Before she joined the Montgomery County cross country team this fall, Jaidyn Milligan was no stranger to running.

She was a standout for the High Hill Hounds youth cross country team. She also had a successful season with the Montgomery County Middle School squad.

Now, Milligan is enjoying an outstanding freshman season at MCHS that will end with a trip to the Class 2 state cross country meet. She qualified for state by placing 22nd with a time of 21:50 at the Class 2, District 3 championship meet on Saturday at Owensville High School.

A year ago, the Wildcats didn’t have any state qualifiers. Their seven-year streak of state qualifiers ended.

This year, Milligan will be the Wildcats’ lone representative at the state finals at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia. She is also the fourth MCHS runner in the last eight seasons to qualify for state, joining a group that includes Lyric Ford (2019), Malia Rodgers (2020) and Emma Rodgers (2024).

“I’m really excited,” Milligan said. “I think it’s going to be a really good opportunity. I’m not really sure how it’s going to go when I get there, but I’m excited to get a chance to try.”

The Class 2 girls race is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, which will be the first race of the two-day state meet weekend. Milligan said she is looking forward to running in the morning.

“I much prefer running in the morning than in the afternoon,” the freshman said. “In the afternoons, you have too much time to think about it. If you do it in the morning, you’re still tired whenever you get there and you’re ready to go.”

Milligan was one of just six MCHS runners who competed at the district meet on Saturday. The Wildcats dropped to Class 2 this year after competing in Class 3 for several years.

Sophomore Anna Johnson placed 44th with a 23:16 in the girls race. Freshman Caleb Waters was the Wildcats’ top finisher in the boys race, placing 49th with a 19:22. He was followed by freshman Ashton Hampton (113th, 21:52), freshman Dylan Finke (134th, 24:08) and freshman Blake Welker (144th, 26:19).

Wellsville-Middletown’s season ended on Saturday as it didn’t have any runners qualify out of the Class 1, District 3 meet at Van-Far High School. Silas Jones finished 87th with a 22:43, followed by Lucas Spiers (102nd, 25:21), Zeke Bradley (106th, 28:25) and Luke Nelson (107th, 28:47).

Milligan earned her sixth medal of the season, which is more than any other MCHS runner. She has been valuable for the Wildcats from the first meet of the season on Sept. 12, when she placed third in the Palmyra Invitational. She won the South Callaway Invitational and earned all-Eastern Missouri Conference honors with an eighth-place finish at the EMO meet on Oct. 17.

Milligan said she enjoyed being a teammate with Johnson this fall. They started running together years ago when they were members of the High Hill Hounds.

“It’s awesome,” Milligan said. “If she wouldn’t have been here, it would have been way different. It was nice having somebody to run with this year. It was fun.”

Milligan joined the Hounds in 2020, which was the first year of the program. She earned many honors during her six years with the team, including a first-place finish at the Legion of Hannibal Challenge in the 13-14 girls division last year.

Milligan said the Hounds helped her prepare for the high school level.

“If I wouldn’t have started when I did, I would be way behind where I am now,” Milligan said. “The coaches that I had until now pushed me really hard. I think that made me a lot of the person that I am now as far as running goes.”

Also last year, Milligan earned several medals with the MCMS squad, including a first-place finish at the New Haven Invitational.

Milligan was one of nine freshmen who qualified for the Class 2 state girls race on Saturday. Houston freshman Myles Copley won the individual district title.