Tim Nixon Invitational adds teams, moves to new location

Cody Thorn

The 5th annual Tim Nixon Invitational is in a new location and with a combined 63 teams there, the biggest one ever.

The meet is held by Liberty and Liberty North in honor of the late coach Tim Nixon, who passed away unexpectedly in 2017.

He started coaching/teaching in Liberty in 1979 and retired in 2011. He remained as the Blue Jays cross country coach until his death. He is in the Liberty High School Hall of Fame and Missouri Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

The race is moving from its previous location near Liberty North High School to Capital Federal Park.

There will be 33 girls teams and 30 boys teams there with the competition split into Gold and Silver Divisions.


The varsity girls race will be at 8 a.m., followed by the boys at 8:30 a.m. JV girls and girls and C team girls and boys will follow. All told, more than 1,000 runners are registered.

The field includes a number of teams that brought home trophies during last year's MSHSAA State Championships. That list includes reigning Class 5 girls champions Blue Springs South; Class 3 girls champion Father Tolton Regional Catholic; Kearney girls team that took third in Class 4 last year; North Platte girls, which was 3rd in Class 2; Class 5 girls runners-up St. Teresa's Academy; Father Tolton Catholic Boys, which took fourth in Class 3 and Liberty North boys, third place in Class 5.

List of teams

Note: If a school is just listed without a specific team notated, they will have both boys and girls there.

Silver: Barstow, Excelsior Springs, Father Tolton Regional Catholic, Kearney, West Nodaway, North Platte, Notre Dame de Sion girls, Platte County, Savannah, Smithville, Warrensburg and West Platte.

Gold: Blue Springs, Blue Springs South girls, Columbia Hickman, Fort Osage, Grain Valley, Lee's Summit, Lee's Summit North, Liberty, Liberty North, Lee's Summit West, Mill Valley (Kansas), Oak Park, Olathe North (Kansas), Olathe South (Kansas), Park Hill, Park Hill South, Raymore-Peculiar, Saint Joseph Central, St. Teresa's Academy (girls), Staley, Truman and Washburn Rural (Kansas).