Festus, West Plains, Norris: 2024 Class 4 XC Storylines

SCW and Krueger, Klaiber and ElDo: 2024 MO C3 XC Storylines

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Class 2 Storylines

Elsberry Boys, Monroe City Girls in Preseason Power Positions 

Heading into the 2024 season, the Elsberry boys appear to be the heavy favorites to put it all together and win their first boys team championship in any sport in school history since they won the Class C Track and Field Championships in 1935. 

It looked like the boys may pick up their first cross country team trophy in 2023, but they ended up finishing fifth, just six points behind fourth place North Platte. They will return six of their top seven from that fifth place team, led by junior Jedidiah Heras. Heras was 19th overall at last year's State Championships and finished out his season with a 17:13.45 personal best. This spring, he dropped his 1600 and 3200 bests 25 and 41 seconds, respectively, to 4:33.36 and 10:11.86, qualifying for State in both events. Nolan Wilson was the team's No. 2 at last year's State Championships, earning 45th place and Seth Miller heads in with an 18:03.66. With several major improvements over the spring, Elsberry looks poised to run the table this fall. They already posted a 1-5 average in the 3K at the Como Kick-off of 10:38 (11:29 2 Mile Conversion), led by Heras in 9:35.12. 

Elsberry's Jedidah Heras

Defending champion Woodland, South Shelby, and Hermann appear to be Elsberry's premier challengers in the boys team race.

On the girls' side, another Northeastern Missouri school who finished 5th at the 2023 State meet, Monroe City, leads the preseason rankings in Class 2. Led by Bradi Keller, the Panthers were a hard-luck 10 points off 4th place and, in fact, 14 points off 2nd place. It was a tight finish last year, but this year, Monroe City is a strong choice for a trophy this year. Keller was 14th overall last November and heads into her sophomore season with a 20:25.56 personal best. With a 3:38 1-5 split among their 2024 returners, they will need to tighten up the group in order to really guarantee their spot atop the ranks, but with so many of the top teams losing Class of 2024 seniors, expect this squad to click when it matters most. They opened up with a 2nd place team finish this weekend at the Mexico Fall Invitational.

Bradi Keller (center left, #525) and the Monroe City Lady Panthers

Reigning champs Lafayette County only have four girls on their roster at the moment, 2023 3rd place Hermann is lurking close behind, and 7th place North Platte made some gains over the spring. Monroe City won't be a lock for the win as there are several strong teams all very close to each other heading into the season.

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Calvin Layton Looks to Carry Torch for Woodland

The top returner on time is Woodland junior Calvin Layton. With the departure of his older brother, Reed, Calvin is looking poised to carry the torch for the Cardinals in 2024. 

Layton heads into the season with a 16:31.50 personal best from the SCAA Conference meet. He was 4th at the Class 2 State Championships, the second part of the solid 1-2 punch which helped his team earn the team title. Over the spring, he dropped under 10:00 in the 3200, running 9:54.63 and posting a 4:37.55 best in the 1600. The then-sophomore earned a 6th place medal in the Class 2 3200. He will have a solid supporting cast behind him, led by Class 2 800 Champion Hayden Vangennip. 

Butler's Brandon Hammett is hot on Layton's trail, though, as he appears to be having quite the breakout at the moment. After a 24th place finish at the Missouri Southern Stampede, Hammett went on to finish either 1st or 2nd in his next 6 races, including a runner-up finish at the Class 2 State Championships in his personal best of 16:36.70. Well...former personal best. Over the weekend, Hammett dropped the hammer, running 16:18.10 for 4th in the Silver division at the Tim Nixon Invitational, putting the entire Class 2 field on high alert. 

Other names to watch in Class 2 include Brett Payne, who ran 4:34.24 and 9:53.71 last spring, 2023 3rd place finisher Nolyn Corder, and Clark County's Mason McDaniel, who had a strong track season, among others.

Bourbon junior Brett Payne

Mansfield junior Nolyn Corder

Clark County junior Mason McDaniel

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Kensington Curd Enters 2024 The Heavy Individual Favorite

The girls individual race, on paper, appears to be much less close than the boys race as Brentwood's Kensington Curd will be the heavy favorite to repeat as Class 2 State Champion in 2024. 

Two fellow sophomores made the 2023 Class 2 State XC Championship race much closer than we expected based on the rankings, but Curd was able to hold off their charges with a 19:24.30 mark. It was her sixth win of the year, but 46 seconds off her personal best of 18:38.50 from the St. Louis Fall Classic. That mark is 34 seconds ahead of the next closest Class 2 challenger: Pierce City's Emma Hunt.

The Class 2 scene definitely experienced a bit of shake-up over the spring with the emergence of Penney's Jade Gray and solid campaigns from Jefferson's Emerson Selsor, North Platte's Chloe Heckman, and Clara Trent of New Covenant Academy. Woodland's Faith Rouggly will be among that group, as well, as it should be a highly competitive meet if Curd doesn't pull away from the field like she did last year.

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Who Made the Spring Leap and Who Are the Freshmen/Transfers to Watch?

Jade Gray - Penney - We mentioned her briefly above, but Gray will be heading into her first career cross country season after popping off impressive marks on the track this spring. The rising senior ran 2:26.18, 5:18.15, and 11:35.43 in the 800, 1600, and 3200, earning all-state honors in all three events. 

Coby Tagtmeyer - Smithton - Tagtmeyer will be one to watch after improving his 800 best from 2:09 to 1:59.60 and finishing second in the Class 2 race this spring. 

Sam Fick - Bishop Dubourg - Fick heads into his high school career with some impressive middle school marks. He has run 5:01.75 for 1600 meters and 14:29.40 for 4000 meters on the cross country course. 

Falyn Davidson - Elsberry - Davidson heads over to Elsberry via Winfield. She ran 21:27.90 at last year's Class 3 State Championships, which would have had her 33rd in the Class 2 race, but owns a personal best of 20:53.78. She has already run 12:40.78 for 3K this season at the Como Kick-off.

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Class 1 Storylines

Battle of State Champs - Wray vs Shaw

Two juniors head into the 2024 season with Class 1 cross country individual championships to their name: Platte Valley's Mya Wray and Stoutland's Mallory Shaw.

While they were close based on season bests heading into the Class 1 State meet last fall, Wray decided to take the race out at a torrid pace, never letting her foot off the gas pedal until she crossed the finish line over a minute ahead of the 2022 champion Shaw. Her 19:11.90 mark was 8 seconds shy of her 19:03.70 and helped her earn win number 8 of the season. Over the spring, Wray picked up another state gold with a victory in the Class 1 3200, capping off an undefeated 8-0 season in the event. She also finished third in the 1600, just off her lifetime best of 5:18.99 which earned her the Class 1 title in 2023. 

Shaw's sophomore campaign was similarly impressive to her state champion freshman season. She posted victories in 4 meets, was the top small school finisher at the SWCCCA Richard Clark Invitational, and improved her personal best to 19:30.58 at the Frisco League meet. In the spring, she qualified for State in the 400, 800, 1600, and 3200, earning medals in all but the 800. It will surely be an interesting battle this fall between the last two Class 1 XC State champions. 

Other individuals to watch this fall include Rock Port's Norah Watkins, Liberal's Ally Barton, and the Landry sisters from Chadwick, profiled below.

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Parrigon, McCauley Catholic Ready to Put it All Together

McAuley Catholic is showing just what good coaching can do for a program as they are now fully on the cusp of pulling in the school's first team championship. Their roster stands at 21 boys which is incredible considering their 2023-2024 9-11 enrollment was 44. They are surely putting the pieces together to improve upon 2022's 4th place finish and 2023's 5th. 

McAuley Catholic senior Michael Parrigon, left, and Dora senior Cade Nold, right 

Hermitage has been hit hard by graduation, but should not be counted out as Coach Sabala always seems to find pieces to fill in for those who left. They still have DeJuan Chambers and Jaxon Wheeler from last year's championship team, but they will need some help from reinforcements if they hope to win their fourth Class 1 title in a row and seventh in the last eleven years. In the meantime, Van Buren and cross-town rival Thomas Jefferson Independent appear to be the two teams with the best chance, on paper, of foiling McAuley Catholic's plans, but a lot can change in Class 1 from year to year.

Parrigon is the top returner, but not too far behind him is middle-distance stud Cade Nold, who ran a massive 1:53.96 at the Music City Track Carnival this June, two weeks after picking up wins in the 400 and 800 at the Class 1 State Championships. He ran 16:26.90 for 3rd at the State Cross Country Championships last year, ahead of Parrigon. Paris junior Landen Chapman will also be on the radar this fall after picking up bronze medals in the Class 1 1600 and 3200 this spring.  

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Chadwick, East Carter, Dora, Paris Top Girls Teams

Four girls teams head into the season in a clump, with very little to separate them on paper. They are Chadwick, East Carter, Dora, and Paris. 

Chadwick heads in as the presumptive favorite after pulling off the title in their first ever trip to State as a team. They return twin sisters Emily Landry and Macy Landry who finished 5th and 7th at last year's Class 1 State Championships. Emily was 4th in the 1600 this spring and Macy finished 8th in the 3200 and both opened up under 21:40 at the Fellows Lake 5000 this past weekend. Senior Gretchen House is not listed on the roster this year, which will be a huge blow for the squad, but Raeleigh Little and Madeline Sallee will hope to carry the torch for them with support from their newcomers.

Chadwick's (front left to right) Macy Landry and Emily Landry, and Dora's Isabelle Martin (back center) race to 7th, 5th, and 12th place finishes to lead Chadwick and Dora to 1st and 5th place finishes in Class 1 at the 2023 State Cross Country Championships.

East Carter, Dora, and Paris may be able to benefit from Chadwick's loss as they are all very close to each other heading into the season. East Carter is led by Katelyn Nichols and their own set of twin sisters, Aliyah Miller and Alivia Miller.

Katelyn Nichols

Aliyah Miller (front left) and sister Alivia Miller (back right) placed 19th & 29th as freshmen to help East Carter to '23 3rd place state trophy. Dora's Emma Martin (back center) placed 12th to lead Dora to 5th.

Those three all pulled in all-state medals and in 2023 and combined for 45 of the 3rd place team's 112 points. Dora is led by sophomore Isabelle Martin (, but may be looking for a replacement for their second fastest returner, her older sister Emma Martin. Isabelle was 12th overall at last year's state championships. Paris returns 2023 8th place finisher Mairyn Kinnaman (below), but is without 16th place finisher Alexandria Tullius. They will still be on the podium radar after finishing 4th with 5 girls in 2023.

Who Made the Spring Leap and Who Are the Freshmen/Transfers to Watch?

Reagan Meyer - St. Vincent - It was a massive breakout track season for St. Vincent's Reagan Meyer, as the rising junior posted personal bests of 57.79, 2:18.94, and 5:16.61, earning 4th place in the Class 2 400, and winning gold in both the 800 and 1600. We know her current 5K personal best of 22:44.20 hates to see her coming right now. 

Hunter Massey - Bernie - Massey heads to Bernie via Dexter and immediately becomes one to watch in the individual race. He ran 17:24.50 as a freshman in 2023 and should be on the radar for a breakthrough in 2024.

Paige Hanson - South Holt/West Nodaway - Hanson will make her cross country debut in her senior season coming off 7th place and 2nd place finishes in the Class 1 800 and 1600, respectively, this spring. She ran 2:27.94 and 5:25.88 personal bests and is a major breakout candidate.