Inductees

Look through the cross country portion of the website of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), and they are right up there with the giants.

It’s pretty remarkable, really. Running cross country for Linn High School and getting noticed has required grueling offseason workouts and in-season practices. And all for a program located in a community of only 1,300-plus.

And yet there they are, with a lot of hardware taking up the trophy case.

“We always reminded the athletes that they represented more than just themselves when they put on that uniform that said ‘Linn’ on the front!” said Tim Bower, a Linn graduate and coach. “Whether we won or not, my kids always made me proud, and I just wanted to be a good steward of the program during my tenure.”

So many runners made certain of it, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted the Linn High School Cross Country Program with the Class of 2025.

The Linn Wildcats – both the boys and girls teams – have built a tradition in Class 1, with 36 finishes in the Top 10. That features 22 top four finishes, including seven state titles.

The boys won five state championships (1987, 1989, 1998, 1999, 2011) and five state runner-up finishes (1988, 2000, 2010, 2012, 2013), as well as third-place trophies in 1995 and 1997, and fourth in 1996 and 2009. Kaleb Wilson (2011) and Tyler Rush (2012) were state champions.

The girls’ great run was from 1998 to 2005. They won state championship in 1999 and 2003, placed third in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005 and were fourth in 2000 and 2004.

Call it an incredible story for a varsity program that began in 1978. More than 40 runners turned out in the inaugural season. Coaches over the years have been Lonnie Thompson (1978-1980, 1986-1989), Scott Connor (1981-1983), Dave Pfiefffer (1984-1985), Tim Bower (1990, 2002-2016), Brian Kirk (1991), Brett Phillips (1992-2001), Suann Bower (2017-2019) and Robyn Baker (2020 to present).

The boys’ other top 10s were 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008 and 2014.

Linn’s 1987 state champs won the district against the previous season’s state champs, state runner-up and fourth-place finisher, and then won state by 19 points.

The team included Michael Brandt, Steven Patterson, Richard Bower, Perry Klouzek, Alan Hueste, Steve Scheulen, Doug Voss, Jay Holt, Mike Jurd, Sean Alexander, William Distler, Shane Blackburn, and Darren Schenherr.

Klouzek, Bower, Hueste, Scheulen were on the 1989 state team that included Jay Holt, Mark Brandt, Terry Tschappler, Nathan Voss, Chad Cantriel, and Dale Heislen.

“What really made Linn tough to beat was the depth one through 10 and the increase in time spent training for the season,” Thompson said.

Success continued in the 1990s.

“We were just determined to get the program to a championship level,” Phillips said, noting the 1993 and 1994 teams were state qualifiers after a tough 1992 finish. “We had a bunch of great kids and a handful of them were great leaders who made sacrifices for the better of the team.”

The 1998 boys had All-State finishers in Colby Nilges, Joe McKim, Justin Barnes, Adam Rector and Matt Siefert and edged Steelville by seven points.

Nilges, Siefert and Jake Hinton were All-State to lead the 1999 team, with Siefert a four-time All-State finisher.

Meanwhile, the junior high school program was undefeated from 1997-2001.

The 2011 boys team edged Sparta 78-79, with Wilson and Rush finishing 1-2. Chase Barbarick placed ninth, and Joey Nilges, Kyle Dudenhoeffer, Greg Spillman and Timmy Rackers battled for the fourth to seventh spots. Wilson had been the seventh man on the junior high team his first year.

Meanwhile, the girls’ other top 10s were in 1988, 1991, 1997, 2006 and 2016.

Two years after winning its first district title, the 1999 girls state champs featured Christa Maassen, Jennifer Kirk, Emily Reinkemeyer, Amanda Verdot and Lissa Masso.

“We would go to meets and everyone knew we were there. Everyone was gunning for us,” Phillips said. “We thrived off that.”

The 2003 team had two seniors, Kara Stumpe and Katti Herman, with state experience, and sophomores Ashley Bunch, Alicia Statler and freshmen Mandi Scheulen and Brittany Walsh bolstered the roster. They found inspiration in junior Rachel Bettis, who missed the season following a serious car accident.

The induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame punctuates it all.

Said Phillips, “The common denominator was always a great bunch of kids and a supportive community who were driven to excellence.”