Mizzou cross country earns first team berth to NCAA Championships since 2016

For nearly a decade, a Mizzou cross-country team has been left out of the NCAA Cross Country Championships, either just sending individuals or ending its season with the Midwest Regional.

But as fate would have it, Mizzou secured its first team berth to the national championships since 2016 the same year it’s set to host.

Thanks to a fourth-place finish and a pair of all-region honors at the Midwest Regional on Friday in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the Tigers will finish their season where it started: Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

“This has been circled on our calendar for the last two years, and it feels incredibly rewarding to see the work we’ve put in translate into an opportunity to compete for a national championship on our home course,” Mizzou coach Kyle Levermore said following the selection.

At the Midwest Regional, Mizzou scored 141 points against a slate of highly ranked opponents, including No. 6 Iowa State, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 11 Northwestern.

Freshman Monica Wanjiku paced the Tigers against their regional foes, securing sixth with a time of 20 minutes, 10.1 seconds. Fellow freshman Kobi Walker also impressed after clocking 21:01.6, good for 24th. Both earned All-Region honors in their debut cross-country season.

Following their selection Saturday, the Tigers are one of 32 women’s teams competing at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Automatic bids were awarded to the top-two teams from each of the nine regions, and the NCAA selected an additional 14 at-large teams to fill out the field.

“It’s a huge milestone for our program,” Levermore said. “It has truly been a team effort every single day. We’re going to enjoy this week at home, recover, and get ready to go again on Saturday.”

Mizzou alum Karissa Schweizer led the women’s team’s last shot at nationals in 2016, where the Olympian secured the individual champion title, her sole cross-country title of her decorated collegiate career.

The Tigers will compete in the women’s title race at 9:20 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.

Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian

This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Mizzou cross country earns first team berth to NCAA Championships since 2016."