'24 Paris berths on the line @ US Olympic Marathon Trials

Chris Auckley



Anna West
Chesterfield, MO
Lafayette High School
Baylor University
University of Michigan

Qualifying Time: 2:35.12
Anna West is not only an All-Time Missouri great, but also part of two of the best teams in Missouri high school history. Like Sisson, West is the daughter  of two college athletes. West's parents Steve and Judy both ran in college at Bucknell, while Judy also coached collegiately for several years after college. Anna's brother Jordan West, a few years older than her, was an All-State performer for Lafayette and ran at Baylor. 

West helped the Lafayette Lancers to multiple state cross country and track and field state trophies. West was a 4-time cross country All-State performer. As a junior in 2014, West placed 10th at NXR Midwest. In her junior track season in 2015, West won the Class 4 State 3200 in 10:38 and was 2nd in the 1600 in 4:54. She ran 4:51 for 1600 and 4:52.82 for a full mile while taking 2nd at the Festival of Miles. "


In her final season of high school cross country West won the 2015 Class 4 (of 4) state cross country title, leading a 1-2 finish with teammate Sarah Nicholson. The pair were joined by fellow senior Grace Breiten (11th) as All-State finishers. The Lancers scored just 55 points to win the state team title by 62 points and put themselves into the conversation about the best teams in state history. 


Eight days later, West placed 2nd at the NXR Midwest meet. She finished in 17:28 on the LaVern Gibson course in Terre Haute, Indiana, qualifying for nationals. A the NXN meet in Portland, West ran to All-America honors, placing 13th. She finished the Glendover Golf Course 5k in 17:25. 



In her senior year of track in 2016, West opened with a 10:31 3200-meters, behind only Ste. Genevieve's Taylor Werner, who won in 10:20. She would lower her 3200-meter personal record to 10:26 before winning the Class 5 State 1600 in 4:45.61 and taking 3rd in the 800 in a PR of 2:12.53. 

West placed 2nd at the Festival of Miles in 4:46.92 in St. Louis. West then capped her career with a 4th-place Brooks PR Invitational Mile finish in 4:46.62 in Seattle, though that included getting up after getting tripped and going down on the track. 

West also made a name for herself outside of running, in the kitchen specifically. 


At Baylor, West made an impact immediately, taking 15th at the Big 12 cross country meet, 9th at the Southeast Regional, and 120th at nationals. A year later, West was 2nd at the conference meet and 3rd at the regional meet. 

Then in Louisville at the 2017 NCAA Division I national championships, West kicked to 40th place finish and the final All-American honor. She finished the Tom Sawyer Park 6k in 20:12.5, just 1/10th of a second behind a Kentucky runner for the final USTFCCCA Top-40 medal. 

After transferring to Michigan before her junior year, West placed 92nd at the 2018 national championships in Wisconsin to help the Wolverines to the 4th place team trophy. West earned her 3rd cross country All-Regional finish as a senior, taking 14th at the Great Lakes Regional. Shen placed 105th at nationals to help Michigan to a 13th-place finish at LaVern Gibson in Terre Haute. 

West earned numerous All-Conference honors and battled lots of injuries. After graduation, she joined Railroad Athletics and trained in Texas for a year. She then returned to Missouri for the Fall of 2022 and joined the Lafayette Girls cross country staff for the semester. The team West helped train won the Class 5 state team title in a dominating fashion. The Lady Lancers scored just 50 points. They were led by Grace Tyson, Natalie Barnard, and Elissa Barnard, who placed 1-2-5, while their scoring was rounded out by 28th and 30th-place individual finishes. 

West got married and now she and her military serviceman husband live in Hawaii. West got her OT Marathon qualifying mark of 2:35 with brother Jordan helping pace her in her first-ever marathon.