Punching his ticket to the state cross country meet
- Billy Roudybush, Journal contributor
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
By Billy Roudybush
Journal contributor
It was a cold, cloudy morning at the Central Heights cross country course near Richmond, Kan., on Saturday, Oct.25, the site of the Class 1A and 2A regional meet.
The weather was trying to make life miserable for everyone who attended. It started raining that night and it continued through the races. This made conditions for runners and bystanders extremely slick and muddy.
The 1A girls ran the course first, and it was still in decent shape. When the 2A girls ran, the course had deteriorated because of so much traffic from runners and spectators alike.
Several of the key points where the runners had to turn were becoming treacherous because of the muddy conditions. So, when the 1A boys came to race, many spots would cause them to slow down so they would not fall.
And the rain kept coming down.
These are the conditions that Myles Alvarez from Pleasanton High School faced as he toed to starting line at the 1A regional race that morning. Myles was one of the favorites for this race because he had one of the best times in the year for Class 1A. Still, the conditions were poor and all of these teams from the eastern part of the state were set to try and outrun him.
Myles, who is also known by Dominic or just “Dom,” was born in Fort Scott. He mainly grew up around Mound City. When he was in seventh grade, he and his friend were running a mile for time. Myles was turning in good times on that distance, so he and his friend talked about running cross country.
Transferring into PHS as a sophomore last year, he joined the school’s cross country team and immediately became a standout runner for the Blu-Jays. He was finishing toward the front of the pack, but still not hitting his potential.
That is changed this year. A consistent placing in the top-10 finishers, winning a first-place medal and setting a new school record time have been some of his accomplishments.
“Dominic has the best work ethic,” said his coach Kim Brown. “He is the type of athlete coaches love to have on their team because they listen, work hard, and ask what they can do to get better. He practices hard, always pushing himself to meet his goals and do better.”
Myles is constantly pushing himself and even runs on weekends to keep his endurance, the coach added.
Myles acknowledged that he runs every day. He feels that if he does not run daily that he will not meet his full potential. He believes that he can reach the collegiate level, and his goal is to run for a college program after graduating from PHS.
So, on that wet and soggy course the 1A boys ran their race. The starter fired his starter gun to begin the race. Immediately, Myles slipped and had to catch himself before he fell. Despite this, he headed out as fast as he could.
He did not join the first rank of runners as he usually did. The conditions of the track made it hard for all runners, but it took its toll on everyone, including Myles. He was toward the front, but he never caught the front group of four runners. But he knew he wanted to go to state and knew he had to only place well to accomplish that goal.
Myles said he knew as he ran that he was in a good position to move on to state. He maintained his position and came in eighth place for a medal and a ticket to state.
His time for the 5,000-meter course was 18:16.07. It was not close to his school record 16:19 run of a couple weeks ago, but it was good enough for those conditions that saw runners turn in times two minutes or more off their personal records.
Myles will run in the Class 1A cross country championship race on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the golf course in Wamego.
He said he believes he will do well and can’t wait for Saturday. State this weekend, then someday at the collegiate or national level? He said he will keep working toward those goals, so anything is possible.
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