Eagle Senior Cross Country Runner Rett Hankins Earns All-State Medal

Eagle senior cross country runner Rett Hankins closed out the Holden fall sports season by capturing an all-state finish at the MSHSAA Class 3 Cross Country State Championships at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia Saturday, Nov. 9.

The four-time state meet qualifier capped off his senior season by placing 25th in the field of 162 boys finishers at this year’s state championships to earn a top-30 all-state medal. Hankins clocked a time of 17:30 on the muddy Gans Creek Course following rain showers prior to the race.

“It feels great,” said Hankins shortly after stepping off the medal podium. “It’s been my goal since I started cross country, for sure. I started freshman year. I didn’t run in middle school. Wescott convinced me to. I’ve kept it up since.”

Hankins referenced previous long-time Holden cross country coach Dale Wescott who convinced Hankins to take up the sport during the runner’s freshman year of high school.

Hankins’s career included seasons under three coaches with two seasons under coach Wescott, one season under coach Ben Kiger, and one season under current Holden cross country Scott Teufel who also served as an assistant coach last season when Hankins made his junior year state meet appearance. Last season, Hankins finished at 67th in the state meet with a time of 17:26 under more ideal running conditions. He left last year’s meet with the goal of stepping onto the medal podium this season.

“I am so proud of Rett,” said coach Teufel. “He set a goal to be all-state this year and he worked really hard to accomplish that goal. All-state in cross country is not voted on by coaches like a lot of sports. You simply have to be in the top 30 at the state cross country meet. Saturday’s rainy conditions were not ideal. The normally pristine course was tricky with the rain, slick spots, and the fact that Rett’s race was the fifth one ran on it that morning.”
Hankins’s run to an all-state medal finish took place in front of a large contingency of both past and present Eagle and Lady Eagle teammates who made the trip to Columbia to watch and cheer on the senior team leader, as well as Hankins’s parents Brandon and Kim, among other family members.

“It just means I’ve got a lot more supporters, so I’ve got people from everywhere cheering me on,” said Hankins. “That’s really good to have.”

Coach Teufel tipped his cap to the show of support made by the cross country team members in attendance.
“This team has been so close all year and has done such a great job supporting each other,” said coach Teufel. “I was very proud of them for showing up in the rain to cheer on their teammate. Some of them also used that day and Rett’s achievement to give them a goal to get to state next year.”

Running on the muddy, rain-soaked Gans Creek course made for a methodical approach to the race for Hankins as he maneuvered through the lead pack.

“Earlier in the week, it said it was supposed to rain Friday, and it wasn’t supposed to rain until after I finished Saturday,” described Hankins. “I definitely had to make sure I brought spikes, a lot of socks, and then, extra clothes.

“I wanted to make sure I got out fast, not too fast, not get trapped in, especially with the mud, try and stay out of it as much as possible without being too far out,” continued Hankins. “That way I can get better grip on the ground because when you slide you lose a lot of momentum, and getting momentum back is probably the hardest part. So that was my main point coming into the race.”

At the one-mile marker on the course, Hankins found himself in the middle of a large pack of runners. The senior worked his way to the front half of that pack through the latter stages of the race.

“Rett does a great job of being consistent with his mile splits, so he normally can pass other runners during the last half of the race when they are wearing out,” said coach Teufel. “He has so much experience and works so hard prepping for a race and his competition that he knows exactly where he needs to be during the race, so that doesn’t surprise me. He doesn’t get concerned during the race because he knows what he needs to do. All that being said, he also moved up two or three spots in the last 100-150 yards of the race in the sprint at the end. He was not going to let his goal slip through his fingers.”

Finding himself in the lead pack early on with a plan to pick off runners the remainder of the race put Hankins in position to improve his position down the final stretch with a final sprint to the finish line.

“I was wanting to run a pace that felt good to me,” said Hankins. “At the mile, I was in 55th place, so I was able to move up 30 places by the finish. I didn’t know I was in the top-30 yet. I heard 29th down there, but I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t see or hear anything really. It was probably my best end sprint all year.”

Prior to his all-state run this year during his senior season and his 67th-place finish last year when he also competed as Holden’s only state meet qualifier, Hankins placed 130th during his sophomore season when he and then-senior Eagle runner Zach Willis placed 39th, and Lady Eagle runner Ava Young placed 127th in the girls race. During his freshman season, Hankins placed 127th at the state meet as Willis placed 56th, and Young closed out her freshman season as the lone Lady Eagle runner by placing 131st in the girls race. Both Willis and Young were in attendance on Saturday to support Hankins.

“Rett has made state all four years of high school, which is no small feat,” said coach Teufel. “He has also had to improve because the times he ran as a freshman and sophomore would not have been good enough to get him to state as a junior and a senior because of the improvement of the competition across the state. Last year, Rett had no one to push him at workouts and practice. This year, the guys team had some runners who could push him at times, not over a whole race, but Joseph (Samilin) could push him during sprints, Liam (Claxton) could push him during a mile. He also pushed the rest of the team to get better by always working hard and giving it his all. He was a complete runner, and set a great example for this program going forward.”