Jadrian Thurmon’s final Eastern Missouri Conference championship meet on Oct. 19 was a memorable one.

The Montgomery County senior won his first conference championship of his high school cross country career after coming out on top with a time of 16 minutes, 53 seconds at the EMO meet at the North Callaway High School campus. He became the fourth MCHS runner since 2019 to win an EMO individual title, joining Dawson McCown (2019-2021), Lyric Ford (2019-2020, 2022) and Malia Rodgers (2021, 2023).

As Thurmon crossed the finish line, he held up a No. 1 sign. He won his third meet of his career and his second this year.

“It really meant a lot to me because (Former MCHS) Coach (Chasity) Rodgers put a lot of work and dedication into me over the last four years,” Thurmon said. “To have somebody put that dedication into me is a very honorable thing. I’m very honored to be a part of this team. The support I had from this school and my teammates is unending. It’s just amazing.”

Thurmon was one of MCHS runners who earned all-conference honors. In the girls race, freshman Emma Rodgers placed fourth with a 22:18 and sophomore Olivia Spurgeon came in seventh with a personal best 22:49.

Spurgeon received her second all-conference award. She placed 14th in last year’s meet.

“It was a good race,” Spurgeon said. “I PR’d by about 20 seconds, so that was good. I PR’d at conference last year and PR’d at conference this year.”

Sophomore Jacob Roesner came up three places short of earning an all-league medal, placing 18th in the boys race with a 19:43.

The MCHS girls’ three-year run as EMO champs came to an end as they placed third in the team standings with 51 points. Bowling Green won the team title with 34 points and Elsberry finished second with 48.

Spurgeon said her team turns in a strong work ethic despite having just five runners.

“It’s a good team,” the sophomore said. “We all do our best and practice really hard.”

The Wildcats placed fourth with 82 points in the boys division. They also had five runners compete at the EMO meet.

Besides Thurmon, Brendan Craven, Beckham Cothren and Maddie West were the other MCHS seniors who ran at the conference meet for the final time.

Thurmon said the championship gave him plenty of motivation for the Class 3, District 3 championship meet on Nov. 2 in Fulton. The senior will look to qualify for the state meet for the third year in a row.

“It gives me a lot of confidence coming into it because the last time I was here (at North Callaway), I ran very poorly,” said Thurmon, who earned all-state honors last year with a 15th-place finish. “I ran about a 1 minute, 15 seconds slower than what I did today. Coming back and pulling that off after two really tough weeks of training to get us really amped up and ready for districts and state gave me a lot of confidence primarily because I was so relaxed. It felt easy and it felt good. I didn’t feel strained or stressed the entire time.”

Thurmon battled with three other runners for first place after the first mile before breaking away from the pack in the third mile.

“I just kind of went out there and relaxed into the first 400ish meters,” Thurmon said. “There were some people around me, but I put trust in my pace and trust the fact that I got this and my training will speak for itself. That’s what I did. I kept a consistent pace. My mile splits were 5:15, 5:20 and 5:20. They were very consistent and very much in tune of where I need to be and exactly what I wanted to be as well. he final time was not where I wanted it, but the consistency is what I was looking for, considering this course has some really sharp turns that kind of make you slow down a little bit.”

With the victory, Thurmon earned his fourth all-conference award. He placed third last year and sixth in his freshman and sophomore seasons.

“It feels pretty surreal,” Thurmon said. “It’s been four years in the making. I spent a long time working on this. It hasn’t set in yet that I actually won because it’s something I didn’t think I would be able to do.”

Thurmon is also glad that he has finalized his future plans. He plans to continue his cross country and track career at the University of Central Missouri next year.

“I really like their campus,” Thurmon said. “I like the staff there. They’re very welcoming and very kind. I’m looking to do some pretty big things while I’m there.”

Elsberry captured the boys team championship with 29 points and Falyn Davidson of Elsberry won the girls individual title.