Stratton Young enters the cross country season with a clear goal in mind: break the 16-minute barrier in the 5K.
The Cheney standout already has established himself as one of Class 3A’s top runners. Young finished fifth individually at the 2025 KSHSAA Class 3A state meet at Rim Rock Farm with a time of 16:32.79.
Young’s personal-record time is 16:24, leaving him within striking distance of his sub-16 goal.
“I’m most excited about running with my team and being able to win a lot of meets,” Young said.
To prepare for the season, Young has focused on threshold workouts and tempo runs while targeting one particular part of the race: the final mile.
“An area I want to improve in is my mental ability in the last mile of the 5K because I know I have a little more left in me,” Young said.
Young has incorporated challenging interval sessions into his training to strengthen both his physical and mental endurance. One workout has him completing five total miles of 800-meter repeats, with the final repetitions testing his ability to maintain his focus when fatigue sets in.
“I’ve worked on this by doing 5 miles total in 800 repeats in a session, and it gets very mentally and physically challenging in the last few reps,” Young said.
That preparation could be important as Young looks to improve on his state performance from a year ago. His 16:32.79 at the 2025 state championship placed him fifth in the 3A boys race.
While Young has an ambitious individual target, his focus extends beyond his own performance. Cheney’s primary goal is to return to the state meet as a team.
“Our team goal is to make state, especially with the new KSHAA rule that will allow the sites to be more balanced,” Young said.
With another season of experience and a state medal already on his résumé, Young enters the year looking to turn that experience into faster times and another opportunity for Cheney to compete at the state level.
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