“Hey, I just talked [trash] about you,” a cross-country runner called out to a teammate after an interview.

“Oh really?” the other runner sarcastically replied, walking over from a workout. A smile broke out on his face.

Meet sophomore Zach Cook and senior Jordan Cook. They’re brothers, and they both run for the Missouri cross-country team. Before college, they ran together in high school. Before that, they ran with each other in grade school.

Basically, they’ve been running together their whole lives.

“We were on the Columbia Track Club,” Zach said. “I was in fourth grade and he was in sixth when we started running on the same team. We used to come out on Wednesday night track events … and we’ve been running together since we were little boys.”

Indeed, running has always been a part of the Cook family. Both parents also ran in high school.

“As a parent, you always want your kids to be involved with something,” Zach and Jordan’s father Kent Cook said.

So the Cook parents took the brothers to the Columbia Track Club, and soon enough, Zach and Jordan were winning trophies.

Not only have they been running together for a long time, but they’ve been doing it well.

The trophies were only the beginning. In 2006, both brothers ran in Spokane, Washington, as part of the USATF Jr. Olympics. Later, Jordan won the 800-meter state title in high school. Both brothers won the cross-country state championship for Rock Bridge High School in 2011.

And now, both Zach and Jordan are some of the fastest Tigers on this year’s cross-country team.

Part of all that success comes from simply being brothers.

“They have a really unique bond,” coach Marc Burns said. “You can see that really strong bond between each other. Sometimes as brothers, you want to outdo one another. They’re not like that. They want to see each other do well.”

However, that’s not to say there isn’t any competition.

“In the back of my head, I have his [personal records] in my sights,” Zach said. “It’s kind of like an unsaid thing, but yes, I would like to run as fast as my brother.”

But Jordan is more than a role model with running. Off the course, Jordan’s quieter demeanor helps rein in Zach’s more outspoken personality.

“He does a good job of keeping me in line with certain things, whether that’s not getting too worked up about practice or getting pissed off at one of my teammates,” Zach said. “He’s one of the team captains and leads by example and [gives good] advice.”

However, as is typical of siblings, the brothers often clashed in high school over many things, from living under the same roof to transportation. But then came two years when Jordan went off to Mizzou and Zach stayed in high school. That time apart allowed them to mature, and along with it came more respect and appreciation.

“It was definitely an adjustment period to have a younger brother on the same team with you,” Jordan said. “We had a bit of [conflict] back in high school, but now it’s all good.”

For the parents of the Cook brothers, seeing their sons run from childhood to college as teammates is heartwarming. In fact, they even travel to many of the out-of-state races just to see the Cook brothers run together.

“Just as a parent to see them both racing at the same collegiate level, within a few seconds, pushing and pulling each other… really brings a lot of joy,” Zach and Jordan’s mother Lori Cook said.

But it will all come to an end.

After graduation this coming May, Jordan will seek to complete a graduate doctoral program in physical therapy. Zach will be by himself running for Mizzou. Jordan will not only spend significantly less time running but also less time with his brother.

“The dynamics of the team will change a whole lot, and I guess I’ll step up and fill his spot,” Zach said.

For Jordan, “moving on is kind of a hard thing to do, so…”

He paused a bit, looking down and taking time to compose himself. Then he looked back up.

“I haven’t thought that far yet.”