Montgomery County senior Jadrian Thurmon wrapped up his high school cross country career on a high note on Nov. 9.

Thurmon earned his second straight all-state cross country medal, finishing 22nd with a 17:28.5 under wet and chilly conditions at the Class 3 state boys race at Gans Creek Course in Columbia. He was one of 162 runners who competed in the race.

Thurmon extended the Wildcats’ streak of all-state medalists to six years in a row with his finish. He joined a group of all-state medalists that included Lyric Ford (2019-2022), Malia Rodgers (2020-21) and Dawson McCown.

Thurmon also made his third appearance at the state meet. Last year, he placed 15th with a personal-best time of 16:17.9 after coming in 71st in 2022.

Thurmon’s performance at Columbia was a great ending to a cross country season in which the Wildcats had 10 runners and had a new coach in Bruce Powers. Powers took over coaching duties for Chasity Rodgers, who headed the program for 12 years before stepping down.

The other runners on the team were freshman Emma Rodgers, sophomores Jacob Roesner and Olivia Spurgeon, juniors Cooper Sellenriek, Taylor River and Katlyn Kolling and seniors Beckham Cothren, Brendan Craven and Maddie West.

Rodgers also competed at the Class 3 state meet. She placed 78th with a 22:07.6 in the girls race. Rodgers’ trip to state concluded an outstanding freshman season that included first-place finishes at the season-opening Mexico Invitational and the North Callaway Invitational. She finished with seven medals.

Thurmon, who plans to continue his running career at the University of Central Missouri next year, picked up his seventh medal of the season at state. He won two races, the Gans Creek Classic White Division race and the Eastern Missouri Conference meet.

Thurmon and Rodgers were the Wildcats’ only representatives at the state meet. They qualified for Columbia by finishing fifth and 27th, respectively, at the district meet on Nov. 2 in Fulton. It’s the seventh year in a row MCHS had at least one state qualifier.

Thurmon credits Powers and Chasity Rodgers for the Wildcats’ postseason success.

“They put a lot of effort into our training,” Thurmon said after the district meet. “Coach Rodgers put in a lot of effort into how she trains us. Coach Powers stepped in as the head coach this year and did a phenomenal job, being encouraging after workouts. Even if we run bad, he’ll be like, ‘Good job, guys. Good workout.’ He’s just awesome. I think sending kids to state seven times in a row really speaks to the hard work and the work ethic we have as a team and as individuals in this sport.”

Spurgeon competed in six meets this season. She earned all-Eastern Missouri Conference honors for the second year in a row after placing seventh at the EMO meet on Oct. 19 at North Callaway High School.

Craven, Sellenriek, Roesner, Cothren, West and Kolling each picked up a medal at the Wellsville-Middletown meet on Sept. 23.