GAC South Invitational up next Thursday for Trojan teams

By Todd Kraft

Special to the Journal

TROY—The Troy Buchanan girls’ and boys’ cross country teams are on a rebuilding mission during the 2025 season.

Head Coach Ashley Weber leads the rebuilding process. Weber’s goal in her second year coaching the program is to show students that cross country is a great sport on both a team and individual level. Once this goal is achieved she believes more students will join the program and this will lead to competitive teams for both the girls and boys.

“My goal right now is to build the team and get students to come out and participate. It may be that a current runner has a friend who she invites to come out and run with her. Once they are here, they see that we have fun, and we make running fun. I’m going to be their biggest fan,” Weber said.

“We also have a lofty goal for our girls to qualify as a team for the state meet this year. It would be the first time a Troy girls’ team has qualified for the state meet,” Weber said.

There has been measurable progress toward the team goal this season. The team tied for second at the Paul Enke Invitational at Sioux Passage Park on Sept. 20. Haynes earned first place, sophomore Julia Rust was 10^th, senior Brooke Gilbert was 21^st, and senior Faith Meyer was 28^th.

The Trojan girls team finished ninth out of 20 teams this past Saturday at the Border War XC Championships, showing continued growth. Haynes was second, Rust was 29th, Meyer was 59^th, Gilbert was 64^th, sophomore Reagan Arnold was 107^th, and sophomore Ann-Marie Otto was 90^th.

Throughout the season the girls’ team has been paced by three-time all-state runner senior Jocelyn Haynes. Haynes is a leader and role model on the team. She has a highly competitive nature, and she works hard to improve each week.

Julia Rust (789) and Brooke Gilbert running at the Border War XC meet this Saturday.

“Jocelyn runs for the competition. She loves racing. I can tell her to stay with a certain runner, and she will do everything in her power to do it,” Weber said. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a runner who likes racing as much as she does. She’s a special runner.”

Haynes set personal and team goals at the beginning of the 2025 season.

“My personal goal for this season is to finish in the top ten at the state meet and run a time around 18:30,” Haynes said. “As a team goal I want to motivate my teammates and let them know they’re doing a great job. I also like to pray with and for my teammates before we run.”

Haynes’ results speak for themselves through seven meets this season. Haynes has earned Top 10 finishes at each meet she has competed in this season. She has accomplished this impressive task while competing at competitive meets against some of the top runners from across the state of Missouri.

Haynes earned a fourth place (19:27) finish at the First Capital Invitational, a 10^th place (19:34) finish at the Forest Park XC Festival, first place (20:29) at the Paul Enke Invitational, seventh place (19:00) at the Gans Creek Classic, a second place (18:50) finish at the KC XC Classic at Ray-Pec, and second place at the Border War XC Championship this past Saturday (19:06).

Haynes also holds the Troy Buchanan school record in the 5K with a time of 18:38.

The boys team is led by up-and-coming runner, sophomore Oliver Livingston. Livingston qualified for the state meet as a freshman and has developed into the top runner on the team.

“Oliver leads every practice and puts all his effort into getting better,” Weber said. “I believe he can make a run at the school record 5k time of 16:29 in the near future.”

Livingston’s season has been highlighted by an eighth place (17:22) finish at the First Capital Invitational, a fifth place (17:56) finish at the Paul Enke Invitational, a PR of 17:06 at the Gans Creek Classic, and 20^th place (17:22) at the Border War XC Championships on Oct. 11.

“This year I’ve seen our runners get better and better,” Weber said. “My favorite part is developing a program that they want to be a part of. It can be hard to convince them that running every single day is fun. We want to make running fun for them, and we want them to enjoy being together.”

The Trojans will compete at the GAC South Invitational on Thursday, Oct. 16 beginning at 3:30 p.m.