Until the Class 5 girls cross country championship is run at Gans Creek in Columbia on Nov. 7, Eureka holds the title of state champion.
In their four other top four state finishes dating back to when the meet was held at the Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City, the Wildcats had never finished higher than second. Not until 2024 when they scored 104 points, besting second-place Blue Springs South by 30 points. South has finished among the top four schools in the largest classification since 2017. Emerging power and 2023 state champion Father Tolton Regional Catholic was a distant third at state. Father Tolton’s campus is across the street from Gans Creek, which serves as its home course.
“We were in consideration for a trophy, but I don’t know many people picked us to win,” said Eureka head coach Darrell Lewis, who’s been in that role for 10 years and at the school for 19. “We had a great day on the day it mattered the most.”
As runners cross the finish line at state, they’re herded into a tent that funnels them toward a mass of teammates, competitors, coaches, fans and families. A large video board displays the races in real time. Once all seven Wildcats had crossed, they locked into first place for everyone to see.
Almost everyone.
“From a coaching perspective, I stayed on the course as long as I could,” Lewis said. “But I waited until Abby (Smith) had 80 meters to go, then I sprinted to the finish line so I could beat them all there. Haley Meek ran really well and PR’d but it wasn’t as fast as she wanted to. She walked through the tunnel and I could see she was upset and I told her she was a state champion and she turned around and saw the scoreboard and started crying.”
Lewis and his runners have talked about having a target on their back this year.
“Everybody wants to take you down,” he said. “As a coach, when I’m out and about, you can hear people comment about beating us. Teams like Lafayette and Kirkwood, I hear that from all of them. Whenever Lafayette won a few years ago, I heard a lot of people saying they want to beat Lafayette.”
Eureka didn’t just show up at state and start winning. That had been going on all year. The Wildcats bested the Lancers and the rest of the Suburban Conference for the title, won two prestigious local invitationals, Frank Schultz and Stan Nelson, and the District 1 crown.
The defending state champs will get off to a late start this season at Stan Nelson in High Ridge on Sept. 13.
“For a long time that was our first race of the year,” Lewis said. “We’ll do a time trial before that. I backed off on the amount of races we had last year and will do the same thing.”
Eureka has to replace its top runner from a year ago. A 2025 graduate, Daphne Bishop was the ace Lewis kept up his sleeve when he faced a loaded deck. She was seventh in the state in 18:23.2 and signed with Southeast Missouri State University.
“We have multiple girls capable of doing the same things,” Lewis said. “I don’t know if I want to put the pressure on one person to do that. If we want to repeat our top seven runners have to be 15 to 20 seconds faster than they were last year.”
While not locked in stone, Smith, a senior, appears to be the new No. 1 for Eureka.
“We’re going to rely on her for more than just her leadership. She’s one of our fastest runners.”
Lewis said Meek, a senior, is one of the team’s most dedicated athletes.
“When it comes to doing everything right, she does it. Drills, running, recovery and nutrition.”
Junior Sofia Hoerchler has made great strides.
“I think she surprised herself when she was all state. She’s adopted the same mindset.”
Sophomore Maddie Schepis changed the mentality of the team, Lewis said.
“She doesn’t want to lose. She wants to beat as many people as she can.”
Despite being just a sophomore, Claire McKinnon is one of Eureka’s most experienced runners.
Three-time state champion Hannah Long (2012-2014) holds the school record at Eureka with a time of 16:51.63.
Boys seek third straight trip to state
If the Eureka boys cross country team meets its main goal this season, the Wildcats will be running as a team for the third year in a row at Gans Creek in Columbia at the Class 5 state championships.
“The number one thing that sticks out to me is this group is not afraid to set lofty goals and put in the work to achieve them,” said Eureka head coach Brad DeMattei, who enters his 10th year.
That work begins Monday for the first day of fall practice. And practice leads to Eureka’s first meet of the year at the First Capital Invitational in St. Charles on Aug. 29. The 3.1-mile (5K) course at McNair Park is the same one the Wildcats will run on for the Suburban Conference meet later this year.
The Wildcats will have to replace five of the 10 runners they took to state, where they finished 13th. Seven runners compete, the top five finishers on each team are scored and there are three alternates.
The top 30 runners in the state win medals. The top four teams earn trophies. The top five Kansas City Rockhurst runners were all-state, Hawklet senior Henry Acorn was the only runner in any of the five classes to finish under 15:00 (14:52.4). A 2025 graduate, Logan Ghormley was Eureka’s top state finisher (57th, 16:21.8).
Of the top five Wildcat state finishers, only senior Joe Rauls (93rd, 16:43.8) didn’t graduate. Ghormley and 2025 graduate Evan Wilke are running at Truman State University in Kirksville and Mitchell Barth (2025) is at Lindenwood University in St. Charles.
The leading scorer for the Eureka basketball team (12.5 points per game) last season, Rauls is a three-time state cross country qualifier, and along with senior two-time qualifier Jackson Dalton (126th, 17:06.5), the Wildcats are built from the front back, but with plenty of support behind them.
“The past two years we’ve had a really solid team and a lot of guys are looking forward to continuing that legacy,” Dalton said.
In 2024, Dalton ran his PR of 16:57 at districts in Cape Girardeau. During track and field season in the spring, Dalton competed in the 800-meter run and 4x800 relay. He runs six days a week.
“I don’t like doing seven days. It’s too much.”
“Jackson has a different demeanor,” DeMattei said. “He’s more dialed in and more focused than he’s been.”
Only four other boys at Eureka have made it to state four years in a row – 2011, Ethan Lambert; 2002, Tony Payton; 2000, Jason Chase and Ryan Morris. Rauls will attempt to be the fifth.
“We’re hunting sub 15s,” DeMattei said of his top runners’ times. “His time doesn’t really reflect it, but Jackson Dalton has been rolling through this spring and fighting for a top spot.”
Jockeying for the top seven Wildcats will be sophomores Ty Rauls, Joe’s brother, Andrew Perry and Hunter Meek and juniors Caden Hawkins, Will Diekman and Joseph Dinc. Meek, Tyler Rauls and Dinc were on the state roster.
“Last year we had five guys who we felt like were interchangeable,” DeMattei said. “This year we plan on Joe to lead us and then a chase pack of five guys. Our strength will be how far out front the top two can be and then how close behind can the next five be.”
DeMattei and Dalton are both impressed and inspired by the example set by the Eureka girls, who broke down some long-standing barriers to win their first state title and for at least one year put a halt to the domination of Father Tolton Regional Catholic and Blue Springs South.
“It showed that a public school could win it,” Dalton said. “I would like to qualify for state and bring the team and come home with some hardware.”
“It showed everyone it could be done and it doesn’t have to be the teams you typically think of,” DeMattei said of the girls win.
Codak one of top running backs in STL area
In the next three issues of the Eureka Leader, you’ll find fall previews in the sports section. The Eureka boys and girls cross country teams lead off in this week’s paper. The girls are the defending Class 5 state champions and return all but last year’s top runner.
There was a common theme among the Wildcat football, softball and girls volleyball teams. Strong regular seasons were followed with district disappointments. On the gridiron, Eureka took a 9-0 record and No. 1 seed into its Class 5 District 2 game against Washington. The Wildcats scored two touchdowns, but misfired on one of two PATs in a 14-13 loss to the Blue Jays, whose game-winning TD was a 63-yard pass with 1:45 to play.
Trevor Codak returns for his senior season at running back. In his first two seasons with the Wildcats, Codak has scored 34 TDs and rushed for 2,237 yards. He also caught two TD passes and is considered one of the top players at his position in the St. Louis area. Codak’s two biggest games were against Lafayette (32 rushes, 236 yards, 2 TDs) and Pattonville (21-321, 5).
Codak and 2025 graduates Blake Ashby and Jack Lange were awarded Player of the Year accolades in the Suburban Conference Yellow pool, and Jake Sumner was the Coach of the Year. Eureka has a record of 37-14 in this decade under Sumner.
The Wildcats kick off the season at home against Francis Howell on Aug. 28.
The Eureka girls volleyball team has won 20 or more matches, including 30 or more twice, in the last four years. The Wildcats last year managed to finish 22-15 despite massive turnover on their roster. Like the school’s football team, the spikers send their share of athletes to the college ranks. A loss in four sets to Lafayette in the Class 5 District 2 final ended Eureka’s season.
Graduation took Jenna Cubbage from the floor. Cubbage was one of the top Wildcat players, leading them in aces (54), kills (500) and was second in digs (258). Cubbage is at Wichita State University in Kansas on scholarship.
Returning to the floor, senior setter Audrey Hackney led Eureka with 476 assists. She’ll get to feed senior attacker Katie Hunt, who had 603 attacks and 193 kills last year. Junior middle blockers Hannah Garrett and Amanda Heine return. Heine had 110 kills and Garrett posted 191 kills and 77 blocks.
Eureka tips off the season at home against Cor Jesu Academy on Sept. 3.
After a 6-1 start, the Eureka softball team leveled out at 13-13 for the season, with Lafayette ending another Wildcat year in a 10-0 whitewash in the Class 5 District 2 semifinals.
Chrystal Hall stepped into the circle and into Kate Proffitt’s (2024) big shoes as Eureka’s top pitcher last year. Hall enters her junior year with two years of experience under her belt and a career record of 14-11. Senior Tanner Cantwell threw 52 innings last season and with her and Hall, the Wildcats are set in the circle.
Graduation stripped Eureka of two big bats carried by Lily Delmain and Heidi Daffron, but Haley Deakin returns for her senior season. Deakin was second on the team in batting average (.373) and doubles (8), tied with junior Kayleigh Niles (.359). Senior Gracie Mazzola is committed to play Division I at the University of Washington. Mazzola hit .342 and led the team with 14 stolen bases.
First pitch this season for the Wildcats is at home against Francis Howell North on Aug. 28.