The 5-foot-11, 140-pound senior won the MHSAA Class 4 individual state championship this past season, breaking the tape with a time of 15:42.03 and leading the Pioneers to a fifth-place finish as a team. Baker clocked the fastest all-class time at the state meet and was unbeaten by a Missouri runner through the regular season and state championships. The St. Louis Post Dispatch Runner of the Year, he won seven of nine races during the 2018 campaign and was the state’s top finisher when he took fifth (15:44.00) in the El Caliente Division of the Chile Pepper XC Festival in Arkansas. He clocked a personal-best 15:22.20 for 5K at the Class 4, District 2 meet.
Baker has maintained a 3.73 GPA in the classroom. He remains undecided on a collegiate destination.
A photographer for the Kirkwood Call student newspaper and a baritone in the Kirkwood Pioneer Pride marching band and concert band, Baker is a member of the Saint Peter Catholic Church K-Life youth group and has volunteered on behalf of the Special Olympics.
