Milesplit Southwest - Missouri is gearing up for an incredible and historic 2024 Cross Country season! Over the next few days, we will be previewing what to expect this fall from each of the five classifications. We are talking about team and individual title storylines, who might be making a leap after a strong track season, and are there any freshmen/transfers to watch out for this season?
Take a look at our Class 5 Preview and be on the lookout for the rest of the classes coming soon!
See also:
Rockhurst Boys, Tolton Girls: Class 5 Storylines for 2024 XC
Festus, West Plains, Norris: 2024 Class 4 XC Storylines
--
MORE ON MOMILESPLIT: ARTICLES | CALENDAR | RESULTS | LIVE RESULTS
--
Five Storylines To Watch In Class 3
St. Charles West Girls Far-and-Away Favorite for Historic Three-Peat
Many of Class 3's top teams and athletes opened up their season over the state's first weekend of allowable competitions and the St. Charles West girls showed at the First Capitol XC Meet that they are ready to own the Class 3 race yet again in 2024 and pull in the three-peat.
Besides the reigning Class 5 champs Father Tolton, the last girls team to three-peat in Missouri was Fatima, when they won an incredible seven straight state titles in Class 2 from 2013-2019. In fact, only eight girls' programs have ever pulled off a three-peat: Father Tolton ('21-'23), Fatima ('13-'19), Hamilton Penney ('04-'09), Herculaneum twice ('82-'85, '06-09), Kearney ('09-'11), Lee's Summit West ('07-'11), Logan-Rogersville ('98-'00), and West Plains twice ('02-'04, '06-'08). With a Class 3 victory this year, St. Charles West would become program number nine.
The Lady Warriors' 1-5 average among 2024 returners of 19:30.16 is already over a minute ahead of the next closest team, Lutheran St. Charles. They have five returners among the top 22 based on time, with their entire top five at 20:00 or better. Brianna Krueger leads the way with an 18:35.50 personal best - a mark which earned her 3rd at last year's Class 3 State Championships. This spring, she earned all-state medals in the 1600 and 3200, running 5:16.78 and 11:34.12. She debuted this weekend over a minute faster than she did in 2023. Claire Horstmann is next in 19:14.50. She opted for soccer this spring, but still came out of the gate strong this weekend with a 20:45.89 debut. Rounding out the top five are Miley Jackson, Genevieve Wacker, and Melaina Beilsmith. Jackson was close behind Horstmann over the weekend, but Wacker and Beilsmith were a ways behind. If there's one thing we can count on, though, it's these girls regaining their pack shape in time for the postseason.
St. Charles West and Coach Sheldon Keence had a lot of memorable moments worth capturing in 2023
It's a dangerous squad once again in 2024 who should be considered the clear favorites for the Class 3 title again.
--
El Dorado Springs Boys Heavy Team Favorites
Much like the St. Charles West girls, the El Dorado Springs boys head into the season as heavy favorites for the Class 3 team title in their own right. After finishing just two points behind state champion St. Michael the Archangel in 2023, they will return their top six and head into this season with a major advantage.
Sophomore sensation Wyatt Klaiber leads the way for the Bulldogs in 2024. He posted a MO No. 3 all-time freshman mark of 15:40.80 in 2023, running to fourth overall at the Class 3 State Championships. After opening up with a 15:25.50 personal best at the Clinton Invitational this weekend, Klaiber looks poised to carry the torch for the state in 2024.
El Dorado Springs, 2023 Class 3 State Runner-Up
Klaiber has a strong supporting cast led by Braxton Watts and Shane Fletcher. Watts posted a 16:10.70 personal best at the Class 3 State Championships, jumping all the way to ninth overall a year after finishing 48th. Fletcher was 36th in his freshman campaign, running 16:52.10 at the November finale. Sylas Fletcher and Logan Fisk round out the top five returners at 17:16.00 and 17:21.60, respectively.
Herculaneum, 2023 State 4th Place
With St. Michael moving out after winning it all last year, El Dorado's biggest competitors will be Dexter, Herculaneum, and a sneaky Centralia squad, but ElDo's 1-5 average is still nearly 40 seconds clear of all of them. A win this year would be their first in school history and second team trophy after winning their first last year.
Dexter has won two straight State 4x800 titles & are looking to improve on 5th ('22) & 7th ('23) place State XC finishes
Centralia, 2023 State 3rd Place
--
Class 3 Girls Individual Race Wide Open, Krueger Atop Rankings
The afore-mentioned Brianna Krueger sits atop the individual rankings heading into the season after running 18:35.50 and earning 4th place at last year's State Championships. She is the clear favorite, but which other girls will be in contention for the individual title this fall?
Lucy Luetkemeyer - Metro - It's a tight bunch of girls between 19:10 and 19:40, with 12 girls within 30 seconds of each other. Metro junior Lucy Luetkemeyer leads the way among that group with a 19:10.80 personal best. She was 12th at last year's State Championships and picked up a 4th place medal in the 3200 this spring. She owns personal bests in the 1600 and 3200 of 5:19.81 and 11:31.26. Metro will be right on the Class 2/3 border this year.
Katrina Cantwell - Fair Grove - Cantwell picked up a big win in her season opener at the Fellows Lake 5000, running 20:38.30. Her personal best of 19:10.90 is just behind Luetkemeyer among returners and earned her a seventh place medal at last year's State Championships. She was able to grab the final medal in the Class 3 3200 this spring, running 11:51.86 to close out her stellar freshman campaign.
Madalyn Mahoney - Lutheran St. Charles - Madalyn Mahoney was having a quietly solid junior season in 2023 until she popped off a 30-second personal best, running 19:17.60 to earn ninth at the Class 3 State Championships. She posted personal bests in the 1600 and 3200 of 5:32.79 and 12:07.94 this spring, finishing 11th at state in the latter event. She debuted this season at the First Capitol XC Meet with a 20:31.57 mark.
Elizabeth Tiburzi - Ursuline Academy - Ursuline's Elizabeth Tiburzi burst onto the scene with a 13:10.00 JV 2 Mile win at Fleet Feet Parkway Central and a 20:03.90 victory in the JV Green division at last year's Forest Park XC Festival, 1:57 clear of the next closest runner. She moved up to Varsity after that and never looked back, winning once at the Priory Open Meet and picking up runner-ups at Paul Enke and Ed White, before capping it all off with a 10th place finish at State in her personal best of 19:22.60. A successful first track season has Tiburzi among the individual title contenders in 2024.
--
Klaiber, Thompson, Wright, Burns to Duke It Out for Individual Title
Parity runs wild in Class 3 with the leader of the top-ranked team also leading the way among the individual rankings. Wyatt Klaiber is the favorite for the individual Class 3 victory this fall, but who else could challenge him this year?
Brian Burns - Southern Boone - Not one, but two Burns boys don the red and black this fall for the Southern Boone Eagles. We'll talk about the younger one later, but here we mention junior Brian Burns and his ascension to the top of the Class 3 ranks. Like his brother Connor before him, Brian has used a strong sophomore campaign to put himself among the best of the best in the entire state regardless of class. He heads into the 2024 cross country season with personal bests of 1:54.50, 4:15.37, 9:27.61, and 16:06.70, nearly picking up his first career state gold in the Class 3 3200 in the spring. Expect Burns, who debuted in 16:11.45 at the Memphis Twilight Classic, to be in the low 15s very soon.
Luke Thompson - Chillicothe - Thompson is second among returners with his 15:57.30 personal best from last year's Class 3 State Championships. He led the Hornets to a fifth place team finish and they surely look ready to earn their team's first ever state trophy in 2024. Thompson ran 1:59.17 and 4:46.11 this spring, focusing primarily on that 800. He should still be among the top contenders in the 5k this fall in his junior campaign.
Nathaniel Wright - Herculaneum - Herky's Nathaniel Wright had a massive postseason in 2023, capping off his junior season with a 15:58.80 personal best to finish 6th at the Class 3 State Championships. His early season personal bests of 1:55.23 and 4:15.76 in the 800 and 1600 had us on high alert this spring from the get-go and he was able to pull in a 3rd place medal in the 1600 while helping his team to 7th in the 4x800. Always a dangerous team, expect the Blackcats to be among the team title contenders after finishing 4th in 2023, led by low-man Wright.
Who Made the Spring Leap?
Colton Willis - Strafford - Willis opened up his 2024 season with a 16:46.00 personal best and victory at his home meet, the Fellows Lake 5000. He ran 17:17.00 for 32nd at last year's state meet, but ran 4:26.22 and dropped a massive 9:37.98 personal best at the Class 3 State Championships this spring, earning 8th and 6th respectively in each event.
Wesley Robertson - Centralia - Robertson also debuted this past weekend, running 17:53.99 at the Mexico Fall Invitational, but we expect to see him drop under that 17:40.70 personal best very soon this season. He dropped his 3200 personal best this spring to 10:09.06, which means a low-16 is on the horizon for the Centralia Panther, especially has his teammates continue to progress, as well.
Katherine Strackeljahn - St. James - After a career debut just under 24:00, St. James freshman Katherine Strackeljahn quickly jumped into the 21s where she sat consistently throughout the season before finishing 42nd at the Class 3 State Championships in 22:54.30. We're expecting her to dip way under her 21:21.72 personal best after running 5:47.59 and 12:16.82 this spring.
--
Freshmen/Transfers to Watch
Sean Burns - Southern Boone - It is hard to believe, but the third of the four Burns brothers has the potential turn out to be the fastest of them all. He's certainly starting out ahead of the two that came before him. As an 8th grader, Sean ran 2:11.43 and 4:32.86 in the 800 and 1600, while also running 10:58.87 in the Cross Country 3200. For reference, Connor headed into high school with 2:17.29 and 4:51.11 personal bests while Brian was 2:20.12/5:02.21. He has already shattered 17:00 in his short high school career after running 16:43.15 at the Memphis Twilight Classic. Watch out, here he comes!
Oliver Acorn - Pembroke Hill - In an interesting turn of events, Rockhurst standout Henry Acorn's younger brother has opted for a career at Pembroke Hill after a solid middle school career with Academie Lafayette. Acorn heads into his freshman year with personal bests of 2:19.17 and 5:00.03 in the 800 and 1600, respectively, and has run 12:32.96 for 3200 meters on the cross country course.
Nolan Spickert - Centralia - Centralia's Nolan Spickert took the win in his high school debut at the Mexico Fall Invitational on Friday, running 17:14.75. He boasts 8th grade personal bests of 2:12.41 and 4:50.73 to go along with a 10:51.44 Cross Country 2 mile mark. He provides a huge boost to a Centralia team which, as we have mentioned, is a sneaky pick for the team title in Class 3 this fall.
Emma Rodgers - Montgomery County - It was a freshman sweep in the varsity races at Mexico this weekend with Montgomery County's Emma Rodgers picking up a win in her high school debut in 21:27.79. Rodgers had a stellar middle school career, running 2:27.49 and 5:39.92 this spring, while boasting a 13:12.62 Cross Country 3200 best.