By Huey Counts
The scary part about Kaylie Shultz shattering her personal record racing in the Rim Rock Classic's most competitive division is that she believes she can run even faster.
The Salina Central sophomore covered the 5-kilometer course at the University of Kansas's Rim Rock Farm in 17 minutes, 17.4 seconds, breaking her previous best time of 17:28.5, set just one week ago at the Olathe Twilight.
"I just felt really, really good today," Shultz said after Saturday's event. "Yesterday during my run, I felt really loose, just really relaxed. And then we warmed up today, I thought, 'I think today is going to be a good day'."
Not that the race was easy, not by a long shot, not when you're lined against arguably the top two distance runners in the state: Topeka Seaman junior Ryin Miller, unbeaten this season, and Central teammate Katelyn Rupe, a senior who began the morning unbeaten against Kansas competition in her career.
Shultz didn't even cross the finish line first. The gold medal went to Miller, who won in 17:14.1, snapping Rupe's consecutive victory streak at 18.
But Shultz did bring to close a string of 10 consecutive races where she collected silver medals behind Rupe, who ended up third in 17:20.3.
From the start of the race, Rupe was a handful of seconds behind Miller, with Shultz a few steps further back. As the runners passed the 2-mile mark, Shultz said she found another gear and began pushing.
Rupe's effort to stick with Miller had taken its toll and she began to fade, and with 400 meters remaining, Shultz surged past her older teammate, attacking the slight downhill to the finish with surprising closing speed.
"Today, I think a big thing was my mindset," Shultz said. "A lot of times I give up on myself, but today I hit that two-mile mark and saw where I was and thought, 'I just have a mile.'
"And then I saw the 400 and I said, 'I'm just going to go for it. I'm in pain, but pain is just temporary'."
Moments after the race ended and the top girls had congratulated each other, Rupe took off on a four-mile cool-down run, using the time to gather her thoughts after collecting her first bronze medal since probably youth track.
"It was just not my best race," said the North Carolina commit. "I had no clue (Kaylie) was near me until she passed me. I tried to go with her, but I just could not."
Still, it's her fifth consecutive race under 17:30 and the time was 13 seconds better than she ran at this event a year ago.
"One positive is that today is September 28 and state is on November 2," said the two-time defending Class 5A champion, firmly setting her sights on the rematch. "I know Rim Rock; I know this course."
Two other Saline County athletes collected medals at the meet. Central junior Liam Deniau-Young was eighth in the Crimson Division, while Ell-Saline senior Garrison Zerger finished eighth in the Blue Division in 16:36.5.
