Abigail Brackenbury announced her decision to run for Missouri on social media.
She's been a standout runner for Blue Springs and a multiple-time all-stater in both cross country and track and field.
We caught up with her to discuss the commitment (see video below) and her coaches as well in each sport.
"In track, she has been our leader with the distance group since she stepped on campus her freshman year," girls coach Jennifer Reeder said. "Abbey is a beast at practice, always working hard and leading the pack. Over the past three years, she has really gained confidence and is a force in the distance events. She might not say a lot, but her actions speak volumes."
In her three years of high school, the Wildcats have brought home a pair of runner-up finishes in Class 5 and a third-place finish as well. She took eighth place in the 3,200-meter finals this past May.
This cross country season, she's won the COMO Kick-Off in a 3K race and has numerous top 10 finishes in 5K races. She won the Sock it to Cancer Grain Valley Invitational and Ray-Pec XC Invitational, and took third in the Gans Creek Classic, Tim Nixon Invitational and Missouri Southern Stampede, while placing fourth in the KC Suburban Gold Conference meet.
"Abbey always wants more: out of practice and workouts, out of race performances, out of her academics," cross country coach Peter McDavitt said. "As Coach Reeder said, her confidence has really grown along with her racing mentality and instincts. She is ranked extremely high in her class in the biggest high school in the state. I think she is a college coach's dream in so many ways. On another front, she really bought into what we are doing as a team and has become a cultural leader for us. We combined the boys and girls teams in the last two years, and she has been a major factor in helping that transition become such a positive one.
"She felt some great things are happening at Mizzou that she wants to be part of."
In her first three trips to the state XC meet, she was 58th (2020), 38th (2021) and ninth (2022).
