11/4/23 Class 3 State - We closed out the 2023 season at the State Meet in Columbia with fantastic weather and fantastic performances. This team was able to accomplish something that no other Sion team has been able to do in the illustrious history of the program. All 7 runners ran, not only their season best, but their all-time best times at the State Meet. Senior Abby Pantaenius with a previous best of 24:27, ran an unbelievable 22:59. Abigail lowered her best by over a minute, going from a best of 23:01 down to a 21:43. Agibail was our number 2 runner. Daniella lowered her best time by almost a mintute running a 22:40. Last year at the State Meet, Ava just missed breaking 22:00, running a 22:02. This year she came back and did what she couldn't do last year, running a 21:44. Last week at district, Zoe lowered her best by nearly a minute to 23:26. This week she lowered it another 14 seconds to 23:12. Ky rolled her ankle in practice on Wednesday and it was questionable if she would even be able to compete this week. Not only was she able to compete but she tied her best time of 22:09. The team was once again led by Evelyn. She lowered her best time by 30 seconds, breaking the 21:00 minute barrier, with an impressive 20:55. We had a great State Meet and a great year, I look forward to next season.

10/28 Class 3 District 4 - The district meet was held at the Platte County course, considered by many to be on of the toughest in the metro area. The young Sion Harriers did not find it intimidating, finishing 3rd and qualifiying for the state meet next weekend. Ava improved her time by 8 seonds this year after competing on the same course last year at the district meet. For the rest of the team, this was not only their first district meet on this course, but their first district meet peiod. Despite their lack of experience, they ran with confidence and rose to the challenge, having thier best performance of the season. Evelyn led the team with an 8th place finish, followed by Ky in 22nd, Ava in 24th, Abigail in 33rd, Zoe in 37th, Daniella in 40th and Abby in 60th. After the race, we honored our lone senior, Abby with a 'Senior Morning'. We are off to the state meet next week.

10/12 Warrensburg Invitational - After another short break we headed to Warrensburg. The course in back on the school's campus after a few years being across the street while their new athletic facilty was under constructiion. One of the nice things about this meet is we get to see several of our district competitors late in the season. The team did a great job finishing 2nd behind Lexington (they are in our district). Our top five received medals, Evelyn (9th), Ava (16th), Ky (17th), Abigail (21st) and Damiella (28th), Abby (46th) and Zoe (58th). This was also our last regular season meet, so it was Mo's last meet. She placed 12th in the jv race.

10/7 Kearney - We headed to Kearney on Saturday after winning the Excelsior Springs meet on Tuesday. Even though it was only a few days rest, everyone came back to race. Abigail and Abby both ran season best times 24:04 and 24:27, respectively. Ava and Evelyn were both within 5 seconds of their season bests. Mo finally got to run in her first meet of the season. While this meet was larger with tougher competition than Excelsior, we placed really well. We placed 6th our of 16 teams, just a few points behind St. Michael the Archangel, who will be in our district in a few weeks.

10/3 Excelsior Springs Invitational - This is probably our most challenging course of the season but the grils rose to the occasion. We aren't going to talk about times because the course is really tought. We'll talk about places. Overall, the Storm Harriers were the Excelsior Springs Invitational Champions. The team was led by Evelyn with her 4th place finish. We had two others placing in the top 10, Ava (8th) and Ky (9th). Two just missed the top 10, Daniella (11th) and Abigail (12th). Abby was 16h and Zoe was 21st. All the runners placed in the top 25. It was a great day where everyone competed well. Saturday we'll be at the Kearney Invitational.

9/30 KC Classic - We were back at the Ray-Pec course the for KC Classic. We had three girls run faster today than they did on Sept. 9 when we were last here. Abigail ran her season best of 24:47, Abby ran 25:24 and Zoe ran 25:46 at the KC Classic today. We placed 23rd as a team, up 3 spots from last year's 26th place finish. The team was led by Evelyn running a 22:33, followed by Ava (23:13), Ky 23:42, Daniella (24:42), Abigail, Abby and Zoe. We are heading to Excelsior Springs on Tuesday.

9/23 Rim Rock Classic - After multiple weather delays our 11:45 race went off a little after 2:00. Despite all the rain on Friday and Saturday morning, the course was in really good shape. Ava was the only runner that had competed at Rim Rock previously. She used that experience to improve her time from last year by 12 seconds, running a 23:12 as our second runner. While this is not a course to set a best, everyone ran really well. Evelyn led the team with a 22:24, Ky ran 23:55, Daniella ran a 24:30, Abby (in her first Rim Rock appearance) ran a 25:37, Zoe ran 25:43, and Abigail ran a 26:13. Rim Rock is a fantastic experience, I hope they all remember running the course and not just the weather delays. Next week we're headed back to Ray-Pec for the KC Classic.

9/16 Kris Solsberg Invitational - We had great weather and a flat fast course. We had our first 'Under' shirt earned. Eveyln ran 21:47, earning an 'Under 22' shirt. Ky was right behind her running 22:11 with Ava coming with a 22:21. Daneilla broke 24:00, running a great time of 23:39. Abby ran under 25:00 for the first time, running 24:42. Zoe ran 24:15 and Abigail ran a 25:24, breaking 26:00 for the first time. Everyone ran really well and we're looking forward to our trip to Lawrence next week to run at Rim Rock.

9/9 Ray-Pec Invitational - We did something at this meet that we haven't done often, every runner earned a medal. Congratulations to everyone. Evelyn and Ky led the varsity placing 8th and 9th, respectively. They both were under 22:10. Ava was 13th ina season-best time of 22:35. Mary placed 15th with a time of 22:54. The jv girls all placed in the top 5. The were led by small school jv champion Daniella Johnson with a time of 24:09. Abby Pantaenius in her season debut placed 2nd with a time of 25:33, four and a half minutes faster than her time last year. Rounding out the jv squad was Zoe Miller running a 26:30 and Abigail running a 27:12. Next week we head to Lee's Summit North for the Kris Solsberg Invitational.

9/2 Tim Nixon Invitational - We had great weather for our first meet, the Tim Nixon Invitational in Liberty. Our two returning varsity runners, Mary Schumm and Ava Wichenhauser, got the season started running in the first race of the year. They each placed in the top 25 of the Silver Division. In the jv race, we had five freshmen running their first high school race. Ky Potts just edged out Evelyn Cramer for 16th place, both turning in a great time of 22:33. Daniella Johnson was our next finisher in 50th place with a time 23:58. Zoe Miller ran 24:55 which was good for 66th place. Abigail Guerra just missed breaking 26 minutes, running 26:01 placing 93rd. It was a tremendous first week. Next week we’re off to Ray-Pec for their invitational.