A mile into the state championship race Saturday, the question wasn’t if Meeker’s Riley Randall would win his third straight crosscountry state title.
It was by how big of a margin. After that first mile, he’d already separated himself from the pack and was reaping the training benefits of the 50 miles he’d been running each week this season. He looked strong and chewed up the course at Edmond Santa Fe High School, steadily extending his lead until the finish line, which he crossed in 15:45.07, 45 seconds ahead of runnerup Brayden Cowden of Watonga.
“Part of his mindset today was to come in and attack the course and try to get as fast a time on it as he could,” said Meeker coach Antony Early. “He wanted to be under 16, which he had already done twice this year, and he was able to do it again.”
Randall’s championship was the highlight of an impressive day for Lincoln and Pott county athletes.
Braxton Bussell from Meeker finished third in Class 2A, North Rock Creek’s Jordan Coody took fifth in Class 4A and Cassie Wright from Chandler took 13th in Class 3A. The Meeker boys finished fifth as a team.
After receiving his medal and taking a moment to reflect, Randall said this year’s championship was the sweetest of the three.
“Either this year or last year,” he said. “Last year was really nice because Braxton and I were one and two, but this year, I was really, really close to the team. I’m going to miss them - they pushed me a lot.”