Whenever Micah Bruggeman walks across the stage at graduation, he will leave Joplin High School as one of the most decorated track and field and cross country athletes.

“He leaves us having run the second-fastest 800 (meters) in school history,” Joplin cross country and distance coach Dustin Dixon said. “The fastest mile, the third fastest two-mile, the third fastest 5K in cross country. He’s near the top of all of our record boards. He’s been instrumental in the success we have had the past four years.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Bruggeman signed to further his academic and athletic career at the University of Missouri inside Joplin High School’s Kaminsky Gymnasium. He will compete in both track and cross country for the Tigers.

“It’s awesome,” Bruggeman said. “I have waited so long to finally figure out where I’m going. I figured it might be Mizzou for a while, but I’m really excited to know where I’m going. I know it’s going to be a great school.”

The senior chose Mizzou over Nebraska and Illinois State. Bruggeman was also considering running for the hometown Missouri Southern Lions.

“The recruiting process was long,” Bruggeman said. “I kind of wanted to see how I would perform this track season before I finally made my official decision. My parents were a big part of it. I talked to a lot of schools. It eventually came down because I wanted to get out of town but stay relatively close. I really like Mizzou and its program.”

At the Central Ozark Conference meet last Thursday in Branson, Bruggeman finished second in the 800 with a time of 1:58.30, finishing 0.02 seconds behind the winner. He placed third in the 1600 in 4:24.76 and ran the anchor leg on the 4x400 relay team that placed sixth.

“He has had a great career for us,” Dixon said. “It sucked losing his junior year (because of COVID-19), but he’s had a good senior year. He’s coming back from an Achilles injury. I think that put him under the radar. He has been in contact with the coaches at Mizzou for quite some time. They have had their eyes on him for two years. I think it’ll be a good fit for him.”

Bruggeman said focusing exclusively on running will be beneficial once he arrives in Columbia.

“I really just want to get some consistent training in because I have never done that,” he said. “I have always done basketball and that has broken it up. We’ll just see what happens whenever I reach my full potential running all year.”

The sights are aimed high for Bruggeman before he finishes his career at Joplin.

“I want to win a state championship whether it would be team or individual,” Bruggeman said. “I want to win the 800 at the state championships (in Jefferson City).”

Dixon knows Bruggeman has unfinished business at state.

“He was a state medalist as a freshman,” Dixon said. “People in Missouri have known about him for a number of years. A state championship will be the goal in a couple of weeks, and we are going to take a run at it.”

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