While the MSHSAA cross country school season wrapped up in Columbia at the state championships, the post-school season kicked off with the NXR Midwest Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana on Sunday.
After middle school races were held on Saturday, 12 high school races were contested on Sunday at LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course. Freshman/Sophomore races were held along with Open Invitational races before the Championship Races were contested with All-Region berths, team trophies, and trips to nationals at stake.
Below are the nominees for the Boys Runner of the Week. Nominees had standout performances at the meet and are limited to those who weren't nominated for last week's honor.
Isheanesu Nziramasanga, Liberty North, So.
Nziramasanga followed up his 15:40 22nd place Class 5 state finish with a 3rd place NXR Midwest finish in the Freshman/Sophomore races. The Eagles sophomore ran 16:08 to earn the bronze medal overall and in the second race of two Freshman/Sophomore races.
After his 20th place 15:40 Class 5 State finish, Garrett raced to a top finish in the Boys Open races in Terre Haute. Garrett ran 15:58 to place 5th in the 3rd Boys Open race, placing 14th overall among the four Boys Open races.
Andrew Hauser, Rock Bridge, Sr.
Hauser ran to his 3rd NXR Midwest Championship Race All-Region finish. The Rock Bridge senior finished in 15:03 to place 12th and earn 2nd-Team honors. He finished in the middle of a pack of seven runners that battled down the homestretch to the finish, placing 9th-15th and were separated by just 5.4 seconds. Hauser led the Bruins to a 5th place team finish.
Carson Driemeier, Festus, So.
Driemeier impressed again in Indiana. A week after leading Festus to a 9th state title in the last 10 years with his 3rd place Class 4 State finish, he just missed All-Region honors at NXR. Driemeier finished the Championship race in 22nd place in 15:16, missing All-Region 3rd-Team honors by one place.
Acorn led the Hawklets to a runner-up finish at state in Class 5 with his 4th place finish in 15:07. After making the 400 mile trip across I-70 from Kansas City to Terre Haute, Acorn ran 15:18 to place 25th in the Championship race and lead Rockhurst to a 7th place team finish.
