Distance
Joplin's Micah Bruggeman had an incredibly strong sophomore season and showcased his talents at the highest level at the 2019 Class 5 State Meet.
Bruggeman posted personal bests in 2019 in the 800 of 1:55.72, good enough for 3rd at the state meet behind Lazarus Williams and Gabe McClain and ahead of Jack Warner and reigning state champ Martin Strong. His district meet throw down with Clayton Whitehead in which he finished second in a personal best 4:18.99 showed just how fearless of a racer he is. He followed that up with another second place finish in a more tactical race at the sectional meet and a sixth place finish in 4:19.70 at the state meet.
He was Top 35 in the nation in both the 800 and 1600 among sophomores.
The Joplin native also ran 9:46.03 in the 3200 and posted a 15:57.70 5K this fall. With this kind of range, Bruggeman is a star in the making.
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Nick Cimmarusti - Francis Howell
Nick Cimmarusti seems to be the male equivalent of newly-minted all-state XC runner on the other side of the team, Sarah Russom. A consistent front-runner, he made massive gains in 2019 and carried those over into an even stronger winter of indoor racing.
The Howell junior finished out his sophomore year with 4:33.24 and 9:43.70 bests in the 1600 and 3200. He then ran no slower than 17:01 in his junior cross country campaign and faster than that in 10 of 11 tries, finishing with a 16:14.00 best at Louisville and 16:20.90 on the new state course.
His indoor campaign showed that there was much more coming down the pipeline this spring as he posted a lifetime best in the Mile (4:31.56; equivalent to a 4:29.98 1600) and missed his outdoor 3200 personal best by a mere 0.22 seconds.
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Grandview's Reginald King burst onto the scene when he took Helias superstar Jack Crull to the line in the 2019 Class 4 800 final. He finished out his sophomore campaign with a 1:58.55 for second at the state meet, improving on the 2:01.58 he ran as a freshman.
King is the prototypical long sprinter as his open 400 best shows. In his only attempt in 2019, he posted a respectable 52.16 in very early April.
Though the 1:58.55 is what shows up on his profile, King also split 1:56.5 to bring his squad to the state meet in the 4x800 relay. A football player in the fall, we only get to see this star shine in the spring, and we were expecting him to shine very brightly in 2020.
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In 2018, then-freshman Cale Littrell posted the 15th fastest 1600 among freshmen in state history with his 4:29.85 clocking for the Class 5 District 4 victory. He followed that up with a 4:23.59 posting as a sophomore, the second fastest mark in the state among 10th graders, behind only the afore-mentioned Bruggeman.
Littrell has also been a key member of Hickman's strong 4x800 teams, most recently as a member of their 7:49.98 squad. At the 2019 state meet, Littrell contributed a blistering fast 1:56.67 anchor split to help the team earn a 3rd place finish.
On the cross country course, Littrell has posted a personal best of 16:05.64 (2018) and ran 16:20 or faster four times this fall.
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Poplar Bluff's Jaden Deaton was definitely one to watch heading into high school, but it was his junior year of cross country where he took his biggest step into the state-wide spotlight.
Coming off a 2019 track campaign in which he posted bests in the 800, 1600, and 3200 of 2:02.75, 4:30.19 and 9:55.55, respectively, Deaton grabbed four individual victories including the Class 4 District 1 meet, and seven total top 5 finishes. He then proceeded to run 15:57.00 for 22nd at the state cross country meet to shut the door on a stellar 3rd season of XC.
On the indoor track, Deaton carried over his success with a 4:25.59 full mile (4:24.05 1600 equivalent) and 9:07.65 3K (9:48.01 3200 equivalent).
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Merrick Hoel - University City
Very quietly, University City's Merrick Hoel has been putting together a stellar cross country and track career.
As a sophomore, Hoel put together a 2:33.09/5:21.96/11:42.07 line in the 800/1600/3200 and, though it didn't translate to any state meet berths, the success she had carried over into her junior year cross country campaign. On the course, Hoel finished in the top 8 at every meet she contested except the Class 3 state meet where she finished 16th in 19:30.70. She was the Clayton Invitational champ and finished 3rd to two other strong juniors Macy Schelp and Kylie Goldfarb at the Class 3 District 2 meet.
Hoel also finished 12th as a sophomore at the final state meet at Oak Hills Golf Center. The 2019 was her first outdoor track season which means even more success should be on the horizon with more experience.
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Another quietly stellar talent, Platte County's Taylor Giger puts up a resume that is strikingly similar to the afore-mentioned Hoel.
As a sophomore, Giger posted a 20:37.00 personal best in the cross country course and then followed it up with 5:33.76 and 11:46.93 1600 and 3200 marks in her first career track campaign. She finished 11th at the state meet in the 3200.
Giger finished just out of a 13 places out of a medal spot at Gans Creek this fall, but the 67-second year-over-year improvement to 19:30.60 shows that big things are coming from Giger.
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Cheyenne Melvin and Chelby Melvin - McCluer
Did you know that McCluer's Cheyenne Melvin was the Class 4 state champion in 2019, ahead of fellow sophomore Haley Luna (Platte County)? Of course you did, you're a smart person and all...
But did you know that her twin sister Chelby was the runner-up in the 300 hurdles at that same meet?
Man, nothing gets past you...
Well, this spring, the Melvin sisters were on a crash course to take the entire Class 4 state meet by storm.
Cheyenne, coming off that 400 meter victory, turned heads on the indoor track all winter with her 25.93 200, 57.50 400, and 2:15.76 800. The 2:15.76 800, a MO No. 1 on the indoor circuit, came three weeks before her 2:15.93 at the Mizzou Indoor Series Championship meet.
Heading into March, Cheyenne Melvin, in only her first season working with the half mile, was already sitting at 2:15, seemingly ready to take over the 400/800 scene in Class 4.
But wait, don't forget about Chelby! Now twice all-state in the 300 hurdles, Chelby had actually tried her hand in the 800 before her sister, posting a 2:31.60 at one of the first meets of the 2019 outdoor season and 2:34.48 as a freshman. She then went 58.99 in the 400 this winter, showing she has similar wheels to her sister.
If the Melvin sisters were to put their eggs in the 400/800/hurdles baskets, they could, theoretically, single handedly lead McCluer to the podium in Class 4, especially if both girls can contribute in the relays again, too.
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Continuing with the trend of silently talented athletes, Timberland's Madilyn Moore has put together a solid career in her first two and a half years.
Moore punched herself a ticket to the state track meet as a sophomore when she ran 5:21.08 at the Class 5 Sectional 2 meet and followed it up with a 5:22.92 posting for 12th in Columbia.
She has tended to focus on the 800 (2:30.77) and 1600 over her first two seasons as she's only posted a 3200 time twice in two years, but this past cross country showed that she has the chops over the longer distances, too. Her 19:35.32 at the Sectional 2 earned her 5th in a solid race and her 19:22.00 was good enough for 32nd at the state meet.
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Madelyn Gray - Ft. Zumwalt South
Gray was so close to her first all-state medal in cross country this November when she finished 28th in 19:10.80. After 7th and 14th place finishes at the district and sectional meets, she again showed up big when it truly mattered, but finished a mere 3 spots off in the fastest state meet race we've ever seen.
On the track, Gray has had a great deal of success, particularly in the half mile. In 2019, she finished 4th at the Class 4 state meet with her 2:20.35 personal best, her fifth straight mark under 2:30, and the third fastest mark among sophomores in the entire state.
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