The Oakville girls cross country will have a mix of old and new this season. The Tigers return five seniors on this year’s roster, a nice complement to head coach Izzy Kennedy’s first season with the Tigers.

“So far, everything has been going really good,” Kennedy said. “The girls are adapting to the weather really well, and I’m very excited to get the season started.”

Junior Sammie Cook returns to the Tigers starting lineup after a strong showing at last year’s Missouri Class 5 District 1 Championships, in which she took 58th overall.

“I’m super excited to be working with her after how well she did last year,” Kennedy said. “Fundamentally, she’s maturing, and her mentality this season is to put in the work to get the results she wants.”

Senior Elinor Kreisz also has experience at the district championships, and the Tigers’ head coach sees her as a leader on the year’s team.

“Elinor is coming into her senior year super excited. She’s just a natural born leader for us … and is great at keeping our energy up throughout practice.”

Assay Kadymova is another senior on this year’s team that’s full of positivity and hard work.

“She’s a little ray of sunshine on this year’s team,” Kennedy said.

Seniors Holly Kroener and Madeline McClusky came into the preseason highly motivated and ready to put in the effort to have a successful 2025 campaign. Zaina Musleh and Ella Roth are two more senior runners that the Tiger’s head coach is cheering on to have a successful season. Musleh was a member of last year’s district team in which she placed 95th overall.

“They’re … part of that senior leadership group,” Kennedy said. “I want to see them succeed throughout the course of the season.”