FINISH LINE
Check out the coverage of the high school cross country state races for Classes 6A-2A at Edmond Santa Fe
EDMOND — Runners in the Mustang boys cross country program had several sources of motivation as they trained in the offseason.
One desire pushed the Broncos more than anything.
All of them wanted to take down Deer Creek.
“They were the team to beat,” Mustang coach Mike McGarry said.
It wasn' t easy, but Mustang fulfilled its goal on Wednesday.
The Broncos beat Deer Creek by five points at the Class 6A state meet at Edmond Santa Fe, winning their third boys cross country title in school history.
Mustang senior Gabe Simons en finished the 5- kilometer run in 15 minutes ,31.79 seconds, winning his third straight individual championship and joining elite company.
He is now the third boy to claim three titles in the state' s largest classification.
“It means a lot ,” Simonsen said. “It was one of my big goals coming into high school.”
Simonsen had ample individual success throughout his high school career and has now accomplished his biggest team goal.
He set the tone for Mustang during practices and in the offseason.
His work ethics till astonishes McGarry.
“When practice is over, it's not over for Gabe,” McGarry said. “He goes out and runs some more. Puts in a lot of miles. Just loves pushing himself.”
Mustang knew it had the state's best runner entering Wednesday but needed others to perform well to win the title.
Simonsen's teammates rose to the occasion.
Mustang had four other runners — Brendan Robeaux, Parker Arnold, Andrew Wall er and Colton Cable — finish in the top 17.
“You got to have at least five guys that run good r aces,” McGarry said. “They don't need to be great, but they got to all be good.”
For Simons en, he couldn't have asked for a better way to end his high school career.
He certainly left his mark at Mustang.
“We've been working hard since the summer together ,” he said. “We've been really just bonding, getting our heads straight on what we want to accomplish. We went out there and did it, so I'm really proud about that.”