Surging at the end

As a freshman, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn cross country runner George Vargas came in 99th at the state qualifying meet. It's a sure bet he won't recall that day nearly as much as he will remember his performance at the 2023 qualifying meet on Oct. 19.

After running just out of the Top 10 for most of the 5K race, Vargas passed two competitors in the final 400 meters to surge to a ninth-place finish. That result qualifies him to compete at the state meet for the first time.

Vargas ran a personal record time of 17:56, which is the first sub-18 minute time of his career.

Although the final result was memorable, the race had its difficult moments.

"That first mile I did not feel great and I was going through a lot of pain that last mile," Vargas admitted. "My heart was really beating. I didn't feel too good and my legs were just gone, but I saw the MMCRU kid take off and I thought, 'Why not?'"

The strong finish was inspired by runners ahead of him.

"Eight hundred meters, I kind of felt like I had a little surge of energy and I started picking it up. I finally got close to that group of three boys ahead of me and then someone yells out '400 to go,'" he recalled. "The MMCRU kid surged ahead and I thought 'Oh, I gotta go,' so I surged with him and we dropped those two kids by a couple of seconds at least. I was pretty happy about that."

Vargas enjoyed running on the Spencer Municipal Golf Course.

"This was a beautiful course. It was amazing. I enjoyed it because there were not too many loops I had to rerun over and over," he said. "There was wind in a couple of spots, but overall this was a great course to run on."

Despite having improved from his finish as freshman to 38th as a sophomore and 26th last year, Vargas wasn't overly confident that he would crack the Top 10.

"Not at all," he admitted. "I think fear's the greatest motivator and I was definitely scared that entire race."

Hawk coach Kirsten Taylor was pleased with Vargas' performance.

"I am thrilled we advanced an athlete on to the state meet. It will be fun seeing George compete with only the best," she said.

Class 1A runners will compete in the state meet at Kennedy Park north of Fort Dodge, on Friday, Oct. 27. The boys' race is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m. Vargas' goal is simple: "Just go out there and get a PR. That would be nice."