FULTON -- Emery Mayfield, Fulton girls cross country's 5,000-meter run record holder and the 2023 Class 4 state runner-up, officially signed for St. Louis University women's cross country Friday at Fulton High School.
"I'm incredibly proud of her!" Fulton cross country coach George Yates said. "It has been such a blessing to be a part of her journey as a runner. In addition to being talented, she is one of the most focused, hard-working young ladies I've ever seen, willing to make sacrifices and put in the hard work that it takes to compete at the highest level, all while staying incredibly humble. I wish her the very best and can't wait to follow her career as a Billiken!"
Mayfield, who made all-state between 2022-23, ran her fastest 5K for Fulton at 18 minutes and 12.4 seconds in the Class 4 District 2 championships while winning the individual district title on Oct. 28 at Nixa High School.
Additionally, Mayfield won two conference titles (2022-23) and the Gans Creek Blue Division championship twice (2022-23), finished second in the 2023 Class 4 state championships, took second in the 2022 Class 3 District 3 championships and fifth in the 2022 Class 3 state championships.
Winning times for Mayfield's two North Central Missouri Conference championships were 18:57.92 on Oct. 14 at Fulton High School and 19:36.45 on Oct. 15, 2022, at Marshall High School.
For her Gans Creek Classic Blue Division titles, Mayfield won at 18:40.8 on Sep. 23 and 18:50.6 on Sep. 24, 2022, at Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
Also at Gans Creek, Mayfield finished 18:26.6 in the Class 4 state championships on Nov. 4 and 19:18.4 in the Class 3 state championships on Nov. 5, 2022.
Mayfield ran a 19:09.5 in the Class 3 District 3 championships on Oct. 29, 2022, at Fulton High School to make all-district before earning her first all-state finish in 2022.
On Thursday, Mayfield broke Fulton's two-mile record in girls track and field, clocking in at 11:17.27 in the California Quad at California High School.
Returning to her running cross country for Fulton Middle School, Mayfield holds the school records in the 3,200 (11:36.02) and 2,500 (8:50.43).
Before high school, Mayfield stood out for the Fulton Flash and had several other accomplishments for FMS cross country. She went undefeated as a seventh grader and won all but two races in eighth grade, placing second in the other two.