Festus cross country continues state domination with seventh-straight championship
FESTUS, Mo. (BVM) — Not many high school athletic programs around the country have seen the same success that the Festus High School boys cross country program has had over the last decade. After another impressive fall season, the program earned its seventh-straight state championship, tying a state record for most consecutive cross country titles.
This year’s title was the ninth since head coach Bryant Wright has been at the helm. Wright took over the reigns of the program 19 years ago, and had coached at Festus as an assistant for six years prior. Wright currently coaches the girls cross country program at Festus as well.
The first state championship for the Tigers under Wright’s leadership came in 2009, and it set the tone for the future success of the boys program. Since that year, Festus’ boys cross country team has either won or finished runner-up at state in every meet to date.
“It’s just an honor for me to be part of it,” Wright said about his winning program. “Just the idea of setting these kids up to be successful and them responding and believing so much is an honor for me.”
Over a decade later, Festus has tacked on eight more gold trophies, capped off with another special season this fall.
During the summer, Wright and the team were not even certain they would have a season this year. Training and meetings during that time often consisted of Zoom calls and more individualized workouts. Uncertainty still lingered on at the beginning of the fall, but the Festus boys were just happy to have a chance to run.
“Each race at the beginning of the year was just a gift to us because we got to race,” Wright mentioned.
COVID-19 still presented challenges while also taking away the overall experience from players. Team bonding sessions like going out to eat or bowling were not able to take place this fall. But the real difficulty was ensuring no runners caught the virus in order to have everyone healthy to pursue another state title run.
Four senior leaders graduated from last year’s state squad, leaving Wright with an inexperienced group heading into the 2020 season. However, several runners developed right before the eyes of their coach.
Although the team had no true senior leaders, juniors Jacob Meyers and Nathan Wolk brought state experience to a young group. Other juniors on the team, including Peyton Willis, Ethan James and Anthony Pittman, all competed at state for the first time this fall.
Two of the shining stars for the Tigers are Cullen Krieg and Ian Schram. Krieg would end up finishing second individually at the state meet with a time of 15:56.5. Meanwhile, Schram would take home ninth with a 16:18 time.
While it is nice to see the impressive individual performances, the unselfishness of each of the runners on the team is what made the Tigers so great.
Festus ended up winning the team title with an overall score of 45 points. The seventh-straight championship ties an MSHSAA record for the longest cross country state winning streak. The Herculaneum High School boys program also won seven in a row from 1977-1983.
“As soon as I looked up at the board and realized we had won, a flood of emotions came into my mind,” Wright said. “Here we had all these juniors and sophomores with a lot of pressure on them and they pulled it off. I was excited for the win and I was also very relieved because it was a stressful season. But it was an honor for me to be part of seeing what these guys did.
“There’s very few experiences in life where you see this kind of thing happen,” Wright added about winning seven straight titles. “For them to go out and do it was just an amazing feeling.”
Winning seven straight state championships does not come without a strong leader and philosophy, and Wright has instilled that in this program.
“If each person can give 100% and truly be part of a family and truly want the best for everyone around them, that’s a success,” Wright explained. “I know a lot of teams say they’ve done that or they do that, but I think a lot of people don’t really understand how it works. I believe our boys have figured it out.
“If we can get 100% out of 100% of our athletes, it doesn’t matter if we win because that means we have been successful.”
So much of today’s sports world is focused on individual play and performance. And often, cross country is one of the sports where the individual aspect is focused on the most. However, Wright dismisses that idea, and his team philosophy is what has made the Festus program so great.
“The team aspect is No. 1,” Wright claimed. “I know many people consider cross country an individual sport, but that is a fallacy. There is nothing more fun than doing well as an individual and also doing well as a team. I also feel that if you’re working for the team and working for something greater than you are, you are going to be able to transcend your own performance because you’re going to work harder since you’re working for something more than just yourself.”
With the culture Wright and his past players have built in this program, it is an honor for any kid to be able to compete at Festus. Development is a main focus of the team, and each class hopes to continue the incredible streak while adding to the lasting legacy the Tigers have established.
“We’ve had a lot of kids who were not very good when they were freshmen that became all-staters and went on to compete in college,” Wright said. “We see it year after year … We know we’ve changed their lives and that’s the most important thing.
“You want to leave a legacy for those that are behind you and you want to honor those who have come before you. No team wants to let down the team that came before them, so they know if they follow what I say or do and what the other guys have done, they will have a very good chance at being successful. We are looking to develop leaders and we strive for excellence.”
Seeing how successful his tutelage has been, and how well his players have bought in and competed over the years, has been very rewarding for Wright. The head man at Festus plans to coach at least three more seasons before he retires from teaching, and may continue to coach beyond that. The impact he has been able to make in his players’ lives is what really keeps him going.
“I love that the kids buy into what we are trying to do,” Wright said. “I want them to do it because they want to do it, not because I do. For me, the best thing about being a coach is being able to see these young men come in sort of clueless, and then over a period of time slowly mature to the point where they are no longer boys, they are men. Just to see that, see the success they’ve had and know that you’ve been a little part of that is what’s most important.”
What the Festus program has done over the last several years is incredible. But next fall, they will have a chance to make state history. With an experienced team returning in 2021, Wright remains cautiously optimistic about their chances, but knows the sky’s the limit.
“We didn’t have any seniors this year so that bodes well,” Wright said about the potential of winning an eighth straight state championship. “However, some of the best teams in the state have not made it to the state meet. Our boys have to understand that people are gunning for us. We just need to try to be the best team that we can possibly be and the best team the state has ever seen. If we can do that, the state meet will take care of itself.”
