It became obvious to everyone else on Saturday afternoon after 3.1 miles in Wamego that Collegiate junior Lakelin Conrad was the best runner in Class 4A.

They saw the culmination, the apex of Conrad’s season-long domination on Saturday when he strided across the finish line almost 19 seconds ahead of the next-closest finisher in a field of 104 runners.

But to truly understand when and how this championship came about, you have to go back to one year ago when Conrad felt the taste of defeat for the first time at the state meet.

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