For Kirk Pedersen, his arrival to the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg in the mid-1980s wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a pit stop on the way back to rural Iowa. There he was, a college graduate in need of a job, so he figured a graduate assistant role for UCM track and… Read more »
News
Sport: Running/Cross Country
Potosi High School Boys Cross Country Program
In eastern Missouri, where two-lane highways wind and dart through the pines in and near the Mark Twain National Forest, you’ll find a quaint community called Potosi. From here has risen a giant in high school cross country, and for good reason. In the 1990s and on, middle schoolers logged 40 miles a week, increasing… Read more »
Jason Pyrah
Willard, Mo., native Jason Pyrah is no stranger to Halls of Fame or track and field championships. He is a five-time high school track All-American and a six-time Missouri track champion (800, 1,600, and 3,200 meters). He still holds two Missouri state records, and in 1987 ran the faster mile of ANY high school athlete in… Read more »
Tom Rackers
Growing up in Jefferson City, with his dad, Robert, working as the advertising manager at the News Tribune, Tom Rackers spent his days reading all about the sports stars of Kansas City, St. Louis and in his hometown. Back then, five newspapers combined from those I-70 cities were delivered to the family’s doorstep – two… Read more »
Tom Rutledge
Tom Rutledge came to Missouri Southern in 1988 as an assistant football coach and in 1989 became the first head cross country and track and field coach for both the men’s and women’s programs. Since that time, Rutledge has been named MIAA Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year five times and Indoor Coach of… Read more »
1984 Southeast Missouri State University National Championship Cross Country Team
On November 17, 1984, the Southeast Missouri State University team capped a fairy tale season in Clinton, Mississippi (Mississippi College) by placing three runners in the top 10, scoring 87 points to Edinboro University’s 129 and winning the National Championship.
Patty Vavra
In the immediate years following passage of federal Title IX legislation – the 1972 law which created athletic opportunities for girls and women in public schools and universities – one thing was abundantly clear: Much work remained for competitors to be taken seriously. Fortunately, Patty Vavra was among those who led the way. When she… Read more »
Warrensburg High School Cross Country Program
Scroll through the list of Missouri high school cross country state top four finishers, and Warrensburg High School takes up a ton of real estate: 31 top-fours combined for the boys and girls programs, including 10 state championships. That’s why Warrensburg runners from the 1970s and early 1980s beam about it all these days. After… Read more »
West Plains High School Cross Country Program
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… Read more »
2016 Class Wynn Awards
CLASS OF 2016 (Inaugural Class) Marjorie (DeMarino) Bankovich — Missouri State University Monique (Willcut) Begley — Camdenton High School Angie (Bullock) Homeyer — Springfield Catholic High School Angela (Beckett) Johnson — Monett High School Julie Martin –– Springfield angler Kerry (Speaker) North — Lebanon High School/University of Missouri Jamie Vest — Stoutland High School/Missouri State… Read more »
2022 Class – Wynn Awards
CLASS of 2022 Neely Burkhart — Joplin High School/Missouri Southern State University) Teri Steer Cantwell — Olympic shot putter and former University of Missouri track & field assistant coach Julie O’Dell Griffith — Logan-Rogersville High School/Evangel University Chelsea Dirks-Ham — Missouri State University Amanda Hoenes — Branson High School/United States Marines Corps/Colorado State University Kim… Read more »
2021 Class – Wynn Awards
CLASS OF 2021 Denise Buchanan (Glendale High School/University of Kansas) Val Sauer Crawford (Rolla High School/University of Missouri) Lindsey Bourne-Green (Joplin High School/University of Oklahoma) Lynne Miller (Grand Island, Nebraska High School/Missouri State University) Chealsey Russell (Kickapoo High School/Rice University/Tulsa University/McKendree University) Amy Lodes Witte (Lindbergh High School/Columbia College) Callie Newton-Woods (Republic High School/Drury University
2020 Class – Wynn Awards
CLASS OF 2020 Sandy Rippee-Hammers (Hillcrest High School/Drury University) Amy Russell McNew (Branson High School/Missouri State University) Cindy Russell Rear (Branson High School/College of the Ozarks) Tina Keller Montez (Carl Junction High School/Missouri Southern State University) Kelly Richardson (Willard High School/Evangel University) Virginia MacKenzie Sparks (Festus High School/Jefferson College/Southwest Baptist University)
2019 Class – Wynn Awards
CLASS OF 2019 Mindy Bullard Coyle (Warrensburg High School/University of Missouri) Jo Ann Harrison (Southwest Baptist University Tammy Townsend Holder (Neosho High School) Anne-Mary McGrath (Springfield-Greene County Park Board) Cindy Metts — (Seymour High School, Lebanon High School volleyball coach) Taira Roth — (St. Joseph Central High School and Missouri Western State University) Lisa Tinkler… Read more »
2018 Class – Wynn Awards
CLASS OF 2018 Shelley Seider Davis (Rich Hill High School/Pittsburg State University) Brianne McGuirk Madura (Missouri State University) Lorin Opfer –– Glendale High School Alix Opfer — Glendale High School Kasey Opfer — Glendale High School Brenda Hayes Raynor (Branson High School/Missouri State University) Trudi Spain (Missouri State University) Dana Ozbun Stillwagon (Doniphan High School/Southwest… Read more »