The 2023 MSHSAA Class 4 state cross country meet was a fulfilling one for Mexico.

The two boys and one girl that the program sent to Gans Creek in Columbia this year didn’t come home with a medal, but each finished their season with a season-best time. Maggie Ramsey improved on her 86th-place state time of 21:47 with a 66th-place mark of 20:40 in the girls 5,000 meters, Hunter Bickell finished 92nd with a personal-best time of 17:07 and Andrew Peuster was 109th with a 17:25.

Head coach Lucas Breneman said his runners were already thinking of next year after the conclusion of their respective races. 

“The cool thing was they all had 30-second or more times for the season,” Breneman said. “Anytime you end the season with your best time, you walk away happy and hungry too. They were motivated already, talking about next year.”

Breneman told Ramsey “to get out early and run hard” after the boys each ran well, which isn’t hard for the sophomore to do. Ramsey has a reputation early in her career for being stronger later in the race and proved why by passing 40 runners, including 21 in the second 1,000 meters. 

“The thing that makes her tough is she really doesn’t slow down once she gets going,” Breneman said. “Typically, for most high school runners, they’ll take off and their first mile is probably their fastest and slow down on mile 2 and maybe come back on mile 3. Maggie is someone that has the ability to run even splits all the way through.”

Brenemann said this ability is why Ramsey passes so many runners and why she has a good chance to get even better. He said she had a goal to finish south of 21 minutes and did that and now is shooting for less than 20 minutes prior to her senior year. She’s almost there with her junior year up next.

“She’s really talked about what does it take to be all-state and what do I have to run,” Brenemann said. “Typically, if you look at the times, if you run under 20, you give yourself a chance, and if you can get around 19:30, you give yourself a very, very good chance.”

Bickell has competed at state before but with Wellsville-Middletown in Class 1 last year. He finished 71st with a time of 19:21 and shattered that time by about two minutes this year, making better memories than last year.

“I asked him, ‘How did your state race go last year,’” Brenemann said. “He said ‘Awful. I ran 19 something and I was throwing up.’”

Breneman knew Bickell would be a strong runner with the Bulldogs and has confirmed that by beating his top Wellsville time by over a minute. Being around more people in a bigger school like Mexico energized Bickell, Breneman said, as Bickell was close to his goal of finishing under 17 minutes.

“He had a full team to train with and some guys to chase in workouts,” Breneman said. ‘He had all that going for him, and he said he was on a mission to be the top runner on the team. That’s really his strength is he’s a competitor.”

Peuster’s brother, Thomas, competed at state last year before heading to Benedictine to run in college. Now that Andrew has competed at a state meet, Breneman said he likes to use Peuster as an example to demonstrate Mexico’s potential for future improvement. 

“When he was in middle school, he really wasn’t a great runner,” Breneman said. “He made up his mind going into freshman year that, ‘I’m going to be a runner.’ He puts in more work than anybody on the team in the offseason. He ran 400 miles in the summer months.”

Peuster has been stronger at the end of the season, which makes Breneman feel good about his chances for next year.

“He actually didn’t break 18 minutes until districts,” Breneman said. “For him to run a 17:25, his best time before that was a 17:40 and his best time before that was an 18:20, he dropped a minute in the last month of the season.”

Breneman said Mexico returns almost all of its varsity runners following a season that included a North Central Missouri Conference title for the boys. He said the school could have even more runners at state next year.

“I’m really excited for where this team could end up next year if they stay healthy and work together in the offseason,” Breneman said.