Finishing off the season strong, Connell Alford (‘24) took home first place at the MHSAA State Finals. Leading up to his new title, Alford’s been running and cycling for about six years and has put in the hard work necessary to get him to where he is now. 

“It was pretty incredible,” Alford said. “I knew there was a chance going in, but I didn’t expect to win.” 

In preparation for the race, the team laid off on the workouts to keep them at their best. They all made sure to remain calm and tried their best to treat this competition similar to other meets.

“For states I was keeping as calm as possible,” Alford said. “Just trying to block out everything else.”

Towards the end of the race was when Alford realized he had a shot at becoming the state champion. Being unsure of the outcome, Alford pushed himself to finish as best he could.

“I don’t really know what was going through my head,” Alford said. “I just thought to myself, ‘keep going forward.’”