After Montgomery County senior Malia Rodgers won the girls race of the Eastern Missouri Conference championship meet on Oct. 14 at North Callaway High School, she received some kind words from her coach and mother, Chasity Rodgers.

Chasity said to Malia, “I love you.”

“My mom has been a very important factor throughout my four years (in high school),” Malia Rodgers said. “She’s been my coach for nine years. For her not to be my coach would be something that I can’t even fathom, so it will be something that I might have to do next year. She’s been my No. 1 supporter.”

Rodgers won the EMO individual championship for the second time in three years and helped her girls team capture the conference crown for the third straight year. MCHS won the 10-team meet by just one point. The Wildcats scored 36 points, while Bowling Green finished with 37.

“I’m glad we won,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers won the EMO meet with a season-best time of 19:56. She missed last year’s conference meet at North Callaway due to a groin injury. She won the individual title in her sophomore year.

Freshmen Austyn Robinson and Olivia Spurgeon also earned all-conference honors for the Wildcats. Robinson placed fourth with a 22:17 and Spurgeon came in 14th with a 23:22. All-conference awards are given to the top 15 finishers.

Senior Olivia Shaw came up two places short of earning all-conference honors for the third year in a row as she placed 17th with a 23:49. The week before, Shaw helped the volleyball team capture its sixth straight EMO crown.

Sophomore Baleigh Nichols placed 24th with a 25:31, sophomore Katlyn Kolling finished 26th with a 25:55 and sophomore Taylor River came in 31st with a 26:49.

Junior Madison West was the conference champion in the junior varsity girls division. She finished 36th with a 32:04.

Junior Jadrian Thurmon earned all-league honors for the third year in a row after placing third with a season-best 16:34.10 in the boys race. Thurmon now has five medals this season.

Also for the Wildcats, freshman Jacob Roesner finished 20th with a 19:26.91, junior Beckham Cothren placed 21st with a 12:26.96, sophomore Cooper Sellenriek came in 22nd with a 19:32.91 and junior Brendan Craven was 30th with a 20:30.24. MCHS finished third in the team standings with 82 points.

Rodgers said she was amazed with the fan support her team received at the meet. About 20 MCHS students came to North Callaway to cheer on the Wildcats.

“That was so cool,” Rodgers said. “We never had anything like that before. I thank (MCHS librarian) April McCown for that one. She took the van. People signed up. There was a cheer block at the starting line. We never had a cheer block in a cross country meet. It made me smile at the start. I started laughing.”

Rodgers competed in her fourth race of the 2023 season. The two-time all-state performer missed the first two weeks due to a stress fracture. She missed the final month of last season because of her groin injury.
Rodgers suffered a stress fracture in August. She said having an injury was not a good way to start her senior year.

“It was really hard,” Rodgers said. “When I knew I had my stress fracture, I biked and swam once a day every day for two weeks. Coming back to running, I felt better, but getting back to that race shape was hard for me. So in my first three meets, I felt like I was in a hole.”

With her victory at the EMO meet, Rodgers now has three medals this season. She placed fourth in the Laker Invitational at Camdenton and seventh in the Gans Creek Classic.

“She is really amazing,” Robinson said. “She’s really good at cross country. We’re really proud of her. She’s a phenomenal runner. Some of the things I see her do are mind-blowing.”

Ever since she joined the MCHS cross country team in her freshman year, Rodgers has won four meets and earned a total of 25 medals. Rodgers credits her mother – who has been coaching the Wildcats since 2012 – for her outstanding career.

“She has prepared me mentally for everything I can do in cross country and everything that I will do in life,” the senior said. “I’m forever grateful for her.”