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Saturday’s race was a long time coming for Glendale senior Luke Miller.
As a freshman, Miller placed 54th in the Class 4 state meet. He was the third fastest freshman.
Then injuries struck and Miller missed out on the state meet his sophomore and junior seasons.
Saturday he returned to the state meet, and stepping to the starting line was a surreal experience.
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“It was pretty surreal. I knew I was there and knew what I had to do, but it didn’t all feel real until we started running,” Miller said.
It became very real down the homestretch with his body telling him to stop, but his mind rebounding to push him further.
“When two guys past me I thought just let them have it. It took a little time and the gears turned in my head and it was go-go-go,” Miller said
Miller would finish sixth place in a time of 15:52.58.
“I owe it all to a lot of people,” Miller said. “My parents, my coaches and them just working with me. And the guys I am running with. I couldn’t do it without them.”
West Plains junior Ben Stasney finished 10th in a time of 15:56.97 after missing out on an all-state finish a year ago.
After the race, he was already looking forward to next season.
“I’m feeling pretty good, but really, I’m just looking forward to next year. We have zero graduating seniors,” Stasney said. “This year we didn’t have a whole lot of depth. (We were) pretty young and dealing with injuries. Pretty much everything the universe could throw at us, it did. So we’re just going to use the winter, next summer and this track season to overcome it all and come back as strong as we can next year.”
His teammate Jacob McCrackin finished 16th in a time of 16:04.44.
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West Plains took ninth as a team.
Webb City was the area’s top finishing team in seventh place. Junior Ryan Riddle led the way in 15th place in a time of 16:03.12.
Ozark’s Logan Bohannon finished 23rd in a time of 16:11.54 to round out the area’s all-state finishers.
Carthage finished 14th as a team.
On the girls’ side, the area had no all-state finishers. West Plains freshman Mia Harris was the top finisher in 27th with a time of 19:29.27.
West Plains was 12th as a team on the girls side with Branson 15th.
