It was that moment, where everything he had been working for over the past few years had finally come true. All of his hard work and dedication had finally paid off. His perseverance and commitment had finally added up to the point of complete success. He is Lukas Mees, senior, and this year he won state in the one mile.

Lukas hasn’t always loved running. “My sophomore year I absolutely hated it, I wanted to quit but my dad wouldn’t let me,” he said. Lukas had joined cross-country because at the time he was big into soccer. “I was trying to get into shape for soccer,” he said. Luckily Lukas’ dad pushed him to continue and now he has a great accomplishment.

At state Lukas ran a mile in 4:24, the person in second was a second behind him. “It sounds close but it isn’t, I got the lead in the first lap, and I kept it,” Lukas said. While running Lukas doesn’t think about much, but his technique. “It’s kind of a blur. I usually think about tactics: surging on the 400’s, focusing on the third lap, and when to kick,” he said.  When Lukas won, he was in disbelief. “It was a shock and a relief because it was my last chance to do it and I finally did it; you’re happy when you do something you’ve been trying to do for a few years,” he said. To Lukas, losing wasn’t an option. “When you put as much work into something as I did, you’re not going to except losing. You have to do it,” he said. Overall, it’s a good thing he never gave up.

Even though his track season is over, Lukas plans to keep running. He is taking a week off, and then starting to train again for cross, “I’m going to Emory University and I’m running cross country in the fall, and track in the spring for them,” he said. Lukas didn’t get scouted for his running though because; “Scouts base it off of junior year. I wasn’t very good as a junior, I got too good, too fast,” he said. Lukas isn’t upset though, for he’s always done his best.

Lukas encourages more people to give running a shot. “Everybody should try distance, go out for cross and track. It helped me find myself, not enough people give it a chance as much as they should,” he said. Running is a great way to stay active, and that moment of sheer happiness when someone has accomplished something they never thought possible is incomparable. So take Lukas’ advice and try going on long run once in awhile. No one knows who will be the next Lukas Mees.