Several Missourians will descend on Terre Haute (IN)'s historic Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course for the annual running of the Nike Cross Midwest Regional Championships. Teams and athletes from Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan will be battling for a coveted and exclusive berth to the Nike Cross National Championships in Portland, Oregon this December. 

In order to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals, athletes must either be a part of one of the top two finishing club teams or place within the top five among non-team qualifying athletes. Athletes can also qualify if their team is selected as one of the four at-large bid teams from around the eight regionals, but a third place team finish will most certainly be required in that case.

Photo Credit: Paul Everett; Rockhurst's Zach Herriott qualified for NXN in 2011 and finished 9th.

Over the last 20 years, very few Missourian individuals have, and only one Missourian team has, earned a berth to Nike Cross Nationals. Connor Burns finished 2nd here in 2022 in his high school personal best of 14:27.30. Andrew Hauser emerged from the mud and muck in 2021 and surged to victory, but he was unable to compete at Nationals in 2021 due to its cancelation. Tori Findley just missed out by one place in 2017. Austin Hindman had a near miss in 2015 and an even nearer miss in 2016. So far, only Burns, Hauser, Evan Schulte (2013), and Zach Herriott (2011) have achieved the feat, with the 2006 Potosi boys being the only team to make it. As for the girls, no teams have ever qualified and only the following seven girls have qualified individually: Anna West (2015), Taylor Werner (2012 and 2013), Jamie Kempfer (2013), Jill Whitman (2013), Samantha Nightingale (2010 and 2011), Chelsey Phoebus (2009), and Megan Yohe (2008) have qualified. 2013 was a very good year for Missouri girls. 

Photo Credit: Don Rich; Taylor Werner finished 5th overall in the 2013 edition of Nike Cross Nationals

On Sunday, many of the state's best will do battle with the best the Midwest has to offer with a cavalcade of individual all-state athletes and state trophy teams coming together in the Championship races. The Championship races will commence at 2:05 and 2:35 Central time on Sunday November 17th. 

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The Girls Race

On the girls side, we see the four trophy teams from Class 5, as well as the Class 4 champions. Eureka, Blue Springs South, Father Tolton, St. Teresa's Academy, and Festus are the five featured Missourian teams in the girls race, though there are some notable absences on some of the squads. The teams will be intact compared to how they lined up at State except for the absence of Kendall Counts and Elsie Nelson from Festus. 

We look forward to seeing how Elyse Wilmes bounces back from a rough day at the office last Friday. The Trailblazer front-girl has run a MO No. 4 17:09.50 and, even though she ran 18:44.20 last Friday, finished 20th overall in the Class 5 race. She and Ella Rew both had unexpected off days on the course at Gans Creek and should be strong bounce-back candidates on Sunday. Daphne Bishop was the ring-leader for the Eureka championship effort and could use that positive momentum to surge to the front of this one. 

The following girls are racing as individuals in the Championship race: 

Annika Barks - Jackson

Gianna Ezekwe - North Kansas City

Jocelyn Haynes - Troy

Lily Hurt - Liberty

Katie Klein - Kirkwood

Brianna Krueger - St. Charles West

Sydney Krus - Nerinx Hall

Reese McDevitt - Francis Howell Central

Mary McKenzie - Cor Jesu Academy

Kayleigh Norris - Harrisonville

Alyssa Ritter - Rock Bridge

Caterina Rossomanno - Rockwood Summit

All 12 girls listed earned an all-state medal this past weekend with 2 of them earning individual championships. Norris is a major contender for a Nationals berth after winning the Class 4 race by a whopping 58 seconds. The Alabama commit won 5 of the 8 races she ran this season, with all 3 losses coming to out-of-state competition. She ran 17:35.78 on this course 6 weeks ago at the Nike XC Town Twilight. Krueger will also be among the favorites for a berth to Nationals by a Missourian after dominating the Class 3 race and running a personal best of 18:09.58 this season.

The Boys Race

Four boys teams will represent the Show-Me State in the Championship race: Rockhurst, SLUH, Festus, and Webster Groves.

Of course, several of the state's best are represented by those teams, including two of last weekend's state champions. Henry Acorn leads the Missouri contingent with his 14:52.40 he ran to win the Class 5 title. Last year, he finished 25th in this race. The Class 4 champion is also in attendance - Carson Driemeier. He leads the Festus XC Club into the clash after leading his team to a runner-up finish in Class 4 last Saturday. Webster Groves, 3rd in Class 4 on the tiebreaker, looks to secure some redemption after a missing out on the team title last weekend, led as always by their three-headed monster of Dominic Buckman, Corbin Cole, and Drew Upperman. 

Photo Credit: Alan Combs

Next to nationally-ranked Rockhurst in terms of who has the best shot at qualifying for the National meet is SLUH. The Jr. Billikens were 25 points back of the Hawklets last Friday, but have beaten them head-to-head earlier this season at the Forest Park XC Festival. SLUH is led, as usual, by sophomore Jackson Miller and Alexander Bendana. If Rockhurst can perform like they did last Friday, though, they should be chief among the contenders this weekend, especially if Andrew Davis and Jack McGovern and crew can continue to drop time. 

The following boys are racing as individuals in the Championship race: 

Liam Adair - Smithville

Brendan Alfonso - Parkway Central

Brian Burns - Southern Boone

Derebe Carr - Lee's Summit

Hunter Deleeuw - Lee's Summit

Thomas Garrett - Park Hill South

Cook Hudson - Rock Bridge

Cameron Martensen - Rolla

Alexander Moresi - Parkway Central

Luke Sievers - Rock Bridge

Hunter Stahl - North Point

Jack Williams - Lee's Summit West

Todd Yeates - Liberty

Like the girls race, each of the individual boys finished all-state last weekend. Luke Sievers owns the fastest personal and season best of the runners as the 2023 Class 5 champion has run 14:51.90 in his career and ran 15:08.10 this season. Yeates is next with his 15:18.90 on the Gans Creek course last weekend, with Garrett and his 15:20.00 and Hudson (15:27.40) next by time. Class 3 champion Brian Burns is featured in this race with one more chance to run a fast time. All of the boys on this list have broken 16:00 this season with Burns being the only one who has not broken 15:50 yet.