AUGUSTA, Kan. — Logan Seger cemented his place in St. Thomas Aquinas history Saturday.
The STA senior was the latest in program history to win an individual state championship. Seger became the fourth Saint to win gold in the past seven years, and the fifth individual title for the program as Ethan Marshall was a back-to-back champ in 2017-18.
Seger became a four-time state medalist Saturday at the 4 Mile Creek Resort. He placed 14th, ninth and fourth before being crowned champion.
“It was exciting,” Seger said. “It was fun, because I’ve seen so many of my teammates do it over the years, so it was really exciting to do that. Obviously, I can’t do it without all of the people I’ve ran with this year.”
STA coach Justin Wrigley was proud of his senior, even saying he completed one of the best seasons in Kansas history.
“He’s got a some more races, so we haven’t altered his races to peak for this,” Wrigley said. “This is something he’s definitely been building to. He’s had a great season. I think it’s the best season a Saint has ever run, and I would put it up there with the best in Kansas history. He was averaging up until today a 15:23 per race. Today was slower than that, but when we get to championship racing, we talk about place over everything. He did exactly what he needed to do … and got himself a nice win.”
Like the other three individual champions, Seger took the lead very early in the race and never looked back. It was the same strategy he used the previous week en route to an easy regional victory.
On Saturday, Seger led after the first half mile, and it was a sizable lead that early in the race. He maintained a large lead throughout the race, eventually winning by 12 seconds when he crossed the finish line in a time of 15:39.2.
“It worked at regionals, so I tried to do it again,” Seger said. “That was the game plan. I look back sometimes, but I tried not to – maybe once or twice.”
The second-place finisher of the race was STA senior Ashton Higgerson. He was running in the main pack behind Seger before separating himself from Great Bend’s Kaiden Esfeld by three seconds down the home stretch.
Seger watched his teammate finish second, knowing it was key to helping the Saints in the team race.
“It’s awesome to see those guys there,” Seger said. “… It’s really special.”
Seger said he does plan to run in college next year, but is undecided on where he’ll run. Seger said he might decide this week, but wasn’t definitive of a date to announce his decision.
– Story by Jimmy Gillispie
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