XC recap: Gans Creek record falls; teams battle in Columbia, Lawrence
Rockhurst junior Jack McGovern made headlines Friday night after he ran the fastest time ever by a high school runner on the Gans Creek course in Columbia, Missouri.
Under the lights, McGovern paced all runners at the Gans Creek Classic and brought home a victory in the Elite Division race. He won the prestigious meet for the second-straight year.
But, he did so in a big way.
McGovern broke his own school record and the course record, winning the 5K meet in a time of 14:25.8. He beat the second-place runner by 23 seconds.
To put his time in perspective:
• 19 seconds faster than his 2025 Gans Creek Classic winning time
• 27 seconds faster than his 2025 Class 5 state championship time
• McGovern now ranks No. 3 in the country this year
The Hawklets finished third out of 38 teams in the Elite Division. They scored 155 points, beating the fourth-place team by 138 points. Bridgeland (from Cypress, Texas) won the meet with 125 points.
Two other Hawklets finished in the top 25 individually. Junior Jack Morrison and sophomore Charles Sullivan placed 16th and 22nd, respectively.
Area individuals shine Friday night
A handful of Kansas City runners had great races in the Gans Creek Classic Elite Division.
In the boys race, Liberty North senior Nathaniel Haberlach finished third overall. His time of 14:54.2 was was 29 seconds faster than his time at the meet last year and 39 seconds faster than his sixth-place time at state a year ago.
His teammate, junior Joseph DeRouchie, also finished in the top 20. He placed 19th in the race.
Leo Butler, a Summit Christian Academy junior, finished 13th in the Elite race, running the 5K course in a time of 15:21.1. He was less than a second ahead of Lee’s Summit West senior Parker Williams.
Lee’s Summit senior Jack Tittle (24th), Lee’s Summit West senior Jack McCrea (25th), Blue Springs South sophomore Jacob Meyers (28th) and Lee’s Summit junior Hudson Robinett (29th) all finished in the top 30 of the prestigious meet.
On the girls side, Liberty senior Lily Hurt was the top area runner in the Elite Division. She finished ninth overall, Her 5K time was 17:37.5, which was 1:17 better than her time from the meet a year ago. She continues to be one of the top runners in Class 5 this year.
Her sophomore teammate, Tessa Perdue, also finished near the top, placing 15th overall. Her official time was 17:59.1.
Liberty North junior Lucy Wright finished two spots and less than one behind Perdue.
Caroline Bowen, a St. Teresa’s Academy junior, finished 22nd overall. She led the Stars to a fourth-place team finish to lead all area squads Friday night. Senior Polly Fender also finished 27th for the Stars.
Molly DeGregaorio led the handful of Kansas runners in the Elite Division. The Olathe West sophomore finished 26th in a time of 18:17.
Lexington trio leads Gold Division race
On Saturday, the Lexington girls big three were on display for a large crowd at the Gans Creek Classic. They took the top three individual spots in the Gold Division.
Leading the way was sophomore Ellie Lichte, winning the 5K race in a time of 18:15.2 and adding another victory to her resume. Just three seconds behind her was senior Addison Smith. Junior Phoebe Engelbrecht was 10 seconds behind Lichte.
The Lexington girls finished eighth out of 30 teams in the division. They were the top area team in the race.
Both Adrian school records go down
A pair of underclassman rewrote Blackhawks school history Saturday morning.
Jackson Lile, a sophomore at Adrian, broke the boys school record, finishing the 5K course in a time of 19:28.6. He finished 107th in the race.
On the girls side, freshman Alayna Patterson broke her own school record. Her new record is 20:37, shaving nine seconds off of her previous best.
Patterson finished 14th in the race, just six spots ahead of junior Kenzie Coons. Both girls medaled at the White Division at the meet for Adrian.
St. Michael junior wins Blue Division
Colten Boulware ran away with the Gans Creek Blue Division race. The St. Michael the Archangel junior won the 5K race by 15 seconds.
His winning time was 15:13.2, which was nearly two minutes faster than he ran at the meet last year, and a minute faster than he ran at the 2025 state meet, where he finished 11th overall.
Classen nearly sets Rim Rock record
Kapaun Mt. Carmel junior Ava Classen made a statement Saturday morning at the Rim Rock Classic.
Classen, last year’s Class 5A state runner-up, dominated the Gold Division race. She won the 5K race by over a minute, finishing in a time of 17:13.21.
Her winning time was just four seconds off the course record set by Salina Central’s Katelyn Rupe at the 2024 state meet.
Classen’s time was 19:36.09 at that meet. A year later, Classen placed second in a time of 17:36.8. She finished second to Salina Central’s Kaylie Shultz.
On Saturday, Shultz placed second behind Classen. Shultz finished 25 seconds ahead of the next runner, who was Manhattan’s Gabrielle Converse.
Converse paced the Manhattan girls to the Rim Rock Gold Division team title. They scored 97 points, 32 ahead of Blue Valley.
Shawnee Mission East senior Charlotte Hardy placed seventh in the Gold race. Hardy just announced in the past couple days that she is committed to competing for Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois – just north of Chicago.
Blue Valley district runners lead boys Gold Division
Blue Valley Northwest senior Jacob D’souza and Blue Valley Carter Moser battled for the Gold Division victory at Rim Rock on Saturday.
In the end, D’souza won the 5K race by a few seconds. He crossed the finish line in a time of 15:50.53. It was his fourth victory in as many meets this fall.
Moser finished the 5K course in a time of 15:54.73 – less than four seconds ahead of the next runner. Moser led Blue Valley to the team championship Saturday. They scored 98 points – 33 ahead of runner-up De Soto.
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