am excited to see what these young runners can accomplish this year.”

In addition to competing next to a strong Raytown team for the conference title, the Panthers would like to improve on last year’s sixth place finish to get into the top four. South’s key events they will focus in on are the Bishop Miege, the Joplin Invitational, and the KC Metro Classic.