Mexico cross country focused on what’s important now

The 61st team in Mexico cross country history wants to WIN.

WIN follows the mantra What’s Important Now as the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs try to follow a season that the boys won North Central Missouri Conference and Mexico sent three runners to state.

As long as we stay in the moment and trust the process, I think we will be successful,” head coach Lucas Breneman said.

Mexico only loses one boy from last year’s team for a roster in the range of 17-20 for the boys and girls team. A majority of the team will be juniors, including two-time state qualifier Maggie Ramsey leading the girls.

The boys team will be led by seniors and returning state qualifiers Andrew Peuster and Hunter Bickell. Breneman said Mexico’s upperclassmen should be the team’s strength because of how hard they work.

“We had seven runners really put in big summer miles and that should pay off come late October and early November,” Breneman said.

Breneman said the boys will be looking to repeat as conference champions, and Mexico hopes to qualify a team for state. He said the five girls he has need to stay healthy so the Lady Bulldogs can score as a team, which he believes puts them in position to be competitive in the NCMC.

“I always ask them ‘What does team 61 want to be remembered for?’” Breneman said. “Team 60 Boys won the NCMC, we had seven all-NCMC runners and three all-district runners. Can Team 61 top that? Well, I guess we will know the answer in 12 weeks.”

Community R-6 cross country bigger this season

The Community R-6 cross country program is showing signs of growth.

With seven runners expected this season, Community has its biggest roster ever under head coach Josie Hess after returning four sophomores and welcoming three freshmen. The district also has a junior high team for the first time ever that has four sixth-graders and three eighth-graders.

“Last year, we had a brand new team of all freshmen, and it was really a building year,” Hess said. “This year, we've talked about becoming mentally tougher and pushing ourselves to cut time. As far as junior high, we are now in our building year for that team, and I'm hoping to build a love and respect for distance running. I had all of those kids in elementary running club and/or junior high track over the past few years, and I'm excited to see them continue with the sport.”

Grace McCoskey, Evelyn Scott, Nicholas Henke, and Rett Curtis are Hess’ returning sophomore runners as they each have personal goals in mind after logging one high school season in their careers.

Layton Wright, Clayton Crum, and Gabby Knipfel join the team after being coached by Hess in junior high last season. Hess said Crum ran the mile, and Wright has worked hard to build himself up after running shorter distances.

“Some strengths of our team are their ability to motivate each other and work together,” Hess said. “Of course, I'd love to see some state qualifiers, but my biggest goal is to see them set their own personal goals and work hard for them. If they keep growth mindsets and strong work ethics all season, I will consider it a success.”

Van-Far cross country small squad has state potential

There aren’t many runners in the Van-Far cross country program, but that doesn’t mean state is off the table.

Last year, Van-Far sent two kids to state for the first time in five years and believes multiple state runners are possible out of the group of four kids this year.

Head coach Kris Cross said sophomore Garrett Hopke will be back after running at state and almost breaking the school record as a freshman. Other than him, senior Erin Childs and sophomore Khloe Wallace are motivated for the girls.

“All the kids are hard workers and are willing to put in the extra effort to succeed,” Cross said. “I think the keys to having a successful season this year will be just keeping everyone healthy and mentally prepared for the end of the season.”

Childs and Wallace placed in some meets last season and want to qualify for state after Childs missed out the rest of her career and after Wallace missed out on the rest of last year due to injury. Cross said newcoming sophomore Slade Keller shouldn’t be overlooked as he has a lot of potential.

Cross said Van-Far could “send two again, if not more” to state this year, and there seems to be plenty of optimism from her runners too.

“Our goals for the season are just to see the athletes improve the whole season and hopefully meet the goals that they have for themselves,” Cross said. “I believe it is going to be a great season. The kids are very excited and optimistic about the year, which makes for a lot of fun in practice and hopefully this will transfer to meets too.”

North Callaway cross country has team mindset

There might not be enough kids for team competition this year for North Callaway cross country, but it still has a team mindset.

North Callaway has six on the roster – one junior, three sophomores and two freshmen – with several that have run since middle school. Head coach Brooke Fischer said the word perseverance describes the program well this season.

“We don’t have a boy or a girls team, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t pushing each-other to work harder,” Fischer said. “They find someone and they run together. To be successful, the kids need to have a strong bond together. They cheer for each other, help each other push harder, and be there for each other. Cross country isn’t an easy sport, so having people to lean on is key.”

Fischer said Grace Rasmussen and Emerson Reinhard are the leaders returning with years of cross country experience between them. Fischer said they are both “determined and strong-willed.”

“Grace Rasmussen and Emerson Reinhard are great team leaders,” Fischer said. “They know the expectations and set goals for themselves that push them during training.”

Fischer said North Callaway adjusted to new coaches last year but should be ready to build some progress for the program this year while hopefully avoiding injury.

Missouri Military Academy cross country has numbers for better year

Missouri Military Academy has quite a bit of runners going for cross country this season.

There are about 40 cadets – eight seniors, 13 juniors, eight sophomores and 11 freshmen – who will be on the course for the Colonels this year and head coach Jeff Gifford believes that depth will be a strength.

MMA will have only two returners from last year’s varsity squad – Malachi Imrie and Jacob Stallone – but they and many others have talent, Gifford said. Imrie will be doing double duty again with cross country and swimming, but he, Stallone and Jesus Robinson have stuck out to Gifford.

“Despite our talent turnover, we expect to improve on our depth and for our team leaders to score fewer points at each meet,” Gifford said.

Gifford said MMA might be a couple years out from contending for a district championship but has two achievable goals for this year that will get the team on the right track. The frontrunners should aim to finish in the top 20 percent in the field for all of the meets, and junior varsity defeating similar schools one or two classes bigger.

Khas-Erdene Sod-Erdene, from Mongolia, has been named a co-captain for his leadership, and Matthias Koester and Christopher Song are among the best newcomers on the team. Gifford said Song is even in the running for the top spot on the team.

“These results will show that we are improving from both ends as we are individually more competitive and that we are continuing to strengthen our already deep bench,” Gifford said.