Every single runner returns healthy.

A nationally recognized recruiting class is expected to strengthen the team’s future.

The spectator-friendly home course is preparing to host the National Championship next fall.

It’s time to get XCited.

Missouri’s 2024 cross country season began Thursday, with racing debut scheduled for next Friday, August 30, at the home opener.

The Tigers are ready to put on a show, and Missouri cross country head coach Kyle Levermore says fans should get in early because “this is just the beginning.”

Abigail Klapatauskas

Review

If 2024–25 is a new “beginning,” then 2023–24 was a modest, nationally uncompetitive founding.

“Honestly, a year later, when I look back on last year, it was a pretty unmemorable cross-country season,” said coach Levermore, who will take over the distance program in 2023.

Missouri still has room for improvement. At the SEC Cross Country Championship last fall, the women and men finished ninth out of 14 and 12 teams, respectively.

The women’s team finished 12th at the Midwest Regional, the fourth-worst finish among their regional Power 5 competitors. The men’s team finished 11th, the fifth-worst finish among their Power 5 competitors.

Missouri did not qualify its team or an individual runner for the national championship.

“I think we’ve had some good moments,” Levermore said, “but we’re certainly more capable than we were last fall.” The goal, he told me, is to develop Missouri into an “elite distance program.”

But the key to the elite? “Consistency.”

Levermore wants to build a program that regularly qualifies for the national championship in cross country and is consistently ranked in the top five in the SEC. As for track and field, he hopes to have qualifiers in the first round of the NCAA in every distance event.

Last spring, several Tigers demonstrated this elite goal, including three top-7 finishers at the SEC Outdoors (Blake Morris – 10,000m, Kelsey Schweizer – 800m and Davis Helmerich – 1500m) and three first-round qualifiers at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (Kelsey Schweizer – 800m, Jenna Schwartz and Mikayla Reed – 10,000m).

But with Reed and Schweizer graduating, the Tigers will have to look elsewhere for success this season.

I am looking forward to

This fall, consistency is a process that begins before you even reach the starting line.

Levermore noted that this year’s men’s and women’s teams are in a better position than last year’s squad due to consistent offseason training and better health.

“There is a lot of excitement about what is possible and what opportunities are available,” he said.

Still, he is careful to strike a manageable tone amid the infectious “hype” surrounding fall sports. Excitement, he said, can be “kryptonite.”

It’s time to go back to basics.

Levermore wants to help the coaching staff, veterans and rookies regain awareness of who they are and what they want to accomplish, so let’s take a look at who’s new to this roster and who’s returning:

A review of the duty rosters

Although he has observed the training progress of many of his athletes over the summer, Coach Levermore said he waits to assess where each runner is and where they want to go until he observes them in practice.

Thinking about their roles and personal bests from last season as a means of prediction is a cautious strategy because it doesn’t take into account offseason development, so consider these roster notes a starting point — one that will need to be revised as each runner competes, adjusts, and challenges their position in the fall.

*XC PRs (personal records) were taken from TFRRS.org where available.

Women

Best returnees (sorted by placement at the 2023 NCAA Midwest Regional)

Jenna Schwartz

• Drives confidently, especially in the curves.
• At every competition last fall, he was the leading team member, finishing first or second
• Holds several top 10 placings in the indoor running program
• 6K: 21:00.0, 5K: 17:41.2

Nicole Louw

• An unknown threat.
• Coach Levermore: Louw “experienced ups and downs last year (but is) completely healthy again” and can therefore finally train better.

Abigail Klapatauskas

Kaia Downs

• A versatile competitor.
• From Coach Levermore: “She’s fearless. She’s pretty willing to do things that are a little intimidating.”
• Set a personal best in the 3k flat this spring and improved in the steeplechase.

Ginger Murnieks

• The senior from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, was a mid-pack finisher in every meet last fall, scoring points for the Tigers at the SEC Championships with her 6K time of 21:39.6.
• 6km: 20:46.1, 5km: 18:00.7

Isabelle Christiansen

• Holds the fastest 6K best returning women’s time set at the 2022 SEC Cross Country Championships: 20:32.7.

Return to the pack

Brianna Lee

• The New Zealand native did not compete in cross country last fall but had an impressive track season, setting personal records in the 800, 400 and 1500 meters.
• She looks forward to helping the freshmen and “giving them the support they need” as they navigate the transition to college running.
• 6K(2022): 23:02.9, 5K: 19:50.7

Allison Newman

• From Coach Levermore: “She tore her ACL two years ago and hasn’t really competed until this indoor (track and field) season.” He is excited to see a “healthy Allison Newman” compete for a full season, saying “she’s really taken her training into her own hands.”
• 6km: 21:30.9, 5km: 17:45.6

Talented transfer

Rahel Brommel (State of Arkansas)

• She is the only runner on the team who competed in the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall (place 203).
• At the German Senior Championships this summer, she finished fifth in the 1500 m, setting a personal best time of four seconds.
• Coach Levermore: “I think she’s a tremendous asset to the program… She has her sights set on November.”

Beginner runners

Natalie Barnard

• The 2023-2024 Missouri Gatorade Girls Cross Country Player of the Year is no stranger to the Gans Creek track — last fall, she set the high school track record when she won the 5A state championship.
• Sister of Elissa Barnard, who is also on the team.
• Coach Levermore: She is actually doing “a lot better than when we signed her last fall.”

Brackenbury Abbey

• Fifth place at the 2023 Missouri 5A Cross Country Championships

Men

Best returnees (sorted by placement at the 2023 NCAA Midwest Regional)

James von Ryder

• Last fall, the red-shirted sophomore attacked the mountains as if every race were a battle.
• Has led the team in several competitions.
• Coach Levermore held him out of practice last track and field season along with Drew Rogers so he could take time to train.

Blake Morris

• A veteran with newfound confidence in successful training strategies.
• The veteran finished seventh in the 10,000m at the SEC Outdoor Championships, becoming the first Missouri man to score points in the event at the SECs since 2017.
• Coach Levermore: “Austin (Popplewell) and Blake … really committed to what we did here last year.”
• 6km: 18:14.9, 8km: 24:35.1, 10km: 31:09.5

Abigail Klapatauskas

Drew Rogers

• In a cautious comparison of Rogers and his teammates to last season, Levermore said, “They are on a different level.”
• Rogers ran without a team in Kansas in the spring and managed the 10,000 m as a solo runner in under 30 minutes.
• 6km: 18:14.8, 8km: 24:14.8, 10km: 30:58.5

Austin Popplewell

• Make sure he transfers his speed work on the track to the track.
• Coach Levermore: “Austin and Blake … both had a great summer” and know how to “keep their heads down and keep working.”
• 6km: 18:51.5, 8km: 24:25.4, 10km: 31:56.8

Talented transfer

Josh Allison: Transfer (Southern Illinois)

• The Festus, Missouri native returns home to the delight of his new coach, who hopes he can help push returning players.
• Look for him near his teammates Quentin Worley and Jack Warner.
• 8K: 25:13.5, 32:24.2

Beginner runners

Andrew Hauser

• The Rock Bridge graduate will drive in front of familiar faces.
• He is an impressive 7-time Missouri 5A state champion.

Louie Endres

• Joins a strong New Zealand delegation on the team.
• Delivers an incredible 14:54.68 XC 5K.

As for who will lead the Tigers and when, Coach Levermore said he has “a job to do (and wants to) make sure we’re ready to race before we get going.” He said many of the guys on his squad have the qualities to be among the frontrunners, so he’s excited to see who will step up with an extra year of training under their belts.

Can’t wait for the morning races in the dewy weather? Don’t worry, there will be more preview reports before the season opener.

Next up? Analysis of the Tigers’ schedule, including why Coach Levermore added an extra race in September.