"I felt like we really worked together as a team and pushed closer together," Edwardsville junior Morgan Popelar said.
- Paul Halfacre | Post-Dispatch
"If you want to be great at this, you have to think outside the box," Brianna Krueger said.
- Paul Halfacre | Post-Dispatch
Read about some of the ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ area's top high school girls cross country runners as the season gets under way.
- Paul Halfacre
Cor Jesu senior Mary McKenzie is the Post-Dispatch All-Metro girls cross country runner of the year.
- Paul Halfacre
Read about the ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ area's top high school girls cross country runners and their accomplishments throughout the 2025 season.
- Paul Halfacre
"I'm just so grateful for this day and everything I did this year,"Â St. Charles West junior Brianna Krueger said.
- Paul Halfacre
"I remember my coach saying make your move, it's now or never," Nerinx Hall's Grace Murphy said.
Two defending state champions are in the Green Division race.
Read about some of the ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ area's top high school girls cross country runners as the season gets under way.
"If we're in a race, she's like, 'I'm running for the win.' " St. Joseph's coach Scott House said.
St. Charles West sophomore Brianna Krueger is the Post-Dispatch All-Metro girls cross country runner of the year.
Read about the ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ area's top high school girls cross country runners and their accomplishments throughout the 2024 season.
Festus coach Wesley Armbruster said: "That was our strategy — make someone beat us."
St. Charles West sophomore Krueger said: "We don't come out here expecting sunshine and rainbows all the time. This is a sport where we have to fight."
"It's so much fun to do it with the team that we can celebrate together," Panthers senior Yuri Malone said.
"It's so exciting," Eureka's Daphne Bishop said. "It feels so fake because we’ve been working for this for so long and we finally did it."
"My teammates told me it’s like any other race," Liberty sophomore Bella Navaro-Sanchez said. "Just push through and stay strong."
Check out a breakdown of the area's top runners and teams heading into state cross country meets.
SMITHTON, Ill. — It was a title that Cameron Crump didn't want.
"It was unbelievable," Brianna Krueger said.
The Forest Park Festival is one of the top high school cross country events in the Midwest.
"It's inspiring just to see like her hard work pays off, and it makes me have high hopes for myself," Brentwood sophomore Natalie Kuelker said of teammate Kensington Curd.
Read about some of the ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ area's top high school girls cross country runners as the season gets under way.
"I had so much love and support from my athletes," Civic Memorial coach Jake Peal said.
Lafayette senior Natalie Barnard is the Post-Dispatch All-Metro girls cross country runner of the year.
Read about the ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ area's top high school girls cross country runners and their accomplishments throughout the 2023 season.
The senior was the Lancers' third consecutive individual state champion.
The Angels won the Class 4 girls cross country championship, which is only the program's second state trophy.
The Warriors retained their title with a victory of almost a whopping 100 points.Â
The Eagles sophomore became her school's first state title winner in cross country.
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Check out some of the best performances produced by ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ area high school athletes last week.
Check out the first Post-Dispatch Athletes of the Week for the 2026-27 school year!
×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ area high school athletes brought home the gold and made a lot of history last week.