When Wes Armbruster has a question about coaching the Festus girls cross country team, all he has to do is ask the coach he replaced.
This is Armbruster’s third season as head coach of the Tigers, after he was an assistant under Bryant Wright for 10 years. Wright guided the girls to state championships in 2014 and 2017, but what he’s most known for is the 11 titles he’s led the boys to, including eight straight between 2014 and 2021.
The Festus girls won the Class 4 state crown at Gans Creek in Columbia last November, the first under Armbruster, who in May was at the head of the Tigers when they won the Class 4 state track and field championship at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City.
With all that success within a year, Armbruster sought out some good advice. Trying to convince himself and his runners that it’s a new year isn’t as easy as it sounds.
“It’s a work in progress,” Armbruster said. “Coach (Wright) and I ran together last week and I said, ‘I’ve got two things I want to talk to you about.’ I’ve never been in this position and he has several times. He didn’t have any advice but it’s something he’ll be thinking about. We’re closing the book on what was an incredible year and we know we’re going to get everyone’s best race every week. That’s something we’re training for.”
Even when Lucy Boyer traveled with her family this summer to Yellowstone National Park, she didn’t stop training to keep pace as the Tigers’ top runner. After winning the Jefferson County Activities Association championship, Boyer, a junior, finished third in the state with a time of 19:36.3. Boyer set her PR of 18:59 at the Chili Pepper Festival in Arkansas last season. During her senior year at Festus (2013-14), Jamie Kempfer ran a time of 17:58.50.
“With everything she’s done, it’s hard to say she’s not (No. 1),” Armbruster said. “We always want to be a program that’s deep and we have girls putting in great work. Lucy could be (number) 2-5 and that’s the mark of a good team. If two or three teammates beat her, she’s going to shake their hand and we’re going to line up the next week and figure it out again.”
Boyer was part of the distance crew that helped the Tigers win the state track and field title. She prepares for the rigors of running 3.1 miles (5K) by putting in 30 to 40 miles per week. Before her family vacation, Boyer went to West Plains with her teammates to attend the Joe Bill Dixon Wilderness Running Camp. West Plains High School has won the most boys (14) and girls (14) state championships in Missouri. The Zizzers were second to Festus last season and they routinely slug it out at state.
“There’s a lot of team bonding and realizing you can do hard things,” Boyer said of the camp. “It helps me know that if I can do that, I can finish any workout.
“It was special to be a part of (winning two state titles). Seeing the girls come back for cross country was so cool. It will be hard to defend our state titles. Everyone knows who we are now.”
That’s also partly because all but one top five runner – Alyssa Collins – graduated, leaving the Tigers with mostly the same lineup. The scoring order will change weekly.
Seniors Katelyn Thurman and Olivia Cole and junior Kendall Counts all finished in the top five of the JCAA finals and finished all-state (top 30). Junior Bailee Tolbert and sophomore Elsie Nelson ran at the state meet. Sophomore Marisa Peter and junior Kayla Rousseau were state alternates and are looking to move up in the order. Freshman Kendall Gildea joins the varsity. Her sister, Camrynn, was an alternate and graduated this spring.
“We want anyone in our top seven to be capable of being an all-stater,” Armbruster said. “That would mean you’re going to have to challenge or break 20 minutes in the end. When the (Festus) boys rolled through their streak (state titles from 2014-21), you didn’t know who the top five were going to be. Some weeks you didn’t know who the top 1-2 would be. Winning is a reflection of all the hard work the girls have put in. There’s a lot of humility in our program.”
Festus begins the season at the Fort Zumwalt Twilight Meet in O’Fallon on Aug. 28.
Tigers look to leap back to top or state
If the weight of success depends on the amount, then the Festus boys cross country team is carrying around a two-ton boulder.
The facts speak clearly. Since 2009, the Tigers have won 11 state championships, including eight straight between 2014-2021. In those years Festus wasn’t atop the state podium, the Tigers were second five times, including last season when the Zizzers from West Plains captured their state record 14th state crown. The two cross country titans spent a week last month in the wilds together in West Plains at the Joe Bill Dixon Wilderness Running Camp. Dixon holds the title of having won the most combined state titles at West Plains with 25. In his 24 years as the Festus head coach, Bryant Wright has a total of 13 state titles, 11 with the boys and two with the girls.
Defending such high ground each year means Festus has to replace runners who’ve been part of the varsity for two or three years. Trevor Bayless, Aidan Cole, Lucas Campbell and Tate Uding (third in the state) ran at state for the Tigers but have graduated.
Few freshmen crack the Festus varsity top seven, but last year Lucas DeClue and Hudson Bates went against the norm and finished in the top 50 at state.
Carson Driemeier finished 13th in the state his freshman season and he returns for his senior year at Festus as the defending individual state champion when he finished the 3.1-mile (5K) course at Gans Creek in Columbia in 15:59.5. In May at the Class 4 state track and field championships in Jefferson City, Driemeier won the 1,600-meter run in 4:11.77 and was second in the 3,200 in 9:10.21. He has a chance to become the school’s first two-time cross country state champion.
“I definitely want to win a team championship this year,” Driemeier said. “That would be great for Coach Wright. I’d love to be a state champion two times in a row.
“There’s some really great runners out there. It’s still too early to judge because you can’t downplay anyone.”
More than just being the top runner, Driemeier has taken the reins as team leader by “gaining their trust and holding everyone accountable. That will help the team succeed and be better people and runners,” he said.
Uncommitted to a college, Wright said it’s significantly harder to win two state championships. Riley Blay of West Nodaway did it last in 2022-2023 in Class 1.
“Very few people have done that,” Wright said. “The best thing (Driemeier) can do as our leader is he has shown the ability, but becoming a leader is a process and we’re working on that. Show humility. ‘I’m here to help you guys as much as I want to be successful myself.’ Athletes of his caliber, it’s hard for other people to understand.”
Going into Monday’s first official practice of the school year, Wright knows who his No. 1 is and DeClue and Bates are likely behind Driemeier, but the next four spots are up for grabs between sophomore Grant Fink, juniors Chase Buechting and Chris Courtois and seniors Silas Curtis and Zach Spindler. Buechting and Spindler were state alternates last year.
“(Fink’s) a competitor and fun to watch,” Wright said. “One of those guys has to step up and say, ‘I’m the Man.’ If we can get Lucas and Bates, between the two, we could have a Tate Uding.”
Last season the Tigers finished first at the Fleet Feet Invitational, fifth at the Forest Park Invitational, second at the Bowles Invitational, and seventh at the Chili Pepper Festival. Festus has won the last 18 Jefferson County Activities Association titles. The Tigers begin this season at the Fort Zumwalt Twilight in O’Fallon on Aug. 28.
“Time between camp and practice is one of the toughest stretches because kids are going on vacations and they already ran quite a few miles,” Wright said. “Every day you have to do what it takes, working on developing their endurance. They have to be at a certain level of fitness to go to that next level.
“The postseason begins at the beginning of the season. Sometimes their development doesn’t begin until the postseason. I look forward to seeing how the plan comes together. I have no idea where we can finish. Our goal will be to win it. That’s a realistic goal but that’s secondary to the other parts.”
Wright is retired as a teacher and handed over the reins to the girls team to Wes Armbruster a few years ago. Armbruster thanked Wright by leading the Tigers to a state title in 2024.
“We’re looking at the process of trying to be the best we can each day,” Wright said. “And if we can build those successes on top of each other, hopefully we can have success at the end of the season.
“I enjoy the challenge of trying to help these young men develop as runners, but more importantly as young men and be contributors to the United States of America. That’s what brings me back.”