Inductees

Imagine presenting this idea to a high schooler: Run a 5-kilometer race once a week, often on rugged terrain and then run some more – or quite a bit more, actually – in weekday practices. And expect the gut to ache and the finish line always to seem as if it’s a mile away.

“I think it takes a different kind of kid to run cross country,” Logan-Rogersville coach Kevin Boyer said. “There are no banners to run through on Friday nights. There are no Friday Night Lights. It’s just a mentality.”

Fortunately, that mentality has defined the Logan-Rogersville High School Girls Cross Country Program, which is being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame with the Class of 2021.

Since launching in 1995, Logan-Rogersville has a dozen Top 10 finishes at state. That includes three consecutive Class 2 state championships (1998, 1999, 2000) – a feat accomplished by only six other girls programs.

And they didn’t waste time writing the narrative. The 1997 team tied for second place in Class 3 – and was only eight points away from winning it all – thanks, in part, to Carrie Sell Beasley capturing the individual title. That season is among four other top four finishes, with the 2002 team (fourth) and 2003 team (third) fueling more tradition.

Additionally, the program has won the same number (eight) of district and conference championships, and 12 runners have earned college scholarships. Eleven runners have combined for 26 All-State honors.

“When we (started the program) we thought, ‘This will be fun and we’ll see where it leads,” said Beasley, who in 1997 led a team that included Theresa Hale Deal, Maggie Boyers Sellars, Kris Woolf Pearce, Jessie Thompson McCrea and Aubree Dock Keck. “(In 1997) we sensed we could be good but we didn’t know what to expect.”

Credit Boyer for helping to create the foundation. After coaching a transfer in 1994, he successfully encouraged then-athletic director Gary McDaniel to get behind the idea of fielding a varsity program.

Soon, Logan-Rogersville offered cross country for boys and girls. Even better, success in the early years attracted about 10 runners annually for each team.

Boyer has been a steady influence ever since. He coached from 1995 to 1999, 2001 to 2004 and again from 2011 to 2020. In fact, he mapped a number of the country road routes that stood for years – Reba, the JT Loop, Logan Cemetery, Second Railroad Track, Elementary Loop, 5-mile Loop and Ego route.

“There was one time when we hit a storm, and a local farmer picked us up and got us back to the high school,” Boyer said.

The 1998 team won every race, except for a runner-up at the Rim Rock Invitational in Lawrence, Kansas. They featured Pearce, Casey DeWitt Wilson, Alyse McGinnis Fields, Elizabeth Gillebeau Brooks, Kristen Keene Miller, Keck, Esther Hopkins Hutchens and Mollie Mohan. The top four finished Nos. 3, 5, 7 and 10 at state.

“We were just a real, close-knit team. We did everything together,” Pearce said. She later added, “Some of my best memories were the boys and girls who might not have been the top runners but were just as big of contributors as the rest of us.”

The camaraderie magnified the next season when Pearce and McGinnis nursed injuries, with Pearce running only in the district and state meets. Kim Miller Carroll, a freshman, boosted the team, too.

However, Boyer left for an assistant coaching job at Illinois State, and Mark Vert – the team’s bus driver who also coached multiple sports – was promoted.

“From that moment, I felt like, ‘OK, Mark, the pressure is on. If they don’t win the state title, it will be your fault,’” Vert said.

The 2000 team repeated with a roster of Pearce, DeWitt, Fields, Mohan, Miller, Heather Jarvis and Lindsay Pyle.

The 2002 team included Waltbillig, Leah Oatman, Miller, Emily Seaton Harris, Alysia Gaddie and Anne Carter Tillman. The 2003 team included Jennifer Hufham Hill, Oatman, Waltbillig, Katie Durr and Jessica Russell.

Four-time All-State performers were DeWitt and Carter, while Pearce and Carroll earned the distinction three times. Two-time All-Staters were Sell, McCrea, Brooks, Oatman and Allie Pell. McGinnis and Jordan Waltbillig also were All-State.

Other coaches have been Jessie Thompson, Natalie Blinzler Precise, Ed. D as well as Brad Lotz and Josh Hart (2021).

“As parents and coaches, we don’t get wrapped up in the accolades,” Boyer said. “We were always interested in building up good young women and good young men.”

In other words, a state championship mentality.