Park Hill junior Natalie Gerdes finished as an all-state runner for the second consecutive season, ending in 20th place in 19:25.8 on Nov. 4.
Park Hill junior Natalie Gerdes and Park Hill South freshman Madilynn Conklin came away with all-state honors at the Class 5 State Cross-Country Meet at Gans Creek in Columbia, Missouri, on Nov. 4.
In Gerdes’ third trip to state, the junior had her second consecutive all-state finish when she took 20th place overall with a time of 19:25.8. Last season, Gerdes finished in 16th place after taking 51st place as a freshman in 2020.
Conklin had an impressive freshman campaign and had the best finish out of the six Park Hill and Park Hill South runners who made it to state. The Panther freshman was the 10th runner out of 168 total to cross the finish line as Conklin ended with a time of 19:05.9, only trailing two other freshman runners.
Park Hill South freshman Melania Puszczak finished in 76th place and was the 12th freshman to cross the finish line. Puszczak ended with a time of 20:31.7.
Senior Ella Conklin finished her Park Hill South career with a 20:42.9 time, taking 88th place. This was Conklin’s third straight trip to state as she finished in 78th place in 19:58 at state her junior year in 2021 and 59th place in 20:00.4 her sophomore year in 2020.
Thomas Garrett was the only Panther who competed in the boys’ race, and he cracked the top-50 out of 155 total runners. Garrett ended in 49th place with a time of 16:35.9, which was the second fastest time among all freshmen, only trailing Raymore-Peculiar’s Gabriel Voelker who finished in 16:26.1.
The Trojans sent one boy to the Class 5 State meet, Jakob Johnston. The sophomore crossed the finish line in 17:34.4.