Fall arrived just in time to usher out a late summer heatwave and greet cross country runners at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia on Sept. 25-26.
Some of the best runners from the state and beyond its borders convened at the course where the state championships will be held Nov. 6-7. The varsity meets were separated into an elite group, and in white, blue and gold divisions. Herculaneum and Northwest competed in the gold division. Windsor was in the blue division. The Blackcat girls had the best finish of the six teams (boys and girls), coming in third with 184 points. They finished third in the state in Class 3 last year. Second in the state in Class 5, Webb City won the gold girls title with 108 points. Adysynn Gonzalez set a Herculaneum freshman record with a time of 19:06.3.
Last year’s Class 5 state champion, Rockhurst junior Jack McGovern, set a state record in 3.1-miles (5K) with a time of 14:25.8 on Sept. 25 running in the elite division. McGovern’s state-winning time last year was 14:52.2. Festus 2026 graduate Carson Driemeier set the state championship record of 14:49.20 in 2025.
The county runners didn’t run until the day after McGovern set the record. They’d heard about it before they ran.
“Seeing someone else run fast makes me think I can do the same,” Northwest junior Jacob Judge said.
“I think that gave everyone some confidence,” Northwest senior Max Thomas-Perkins said.
Judge and Perkins jockeyed back and forth during the race at Gans, where they both hope to return, and Judge had pulled ahead as the race passed the final turn down the stretch where spectators line a wooden fence. Judge had lost track of his teammate, but Thomas-Perkins had him in his sights.
Thomas-Perkins almost caught Judge, who finished five-tenths of a second faster in 16:42.2 (52nd) to 16:42.7 (53rd). Both runners smashed their PRs; Judge by 37 seconds and Thomas-Perkins by 55 seconds.
“The course was super nice,” Judge said. “I liked the rolling hills because I pushed up them and sprinted down them.”
“I had a feeling I was going to PR,” Thomas-Perkins said. “I didn’t know it would be that fast. It puts me way closer to state than I was before.”
The third could potentially be junior Jeremiah Brown who finished at Gans in 17:09.1.
Senior Rose Nicholls knows all about Gans Creek because she’s run it at the state meet the previous three years. All that’s left for Nicholls to accomplish as a Lion is to fit into the top 30 to capture a state medal.
Nicholls has set the school record in the 5K twice this year. But she had never finished in under 19:00, until at Gans where she was ninth in 18:56.2. Lexington sophomore Ellie Lichte won in 18:15.2.
“I was really excited because I think it’s a fast course,” Nicholls said. “My main goal was to go for 18:50. I had it written on my hand how fast each K should be. My second and third were right on pace and that last one. As soon as I turned the last corner, I looked up and saw the clock and full-on sprinted.”
Windsor junior McKenzie Robbins set the school record at the Class 4 state meet last year in 23:09.2, and rebroke it at the Gans Classic in 21:24.5.
“I have definitely improved a lot and put in the work over the summer to make sure I run every day if I can,” Robbins said. “That’s helped me make sure I push myself at practice and run faster paces.”
Robbins said the cooler weather helped all of the runners focus more on turning in faster times.
“It felt a lot nicer and that helped me with the mindset that this is a great race to push myself,” she said. “There’s some races over the summer where it was too hot.”
Robbins watched the elite races and said she too was caught up in the buzz around McGovern’s record.
“It tells you that some of these kids are breaking state records, and it motivates you because other kids are pushing themselves. If they’re breaking records, I can do it.”
De Soto senior Cruz cruised to championship in Arnold
The 29th Ed White Festival of Races on Sept. 24 at Arnold City Park showcased of the top runners in the state, two-time state champion Brianna Krueger of St. Charles West, in any class, boys or girls.
Seckman sophomore Harper Goddard was the top girls runner from the county in seventh in 20:09.2. The winner of the Bismarck Invitational the week before, Jefferson freshman Mallory Selsor was 11th in 20:46.5.
A top contender for the Jefferson County Activities Association title later this month, De Soto senior Cruz Anders won the boys race at Ed White in 15:52.20. North Point won the boys title with 109 points, while the host Warriors were second with 124. Fox sophomore Jordan Glass was his team’s top finisher (12th, 17:22.2).