This Friday night, several of the top sprinters and distance runners from Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Texas, South Carolina, and others, will converge on the recently renovated Hearnes Center Fieldhouse for the Mizzou High School Distance and Sprint Elite Meet. Building off of last year's success as a distance-only meet, the three most popular sprint events have now been added to the schedule, only increasing the chances that we will see something truly spectacular. Last year produced two US No. 1 marks, two State records, and several other top marks.
You can check out heat sheets and performance lists here
Of the twelve events being contested on Friday, here are five which we are watching the closest for fireworks and nationally-ranked performances.
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Boys 3200
There are forty boys entered in the 3200 split between two heats. The slowest seed time of the bunch is 9:51.72.
It is a truly stacked field of athletes with some of the top names from the midwest all converging for a shot at a lifetime personal best and strong mark to carry them into the outdoor season. In the second and fastest seeded heat, the slowest seeded time is 9:34.97.
Festus senior Carson Driemeier leads the group with a his 8:59.27 personal best from last spring's Arcadia Invitational. The recent repeat winner at the Class 4 State Cross Country Championships stormed around this track at the distance-only meet last year, running an indoor state record of 9:06.28, an all-conditions personal best for the then-junior.
Noah Strohman, a senior from Holliday (TX) is seeded second with a 9:02.54 personal best from the 2024 indoor season. He made history this fall as the first Texan to ever win four straight State championships. Strohman ran 14:40.00 for 5000 meters this fall and posted a 4:05.36 full mile already this winter.
Rock Bridge's Luke Sievers ran 9:08.35 at last spring's McCullough-Douglass Invitational, but was unable to finish out the season due to injury. It did not stop him from finishing fifth at this fall's Class 5 State Championship and puts him firmly among the contenders here.
Other names to watch include Mountain Home's (AR) Jackson Free, Boiling Springs' (SC) Luke Hurley, Fayetteville's (AR) Alan Gallardo-Lopez, SLUH's Jackson Miller, and North Point's Hunter Stahl. Free, the Arkansas 5A State champion, and Stahl both broke 15 minutes this past cross country season with Gallardo-Lopez just missing at 15:01.50, Miller was the third place finisher at the MO Class 5 State Championships, and Hurley was the South Carolina 5A State champion.
The Boys 3200 is going to be one of the fastest we have ever seen on Missouri soil and should feature no less than ten boys under 9:20.
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Girls 800
Photo: Clifton Grooms
The Girls' 800 will feature at least two heats of the four with the potential for fireworks. With eight girls under 2:20 and only six spots in the fast heat, those final two heats will be featured races.
In the third heat, Manhattan's (KS) Gabrielle Converse takes the pole position, boasting a 2:15.52 personal best from her time in Indiana. Converse's first season in Kansas was a successful one as she finished third at the 6A State Cross Country championship. She has already run 2:18.42 this winter and could really make a splash this weekend on the banked track in Columbia. Addy Moffitt from Waukee Northwest (IA) will be looking to play spoiler, though, with her 2:17.69 lifetime best.
The fourth heat, though, will feature six girls under 2:15.50 led by Leavenworth (KS)'s Kelsie Kudzia and Liberty Wentzville's Bella Navarro-Sanchez, both with personal bests in the 2:11s. Kudzia ran 2:11.20 last spring and ended her season second in the event at the 5A State Championship. After an abbreviated Cross Country season, Kudzia opened her season with a 5:14.68 rust buster at Washburn two weeks ago. Navarro-Sanchez has not raced since her 11th place finish at the Class 5 Cross Country State Championship, but will head into this Friday's meet with the 2:11.74 mark which earned her silver at last spring's Class 5 finale.
Those two juggernauts will surely duke it out with each other up front, but should keep their eyes out for Ankeny's (IA) Makenna Madetzke, Fayetteville's (AR) Helen Hesselgren, Eureka's Brooke Samuelson, and Brinkley Strickland from Bondurant-Farrar (IA). These four head into the meet seeded within just over a second of each other from 2:14.03 to 2:15.46.
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Boys 400
The Boys 400 will most likely be the hottest contested race of all of the sprint events with two heats of four boys under 50 seconds.
Embry Wazac, a super sophomore from Staley has already pushed his lifetime personal best to 49.72 this winter and appears poised to break out in 2026. He will do battle with Rockwood Summit's Rowan Jackson, primarily, with his 49.80 personal best from last spring's Class 4 Sectional 3 meet. All-State in 2024, Jackson finished tenth in 2025, but is looking to take another step forward in 2026, starting with this Friday's meet at Mizzou. Gary Williams, Jr., another sophomore, and Cole Fotenos from Lee's Summit North are the other two competitors in the heat with personal bests of 49.92 and 49.93.
In the fastest heat, we are in for a treat with the 2026 debut of Hickman junior John Moss. Moss is quickly ascending the ranks as one of the state's all-time great quarter milers. He ran 47.09 to earn a silver medal at the 2025 State Championships and ran under 48 four times in his sophomore campaign. He is the clear favorite in this race, but will have a challenge from three low-49 athletes: Noah Harrell from Olathe Northwest (KS), Tanner Wingrath out of Jefferson City, and Logan-Rogersville sophomore Gage Hale.
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Girls Mile
Photo: Chris Auckley
Fourteen girls under 5:10 makes the fast heat of the Girls 1 Mile one to absolutely keep an eye on this Friday. Add in three others under 5:14 and five more girls under 5:20 in the first heat and you have got yourself quite a star-studded field.
The Scudder triplets come up from Rogers, Arkansas to add their talents to the fold. Anna Scudder leads the way with the 4:52.01 personal best she ran last May. So far this indoor season, she has run 10:16.57 in her lone 3K effort. Elizabeth Scudder comes in seeded fourth with a 5:01.10 and Katherine Scudder comes in seventh with a 5:02.00 mark to her name, showing just how close in seed times the fourth through actually ninth-seeded runners are (within 2 seconds).
The afore-mentioned Kelsie Kudzia and Makenna Madetzke are seeded second and third with sub-5:00 marks of their own to their name: 4:55.13 and 4:58.12. Whether or not they contest the mile after running the 800 forty minutes earlier, or whether they choose the mile over the 800 or vice versa, remains to be seen. Even without them, this race remains competitive. Bella Navarro-Sanchez is seeded sixth as the top Missourian, though she could choose to forgo it, as well. Nerinx Hall junior Grace Murphy is the next fastest Missourian at 5:03.00, with Father Tolton's Angelina Cottone 12th on the list at 5:08.00, and Class 4 State Cross Country champion Gabrielle Moresi heads into the race at 5:08.82. Keep an eye on Charli Keely of Jenks (OK) with a 5:01.11 personal best, as well as a former Gans Creek Classic champion, Timnath (CO) native Izzy Schimmelpfennig, seeded ninth at 5:03.19.
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Boys 800
Photo: Jorge Espinosa
The boys 800 field is absolutely loaded.
Bentonville's (AR) Brian Burns is back in Central Missouri and ready to show off his talents once again at the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse. Burns was the champion in the Mile here last year when he ran his then personal best of 4:10.89. Since then, he has shaved that Mile time down to 4:04.27, but he is not focused on the Mile this weekend. His 800 personal best of 1:49.13 has him tops among a star-studded field.
The fastest heat of the 800 features Burns, Matthew Thurman (AR), Reese Fisher (AR), Baron Carratura, Jackson Miller, and James Senaldi. Thurman was the 4A State Champion in this event last spring and ran 1:55.10. Fisher won the RunningLane Track Championships last May in his personal best of 1:52.90. Carratura boasts a 1:54.92 lifetime best from the Class 5 Sectional 2 meet, while Miller may have a decision to make about the 3200 if he contests this race and runs up to the 1:55.76 mark he posted in 2024. Senaldi is coming off a breakout sophomore track campaign and strong junior cross country season. He was seventh in Class 5 last spring and boasts a 1:55.12 career best.
Heats 4, 5, and 6 all feature entire fields of 6 under 2:00, with two other sub-2:00 performers in Heat 3. The 800 should produce a cavalcade of impressive marks from some of the fastest runners the Midwest has to offer.