Dawson McCown wants to continue his running career in college.

The Montgomery County senior also wants to be an occupational therapist in the future.

So he was looking for a school that is not only successful in cross country and track, but also has a strong occupational therapy program.

He found it in Maryville University.

McCown signed a letter of intent to compete in cross country and track for the NCAA Division II school in St. Louis on Dec. 2 at MCHS. Eighty percent of his tuition will be paid for.

“It’s great,” McCown said. “Throughout the whole year, I was kind of stressed out about where I was going and what I was going to do.”

McCown said he set a goal of continuing his cross country and track career in college when he was a sophomore at MCHS.

“One of my goals was to go to Division I,” McCown said. “Obviously, it was like a one in a million (chance). That was my goal for a while. Then, I had to be realistic. I had to find out where my times were compared to other times and how much I had to shave off. I was lucky enough to shave off enough time to go to a Division II school like Maryville, which is good for me. I was happy that I was able to work that hard and get there.”

McCown is enjoying an outstanding cross country and track career at MCHS. He earned all-state medals in both sports, placing sixth in the 1,600 in his junior year and finishing 11th at the state cross country meet in November. He also won three straight Eastern Missouri Conference titles in cross country.

Next year, McCown will join a Maryville cross country and track program that is coached by Kayla Kregel. She wrapped up her first season as the Saints’ cross country coach this fall.

“She improved the team a lot this year,” McCown said. “I met with the team and they were all really nice guys. They had similar goals to mine. They just hired a new coach, who is an 800-meter guy. He was amazing and he has some great goals, too. They just all fell into place.”

McCown said he knows that running at the collegiate level will be more challenging than in the high school level.
“I’m going to work really hard,” McCown said. “Then, I’m going to try really hard to improve my time from where it is now. One of my bigger and crazier goals is to be an All-American. I know a lot of that comes with time and a lot of training and a lot of ups and downs. It’s not going to be easy. It’s a whole different jump of competition.”

McCown said he is majoring in occupational therapy because he always wanted to help people.

“If I’m doing occupational therapy, I’ll be helping a broader set of people,” he said. “So I’ll be helping little kids to adults.”