Inductees

They run in candy-stripe shorts not for show but to challenge themselves to maintain a standard and then, in the truest meaning of the word team, they don’t leave a teammate behind – even during the most important race of the year.

In simple terms, this is why the West Plains High School Cross Country Program is arguably the best in the state.

“The power of the pack lies in the wolf and the power of the wolf lies in the pack,” longtime coaches Joe Bill Dixon and Alicia Gunter like to say.

With a motto of “Together Everyone Achieves More,” the Zizzers have won a combined 25 state championships – 13 by the boys, 12 by the girls – and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the West Plains High School Cross Country Program with the Class of 2019.

The boys team has made 41 consecutive trips to the state meet since 1978. The championships cover 1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2008. The 2017 team came within six points of winning it all and was among 12 teams that finished as state runners-up.

Meanwhile, the girls program has advanced to 38 state meets – 34 consecutive – and won it in 1985, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The girls also placed as the state runner-up nine times, falling short of titles by only six points in 1986 and five points in 2005.

The program’s roots date to the late 1960s when West Plains’ five rural schools (K-8) offered cross country. Dixon (MSHOF 2001) began his coaching career in 1968 at Richards R-5 School in West Plains, started a local AAU Junior Olympic program, and, 10 years later, West Plains High School fielded cross country teams.

Dixon has coached ever since, and took over the girls program in 1983 after coach Bill Sharp’s departure. Zizzers Cross County was enhanced in 2003 with the addition of Gunter, who had competed on West Plains teams in the falls of 1991 to 1994. She has continued to raise the bar, which began almost immediately in the late 1970s.

In only its second season (1979), the West Plains boys won state, upsetting St. Louis’ Lindbergh High School, which had won six consecutive state championships.

“We were ready in 1979, and I knew how to train them differently,” Dixon said, noting that Lindbergh also lost a key runner to injury. “We were both really good teams, and we were just a little better on that day.

“Lindbergh and other teams didn’t see West Plains as a threat,” Dixon added. “We had overcome some obstacles earlier in the season with our top runner being injured and that kind of inspired the whole team.”

In cross country, the lowest team score wins. For instance, the 2004 girls’ top five runners finished at Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, for a perfect 15 score.

Dixon, a former basketball/track athlete and West Plains High School graduate, has instituted year-round training since Day 1 and, for races, packs in runners to help bring along teammates.

The candy-stripe running shorts were added years ago for a couple of reasons: 1, to help the Zizzers see each other in races so that they could close gaps and 2, to finish under a certain time.

State champions were Chris Zinn (1981-1983), Jon Hatley (1985), Lisa Brown, Sean Carlson (1993), Jason Sandfort (2000), Jennifer Harper (2004) and Brittani Johnson (2005, 2006).

“Our kids have been willing to sacrifice a spot or two up front in order to bring runners with them,” according to Dixon and Gunter. “We probably have more discipline on how our kids run than other programs.”

“We don’t have a hard, fast rule that our athletes have to be there every morning and every night, but the kids buy in to what we are doing,” Gunter added.

The program has benefitted from assistant coaches over the years such as Chris Marcak, Ramona Cline Talburt, Scott Womack, Randy Schutzer, Doyle Pitts, Alan Moss, Marvin Hatley, Chris Taylor, Dan Taylor, Ted Wilkening and Abby Eldringhoff. Jack Hunter was a long-time supporter, and local sports writer Dennis Crider promoted the sport.

“The coaching staff is a team and the kids become our family,” Gunter said. “It doesn’t seem like work when you’re doing something you love. We train and work very hard, but we also have a ton of fun together.”