Over the next several weeks, Missouri MileSplit will be doing a deep dive into the top returners for each event heading into the 2025 Track and Field season. We will have premium rankings pieces highlighting the top 100 returners in each classification as well as an overall outlook for each event for all non-subscribers. Let's take a look a the Boys 100m Dash.
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Class 5 Outlook
Hickman's Thomas and Staley's Collins Jr
Twenty-three boys return under 11 seconds in the 100 meter dash in Class 5 - which will be a relevant number when looking at the rest of the classifications in Missouri - led by Hickman's Langston Thomas (pictured above). The reigning Class 5 State Champion and overall State Championship record holder in the state's most popular event returns for his senior season with a 10.32 all-conditions best and 10.37 (+1.4) from the 2024 Class 5 State Championships. The 10.32 is tied with Justin Robinson for the fastest all-conditions mark we have ever seen, while the 10.37 (+1.4) is the fastest wind-legal mark in state history. Robert Collins Jr is a full two-tenths of a second back at 10.56 (+1.4), a mark that would win the state meet any other year. He was third at State in 2024 and seventh in 2023.
CBC's Tillman
Three other men return at 10.70 or better, two of whom from Christian Brothers College High School. Austin Tillman and Amar'e Hendricks make up the best 1-2 punch in the 100m dash in the state with their respective 10.69 and 10.70 personal bests. Tillman finished eighth at the State meet in 2024 while Hendricks' 10.70 was one of only two 100m marks he posted last season. Lee's Summit West's Tayveon Simms is the other returner under 10.70 with a 10.65 personal best from the Class 5 District 7 meet. He finished 16th at State in a stacked field, but is third among returners for the 2025 season.
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Class 4 Outlook
Osage's Noah Northrip is Class 4's top returner with his 10.56 personal best from his home meet. His second best mark of 10.69 (+1.4) in the Class 4 State Championships preliminary rounds would make him third among returners, but the 2024 third place finisher will still have to hold off Lutheran St. Charles senior Jacob Fieberkorn, whose 10.60 (+1.4) mark is the best wind-legal time among Class 4 returners. He was fourth at last year's State meet after winning at nine meets leading up to it. MICDS junior Henry Rohan comes in third with his 10.74 (+1.8). Already a two-time state qualifier in the 100, Rohan was fifth at last season's State meet. 
The fourth and fifth fastest returners are the last of the Class 4 boys who are back under 10.90. Warrensburg's Cruz Villegas was tenth at last year's State meet and ran 10.84 twice in the regular season. Harrisonville's Nate Reynolds opened up his season with a 10.85, but was unable to showcase his talent at the State meet in 2024 after finishing 11th in 2023. Reynolds was under 11.00 two other times and ran 22.22 in the 200 so he will surely be a major player in 2025. Only seven boys in Class 4 return with a personal best under 11.00 compared to twenty-three in Class 5.
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Class 3 Outlook
Class 3 has seven more boys under 11.00 heading into the 2025 season. El Dorado Springs senior Justin Brown is out front with his 10.69 best. He ran 10.94 or better seven times and won seven times in eight tries in his breakout junior campaign before suffering a setback at the Class 3 State Championships and coming across 15th. 
Aurora's Alex Johnson, now a sophomore, is the third fastest returner in the Class of 2027 with his 10.92 best and was the top non-senior at the State meet last year, finishing fourth. Clinton's Jase Wilson and Eldon's Andrew Beanland both came across after Johnson in fifth and sixth and own personal bests of 10.92 and 10.90, both respectively. Fair Grove's Kellen Lair was seventh at last year's State meet, but comes in second among returners on personal best with the 10.86 he ran in prelims. With six boys between 10.86 and 10.96, there is a large crew chasing Justin Brown for the top spot in Class 3 this year.
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Class 2 Outlook
Christian Davis was among the top eighth graders in the country in 2023 and did not disappoint in his high school debut last season. The top freshman in the 100m dash in the entire state last season, his 10.70 personal best was second at the Class 2 State Championships last year, behind only since-graduated Kaden Hamner. He will have West Platte's August Hill to contend with once again as he was right behind him in third for the second straight year, running 10.74 at the 2024 State meet.
Hill left and Davis right.
The chase pack is led by Adrian's Mason Rusow. Rusow focused on the 400 last spring but still returns with a 10.91 personal best. Jefferson Festus junior Matthew Waltman was fifth last year and is fifth among returners with a 10.97 personal best, but Plattsburg's Gavin Boyle is just a tick ahead of him in 10.96. He was a hard-luck fifth at his Sectional meet in his first track season since 2021.
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Class 1 Outlook
Only one boy returns for the 2025 Class 1 track and field season under 11 seconds, and it is reigning State champion Kyle Emerson. The Albany senior is nearly a half-second ahead of the field with his 10.77 personal best and Class 1 State meet record, which might as well be a chasm in the 100 meter dash. Last season was his first time truly giving the sprints a try and he truly took off.
Emerson left, Lair right center, and #10 returner Courtney Sanders far right of Scott County Central
The chase pack in Class 1 is led by Rock Port's Dylan Lair with an 11.20 personal best. Lair was fifth last year, right behind Hayti's Jeremy Alexander in fourth, though Alexander is behind on personal best with an 11.28 best. La Plata's Kendrick Hulett is in the mix, as well, with an 11.26 personal best. He was a state qualifier in both hurdle events after finishing sixth at his district meet.
Hayti's Alexander