Track & Field | 10/29/2020 9:21:00 AM
Article written by Patrick Mader, author of Minnesota Gold and More Minnesota Gold, stories about athletes with Minnesota connections who have competed in the Olympics and World Championships.
"A unique thing about our family is that there are sixteen children," Missy Buttry Rocks says with quiet understatement. Yes, sixteen children; Missy is one of three biological children and has 13 siblings who were adopted by her parents who live in Shendandoah, Iowa, in the southwest quadrant of the state.
Missy's parents ran the lane leading to their home and participated in road races and made it a lot of fun for their children—and the ice cream treats afterward were both motivators and rewards. The wise parents also let Missy and her many siblings pick and choose their interests. "The love of running had to come on my own," she says, reflecting on her development in the sport, although having an older sister, Mandy, win two state track titles encouraged Missy to want to achieve the same success.
In high school, Missy won the state cross country championship as a sophomore and two track titles her senior year. She was not recruited by major schools because she suffered a stress fracture her junior year and also developed an eating disorder. Thankful that there is more openness and information on the subject today, Missy thinks "competitive overdrive" may have contributed to the thinking being more lean would mean more speed.
The 2001 graduate found interest from coaches Steve Johnson and Marcus Newsom at the small liberal arts college of Wartburg in Waverly, Iowa, whom she came to love and adore. A person of strong religious faith, Missy felt God was leading her there to coaches with a strong Christian base. It proved to be a good fit . . . Missy felt the college was extremely supportive of her career.
The statistics of Missy's collegiate achievements are remarkable: 18-time All-American; 11-time national track titlist; 3-time national cross country champion (2002-04); the most decorated woman cross country athlete in NCAA Division III history. The 2002 cross country race was especially memorable since it the team placed third and it was her first individual crown (she cruised to victory) and at nearby St. Olaf College which allowed her family and friends to attend. At the Griak Invite, she was twice the runner-up to future Olympian Kim Smith of Providence.
More excitement occurred during or between the seasons. In 2003, Missy gained national notice when she broke the D-III record as she placed 6th at the Mt. SAC Relays in the 5,000-meter run in 15:37.48, right behind Molly Huddle of Notre Dame. The following year, Missy was on the US World Cross Country team and placed 4th on the team and 60th overall at the world competition. An invitation to the 2004 Olympic Trials showed her athletic promise when she made the finals in the 5,000-meter run and finished 8th, two spots behind Carrie Tollefson (who later showed her grit by claiming a spot on the Olympic team in the 1,500-meter run), as a college junior. And in 2005 she again made the team which claimed the bronze medal with Shalane Flanagan and Lauren Fleshman as teammates.
Drawn by her family history, Missy obtained a degree in social work in 2005, but decided to pursue professional running. She signed a four-year contract with Reebok, but admits it did not go well. A series of serious injuries and a misdiagnosed labral tear did not get corrected until 2008—too late to be in top form for the 2008 Olympics.
Nevertheless, Missy did qualify for one more Olympic Trials, the 2020 women's marathon. She ran a personal best with a time of 2:39:12, three seconds behind Dakotah Lindwurm (St. Francis) and three places ahead of Whitney Macon (spouse of Rochester runner, Riley Macon). She names the friendliness of Tollefson, the encouraging and uplifting attitude of Megan Daymont Thomas, and role modeling of Flanagan and Katie McGregor as inspirational.
Today Missy is married to Andrew Rock, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 2004 4 x 400-meter relay and coach at Bethel University, and is a stay-at-home parent and assistant cross country coach at Bethel. Her own family is only ¼ the size of the one she was raised in but it, too, has an international flavor with a daughter adopted from India and another from the Democratic Republic of Congo and two biological children.
"Running is a passion of mine, one of the gifts God has given to me and I use to give glory. There are lots of people in the background who propel you to success.
Like a packed family photo.
