Paton-Churdan eighth grader Jon Thede finished first on the team at every cross country meet this season. He also finished last, as he comprised the entire team.
He was not only a standout on the team, he was a standout at meets. Thede won the middle school boys race at the South Central Calhoun meet in Lake City Oct. 6 with a time of 13:09.76. He had placed second at the Rolling Hills Activities Conference meet in Woodbine a day earlier with a time of 11:42. He finished the season with a second place finish at the Adair-Casey/CAM meet in Adair Oct. 13.
Cross country coach Lauren King Bardole described Thede as “a great kid.”
“Jon has excellent character and work ethic. He takes his education and athletics seriously and always works hard at practice. I can see great leadership potential and look forward to watching him grow and succeed as a runner in the future,” Bardole said.
This was Thede’s first season running. He said he feels successful when he runs. “I like to do more sports to build better character. It teaches me responsibility and how to work hard. People like you better if you’re in sports because they know you’re good at something,” he said.
“Running feels nice. It feels like I’m good at something,” he added.
