Carter Nading and Emma Seibert both have enjoyed the camaraderie they have had as Mexico runners. 

Nading and Seibert found another place where they each felt at home at William Woods University in Fulton to run cross country and track. The seniors both signed during a Nov. 18 ceremony at Mexico High School.

Nading earned his third straight all-conference cross country honors in the final year of the North Central Missouri Conference and qualified for his first state meet. He plans to study secondary education to eventually become a high school teacher and then a college professor. While William Woods will be a new place for him, Nading said it isn’t completely unfamiliar because it is cross country head coach Lucas Breneman’s alma mater and three of his teammates last year — Hunter Bickell, Tyler Grimes and Landon Higgins — are currently running there.

Nading, Seibert College Signings Photo Gallery

“The team aspect around them is so much more social than high school,” Nading said. “I felt like I fit in immediately. They are so uplifting and were happy for me to be there.”

Seibert finished her third year running cross country and has four years of sprinting experience in track as well. She has won or medaled in hurdles and relay events in her high school career and is planning to study biology and chemistry at William Woods to be an orthodontist (and maybe an Army officer). As a sophomore, Seibert took a liking to cross country because her friend Maggie Ramsey’s recommendation and then Seibert took a shine to William Woods.

“We got to go to William Woods over the summer, and I loved the campus and loved the coaches,” Seibert said. “We go every year, so every year, I fell more and more in love with it.”

The former William Woods runner Breneman said he has connections to the school and has taken his runners to the campus for some events over the summer. Because the transition to college can be overwhelming, Breneman said some visits to a college campus can help prospective college athletes become more comfortable. 

“I ran on campus with them, and we went and ate some food,” Breneman said. “The class sizes are super small. It’s very appealing to move from a high school our size to a college that size. It’s a very easy transition.”

Breneman said the William Woods team is looking for growth from young runners. He said this provides his Mexico runners a chance to compete when they make the jump to the college level.

Nading said he improved so much as a senior, going from finishing 39th at districts as a sophomore and junior to taking 19th at districts on “one of the toughest courses in Missouri.” To attack Sioux Passage in St. Louis, he said Breneman told them “don’t go out too hard and just catch people.”

Over his career, Nading has plenty of people to thank for his success like Kyle Lewis, who encouraged Nading to start running track in eighth grade. As a freshman, Nading’s former teammate and current Benedictine runner Thomas Peuster was his “biggest motivator” because of his charisma and passion and then it was Grimes and Andrew Peuster.

“I just took what (Thomas) did and tried to implement it into my routine,” Nading said. “(They said) ‘it’s going to hurt,’ and coach preached that. ‘It’s not like we’re playing a game. You’re running, and it’s going to suck. If it’s hurting, you know you are doing it well.’”

Breneman said a case like Nading’s is a good example of why his job is fun. He likes to see kids like Nading be rewarded after devoting so much effort to the sport. 

“He has grown a ton through mileage, through work and it’s all paying off for him,” Breneman said.

Seibert said it was an adjustment to go from sprinting to long-distance running. She admits she was “very humbled” her first summer after running more than 160 miles, calling it “the hardest thing I’ve ever done” at the time. 

After dual-sporting in the fall as a runner and cheerleader, Seibert focused solely on running this season. She said committing to the sport more heavily helped her be better and so did her teammates. Seibert called cross country “the closest sport I’ve ever been in,” and without teammates, “I would not be here.” 

“Last year, I got to one of my races, and I think it was conference,” Seibert said. “I was thinking during the race, ‘Oh my gosh, I really do like this.’ I like the competition. I like meeting these people because we did prayer circles. Those people encouraged me, and I know it’s only going to get better in college.”

Breneman said Seibert ran about a minute faster than last year and believes the full commitment to running this year helped.

“At the college level, for her, that consistency of being in practice and training, that’s when you’ll see her really improve,” Breneman said.