By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Great Bend High School senior Makenzie Premer has run the Rim Rock Farm cross country course outside Lawrence just once. She happened to set a school record in that race held Sept. 23. Premer and the top-ranked Lady Panther runners return to Rim Rock Saturday for the Kansas State High School Activities Association Class 5A State Cross Country Championships.
"They talk about it being a pretty course and the scenery was beautiful, but the course itself was definitely the hardest I've run," Premer said. "It was fun to go and run that race. It was a good preview for state because if I hadn't run that, I feel I'd be even more nervous than I already am for state. Knowing what the course looks like, I'm a little less nervous."
It has been a busy season for Premer, who dual-sported for the cross country team and the Lady Panther volleyball team that set a school record for most wins in a season. She got her first true taste of what that meant on Aug. 31. She was one of the front runners at the Great Bend Invite at Lake Barton. She finished seventh overall and third on the team, but only after scrambling the final tenth of a mile after her legs gave out.
"It was definitely an eye-opening experience," she said. "We do the training and it's supposed to replicate us getting ready for a meet. But until you're there and giving it your absolute all; I was good for three miles and that last (tenth) got me because my legs just gave out. I'd never strained that hard for anything."
But her day was just beginning. After the race, Premer hopped on the bus and traveled with her volleyball teammates to Garden City. She played in all four sets as the Lady Panthers defeated Garden City and Liberal.
"I definitely felt it," she said. "I was not able to jump like I normally would have been able to. It took everything out of me. I was able to recoup some but not to where I was playing my best."
Premer has lettered all four years as a volleyball player, and she will earn a fourth varsity letter for the Lady Panther basketball team this winter. But the spring has been her time to shine in her first three years of high school. Following in her mother's footsteps, Premer began running track as a fifth grader. As a freshman a few years later, she finished second at state in the 300m hurdles and fifth in the 100s. She also qualified for state as a member of the 4x400m relay team.
As a sophomore, Premer was part of Great Bend's state champion 4x400m relay team, and part of the 4x100m relay that set a school record and finished third at state. She finished runner-up again in the 300m hurdles, and ran sixth in the 100s. The Lady Panthers finished second as a team.
Premer's transition to longer distances began last spring as a junior. Track Coach Lyles Lashley messaged her about running in the 4x800m relay. She thought it was a joke at first but quickly learned to enjoy the race.
"It's not as fast as the 400 so you can relax a little more but it's still a really fast pace," she said. "I really enjoy the 800."
For state last spring, Premer dropped the 100m hurdles and finished second in the 300s. She qualified for state on the 4x100m relay team, and she again ran on the 4x400m relay team that placed sixth. Her 4x800m team placed fourth. Great Bend finished third as a team, missing second place by a mere point.
Premer has been one of the top hurdlers in Kansas over the past three seasons. Last year, her 300m time ranked No. 6 across all classes. Premer was next in line to win the Class 5A 300m hurdle title last year. Then a double-handed twist of fate hit: Wellington's two-time defending champion and the best hurdler in Kansas moved to Hutchinson, and the Salthawks dropped to Class 5A. Premer may again be the favorite for a Class 5A title this spring but now she has other considerations.
"Since the 300 hurdles and the 800 are back-to-back, I think I'd have to choose some meets to run one and some to run the other," she said. "I'm not sure what I will decide to do there but I still have some time."
All that will be determined later. The focus now is a state cross country championship Saturday at Rim Rock Farm. Marissa Boone set the GBHS course record there at state last year in 19:33.50. Premer reset that record at 19:22.20 in September, and senior Addy Nicholson ran a 19:28.30 that day. Nicholson and Boone have plenty of experience at Rim Rock, and Premer plans to stick with Nicholson as she has in other races this year.
"I really do use her, just being there next to me to keep pushing me," said Premer. "I know if she's doing it I need to be doing it for her and the rest of my team. We're all ready. We all feel really good about this weekend."
Most of Premer's cross country experience came in the early season when the temperatures were still warm. Saturday's high in Lawrence is projected at 43 degrees with possible precipitation. Premer said that's a good thing when the Class 5A race begins at 10:35 a.m.
"It's not supposed to be super windy so around 40 degrees will actually feel super good once we're good and warmed," she said. "When you're running, once your body is really warmed up, it will feel good to run in that."
Makenzie is the daughter of Chad and Amanda Premer. She plans to continue her running career and study pre-medicine in-state next year so she can make it back home to cheer on brothers Ian and Alec at GBHS.