Sunday Sit-down with Mizzou cross country coach Kyle Levermore
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
ABC 17 Sports Reporter Collin Anderson brought on Mizzou cross country coach Kyle Levermore to recap the 2026 season and preview the upcoming SEC Championships in this week's edition of Sunday Sit-down.
You can watch their full conversation in the video player above and find a full transcript of the interview below.
Collin anderson: What is up everyone? It is Sunday sit-down time and I am joined by the head coach of the mizzou cross country teams, both men and women, Kyle Levermore. Kyle, thanks for joining us. How's the, how's the year been so far?
Kyle levermore: Yeah, Collin, thanks for having us. Uh, year's been good. We are wrapping, we just wrapped up the regular season, um, back from a trip to madison up at the nuttycombe invitational and. Uh, we've got about two-and-a-half weeks, uh, to prepare for s-e-cs back home here in Columbia. So yeah, I think that the regular season was, um, it was good. I think everyone is very different, so it's hard to compare season to season and team to team, but I feel like we're in a really good spot headed into the championship part of the year.
Anderson: What do you kind of see from your team through the first, because the regular season's pretty short, it's only 3 or 4 meets. What do you see from your team in that short of a time?
Levermore: Yeah, I, I think the women in particular, um, you can see the experience of being at a national final last year, having all-americans on the roster, um, having women that have been top-10 at SEC championships, um, and you can tell that their experiences really allowed them to go into races and execute, uh, our race plans, but also know how to compete at the top level, and I think you saw that this past weekend at nuttycombe, you know, to finish top-10 there is a pretty good indicator of where you are nationally headed into the postseason and, um, yeah, I'm, I'm excited because i feel like we have a lot more experience in our back pocket for, for the second half of this year.
Anderson: So when you race at a race like nuttycombe, up in Madison, where you have a ton of national players, where does that as a coach, what do you kind of see from your team and how do you see yourself stack up in a race like that?
Levermore: You, you, as a coach, i'm looking for the, the things we've been working on in training. I'm looking on, you know, can we build off of where
We were, you know, two weeks earlier at Gans Creek. Um, I'm looking for, you know, where do we sit in terms of like our physical ability in the last two kilometers, um, but then I think, you know, what i'm also looking at is where everyone else is, knowing that everyone's kind of at a different point this this time of year. It's a very hard time of year. Our sport is one that, um, is not just tactical, it's very, very physical. Like you can't just run a play, uh, and so you have to be understanding of everyone is at a different point in their, you know, their training periodization and where they are in, in what they're preparing for and I think. Um, aside from what other teams are doing, I feel like we're in a good spot for where we need to be, and, and seeing those other high caliber teams, those other top-10, top-15 quality teams in the country gives us a good measure of are we preparing at this point in the season at the right rate, um, and, and I really do feel like we are, and, and that gets me pretty excited as a coach.
Anderson: When you have competition the way that you do, does that kind of boost your team's confidence heading into a conference race where you're like, the best run is still out there and we just have to put it together and we've already been able to beat some of these top teams?
Levermore: Yeah, I think that. We know what we're capable of and the championship season brings out the best in most competitors because you strip away the, you know, the extraneous factors of, of pace and of, you know, regular season nerves, uh, you really strip it down to to running in its purest form and I always remind our athletes like most of them fell in love with running by trying to chase the person that was ahead of them, um, and, and see if they could beat them and that didn't always happen the first time they tried. You fell in love with this because you love beating people and you love racing people and you're maybe trying to keep up with your older sister or your older brother and um. When we get to championship season it allows us to kind of be free a little bit and so what the what the fun part of this time of year is I think the pressure and the expectations, um, of a regular season kind of fall away and the pressure of a championship in, in most, uh, scenarios is one that's a little bit more exciting like the, the it it builds, but the pressure is, is much more of like I'm ready versus, you know, uh, the regular season is just a lot of measuring
And and a lot of um trying to process where you're at, but the championship, everyone comes in with a clean slate and um you know I definitely feel like there's an excitement for that and to be back home.
Anderson: I was gonna say you're back home for championship season. What kind of impact is that gonna have running over at Gans Creek to compete at the SECs?
Levermore: Yeah, I, you mentioned last year. And i, i think back to that, um, in what it was like to have a championship here and and we obviously talked a lot about preparing for it. Getting the team there but what it was like to actually have that championship here in Columbia. And um, you know, we stayed in a hotel downtown. We had a very on-the-road experience for that national championship, um, and it was a lot more fun than I think any of us anticipated with it being home, which is, you know, unique and, and weird in a lot of ways, um, but I think because we had that last year and it was so fun once we really got into it and once we were there, uh, I, I feel like we're really looking forward to it and I know our team is, is looking forward to that championship weekend feel here because, um, yeah, I think it, it. It it's the best, the best time of the year in in a lot of ways.
Anderson: You've talked about the women's team and how they've really impressed you through the first part of this season. I wanted to ask about Monica, the all-american from your team last year. What kind of jump have you seen her make in just on the racetrack versus that where she was last year?
Levermore: Different year, Different season, uh, but Monica is a wildly competitive person. She is incredibly composed, um, under pressure, and she is, she'll throw herself right into the mix with the best girls in the country whether it's the smallest race that we go to or the national championship. She holds herself to the same standard in any of those competitions. And what's really cool this year is because she's been an all-american, because she's been top-5, i think it was it 4 SEC championship races last year. Or 3, and she's been to two NCAA first rounds on the track. She's starting to use her own experience and, and, and it's not just having raced, it's having been
Successful, um, and so I think for her she's approaching these with a lot more, um, understanding of what's really gonna be asked of her. And also approaching these, maybe asking more of herself because she's familiar with what it's really like um and so i think in the same way the team has blossomed a lot of our top individuals have blossomed from the same individual experiences and and it's really allowed them to come in this year and just be. They're just really level headed and, and I think monica herself is, um, you know, has a, has had a very different season than she did last year, but, um, one that i think is you'll see the best of her in the next few weeks.
Anderson: So then in the next few weeks, what are you hoping to see from your team as you guys get ready for SECs?
Levermore: Yeah, I mean the, the, the standard is that we're top5 in the SEC, uh, every year in cross country, and I really believe that we're better than that this year, but we will find a way to continue to hold our standard, um, and I feel like we have two teams that on the right day at home uh could be both top-three finishes but as you know as well as anyone like the s-e-c is a game of single points I think it was like 15 points between 3rd and 5th last year between um, you know, i think us, Arkansas and Oklahoma. And you know that's, that's SEC track and field. That's SEC cross country, it's a game of who can you beat in the shoot and, and who's, you know, the most competitive in those, in those, you know, head-to-head moments, but, um, I feel like we've got a team that can be better than they were last year and, um, especially the men, you know, i think on our home course we'll be able to use that experience that, you know, we've, you know, made some mistakes on the men's side, frankly, like we haven't been perfect where the women have had a little bit more of a, a linear path. The men have been a little bit more up and down, but I feel as though they know, um, where to use their energy now and, and especially returning home, um, in the s-e-c. I, I feel like there's a, there's a goal in mind and uh, um, especially for the men. You know, we've been back-to-back top-5 finishes. They wanna, you know, add a third one but also be better than 5th, uh, this year, and, um, I certainly feel like we're capable of that.
Anderson: Awesome. Well, it'll definitely be something fun to watch over the next couple of weeks when you guys get back to gans. So thank you, coach, for joining us. And for the rest of you guys, we'll be right back after the break.
