After last year’s historic season for the cross country team, few expected Rockhurst to replicate anything close to that in 2025. The Gans Creek Invite on Sept. 26 might have been the first step toward proving any doubters wrong. When sophomore Jack McGovern crossed the finish line of the Elite Varsity Boys race first, the clock behind him read 14 minutes, 44.7 seconds—a new record for a race run in Missouri.
McGovern adds not only the fastest 5K on a Missouri course in state history to his already impressive list of accomplishments, but also takes the Rockhurst school record set by Henry Acorn ‘25 just last year.
McGovern attributed his record-breaking performance to both his positive mindset and consistent training.
“I feel like, going into it, I was trying to eliminate all doubt in my mind that I couldn’t win,” McGovern said. “I was going into it with a lot of confidence. I didn’t put a lot of pressure on myself, and I was really excited for the race.”
McGovern’s record breaking performance headlined the larger spectacle of the race, in which the top-five placing runners all broke the difficult-to-attain 15-minute threshold on a Gans course widely recognized as one of the fastest in the Midwest. McGovern still dominated the field, beating Raymore-Peculiar’s Gabe Volker, who finished fourth at state last year–four spots ahead of McGovern–by nearly five seconds.
“The competition was really, really big this year. We had a lot of really good talent coming in, especially from Arkansas,” McGovern said. “A lot of big names, like [Bentonville’s] Brian Burns, and some big Missouri talent too. Gabe Volker was in that race, and [Rock Bridge’s] Luke Sievers.”
McGovern said not letting the moment get too big and trusting in his previous performances were both keys for him heading into the race.
“Last year, I raced the same race and did pretty well [10th],” McGovern said with a wry smile, “so it gave me a lot of confidence this year for another night race.”
McGovern opened his record-setting race with a 2-minute 51-second first kilometer, situating him in sixth place. He maintained that position until the third kilometer, where he made a decisive move to take the lead.
“My strategy was just to make a really aggressive move right at 3K, and then, if I took the lead, I’m just not looking back,” McGovern said. “I kept on selling myself, like, ‘I’m feeling really good today,’ and I just made a very aggressive move.
“I felt really fast in that moment, so it encouraged me to make that move.”
McGovern didn’t look back, maintaining the lead for the rest of the race and finishing with a 2:56 final kilometer. It was a near perfect race for McGovern, with one minor exception.
“I probably wouldn’t have celebrated so quickly at the end,” McGovern said with a laugh when asked what he would have changed if he could rerun the race.
That being said, the early celebration didn’t alter the outcome of the race.
McGovern says that while breaking the school and state record is gratifying, he’s not done yet.
“It’s really cool to see, and it’s definitely a testament to a lot of hard work I’ve been putting in,” McGovern said with an acknowledging nod. “But it’s also a testament to all the people that have been supporting me for a long time.”
Rockhurst head coach Mike Dierks ‘91 said McGovern’s performance was indicative of not only his hard work, but his hunger to get better everyday. It’s something McGovern echoed.
“The biggest thing for me is that I’m just not gonna be complacent,” McGovern said. “Staying hungry is my big thing right now, and just continuing to work towards some bigger meets later this season.”
Among those bigger meets are the district meet in Nixa (Nov. 1), and then the state meet at Gans Nov. 7—a race McGovern now hopes to win.
“I think I definitely have some really high goals,” McGovern said. “I think the race definitely gave me a lot of confidence, but the goals are staying the same.
“Winning state is a big goal of mine.”
The rest of the Rockhurst cross country team’s performance was overshadowed by McGovern’s one-of-one race, but the Hawklets still had a successful night, placing seventh out of 32 teams. Nearly all of the runners on both JV and varsity raced personal bests.
Sophomore Jack Morrison ran a race that would have been good enough to win almost any other meet this season, finishing in 15 minutes, 34 seconds. With this time, Morrison became the third fastest sophomore in Rockhurst history, yet he placed 23rd at the meet.
“Jack Morrison and I have been running together for six or seven years by this point, and it’s great to have him run that really fast time and PR,” McGovern said.
Placing third on the team was senior Jake Bond, with a time of 16 minutes, 30 seconds. Following closely behind in fourth and fifth were junior Jack Grisolano and freshman Charlie Sullivan, clocking in at 16:34 and 16:38 respectively. Junior Jack Neely rounded out the top six with a time of 16:56, successfully getting all competing varsity runners below the 17-minute threshold.
“A lot of confidence is really being built into the team,” McGovern said, “after that race, for sure.”
McGovern and the rest of the Hawklets’ team remain focused heading into the tail end of the season.
“I think the team has some big things we’re looking forward to, but we’re not done yet,” McGovern said. “That wasn’t state. We still have a lot more to go, and we’re gonna stay hungry.”
The Hawklets placed second as a team the following week at the KC Cross Country Classic (Oct. 4), and followed that performance with a first-place team victory at the Kearney Invitational (Oct. 11).
