Cross Country Runs to New Heights at State Meet

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James Bourne

With the crowd along both sides of the course, Kayden Chaparro runs alongside another runner in the state meet. Chaparro finished 18th overall and ran a career-best 16:31 5k time.

On the morning of Oct. 30, both cross country teams competed at the state meet. The meet was run at the Edmond Santa Fe course under clear skies. Both of the teams extended the streak of qualifying for the meet by qualifying for the third straight year. The boy’s team qualified for the 16th time out of the last 18 years, and this year the team exceeded previous years’ results by a considerable margin. In the team standings, the boys finished eighth overall, a result that is significantly better than the previous finishes of 14th and 13th. 

The eighth-place finish tied the school’s second-best finish at the meet, and head coach Matt Parent was ecstatic with the results.

“I went on for like a 24-hour smile marathon, and I was just happy and in a good mood for just days on end,” Parent said. “To be able to go out and do the best that you can do on that one day, on the last day of the season, just kinda sets things up nicely for the offseason, and gives us a returning point.”

The team’s historic finish is no fluke, and Parent said the result was because of the work the runners have been putting in during practices and before the season. 

“To get to the point we got to for this meet was largely based on the hard work during practices that we did during the season, but then for a lot of guys, they did a lot of work really starting in June. Since everyone came to school in August in fairly decent shape, we were able to start at a different level than where we’ve been,” Parent said. 

While Parent was happy with the results of the boys, girls coach Rodney Zimmerman was also pleased with the results of the girls, who came in at 11th place overall.

“I thought they ran well. We had six of our season’s fastest times,” Zimmerman said. “You can’t ask anybody to do any more than run faster than they already had.”

Leading the charge individually for the teams was junior Kayden Chaparro running a 16:31 and coming in at an 18th place finish on the boy’s side, and senior Avery Stanley running a 19:39 and finishing in 22nd place on the girl’s side. Stanley did not receive the result she had hoped for but does not take the experience for granted. 

“I felt like I did the best of my ability. It wasn’t the outcome I was hoping for, but I knew that in the end I tried my hardest and ran as fast as I could,” Stanley said. “It wasn’t my best race for the season, but I was so blessed to even run at state and have my teammates alongside me.”

At the state meet, Stanley wore the jersey one final time after setting multiple school records and high finishes throughout her high school cross country career. Stanley credits the records and success to her desire to become a better runner.

“I knew going into my sophomore year that I didn’t want to just be average at running anymore, and I wanted to be good. I put in the extra work throughout the summer and stayed consistent. By doing this it showed in my following season, and ever since then I have kept that same mindset,” Stanley said. 

Running in the final meet of your senior season often brings increased emotions, but senior Jonah Hanscom, who finished second on the team with a 30th place finish and a time of 16:51, said he didn’t start feeling the emotions until after the race, once he realized that it was all over. 

“In the moment it didn’t really hit me, but on the bus ride home I started to remember all the good times I’ve had this season and just my high school career as a whole. It was sad to think that I would not be competing again, but I’m glad that I stuck with the sport and the people in it and have embedded some really good memories,” Hanscom said. 

Avery Stanley leads other runners at the Edmond Santa Fe cross country course during the state meet. Stanley ran a 19:39 for the 5k race. (James Bourne)