The MSHSAA cross country school season wrapped up in Columbia at the state championships but 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 Girls 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.
Brianna Krueger, St. Charles West, Fr.
A week after taking 3rd in 18:35 and leading the Warriors to the Class 3 State Title with a score of just 55 points, freshman Brianna Krueger ran to a 6th place finish in the NXR Midwest Girls Open Race 2. Her time of 18:59 put her 10th overall among the three open races.
Gracie Jacobs, St. Teresa's Academy, Sr.
A week after earning her 3rd All-State finish with a 13th place Class 5 State finish, Gracie Jacobs ran to a 51st place finish in the NXR Midwest Girls Championship race. The Kansas State commit clocked 18:17 at LaVern Gibson to makje her the 3rd Missourian across the finish, behind only Natalie Barnard and Kayleigh Norris.
Abigail Brackenbury, Blue Springs, Sr.
The Mizzou commit led the Wildcats to a 3rd place Class 5 State finish with her 2nd straight top 10 finish in 17:57 for 5th place finish the week before NXR. In Terre Haute, Brackenbury finished 56th in 18:20.6 to lead the Wildcat XC Club to a 23rd place finish.
Ella Rew, Blue Springs South, Jr.
Rew ran 18:20.9 to place 57th in the NXR Championship race to help Southside Cross Club to a 17th place team finish. The junior placed 10th in the Class 5 State race in 18:19 the week before to help Blue Springs South to a runner-up finish the week before.
Elyse Wilmes, Tolton Catholic, Jr.
Wilmes finished in 18:21.2 to take 58th and lead the Blazers XC Club to an 11th place team finish at NXR. The week before, Wilmes ran to a runner-up Class 5 State finish to lead Tolton Catholic to the state title, their 3rd in a row after claiming the Class 4 and Class 3 titles the previous two years.
