Ellinwood’s Kyle Blakeslee was named to the Class 2A academic all-state team after finishing in 19th place at the state cross country meet.
“What’s really cool about that is you have to be in the top 30 at the state cross country team, but you also have to a core GPA of over 3.75,” Lashley said. “It’s not just one semester, that’s over all four years, so it’s usually between two to eight people make it each year. I think 2A boys had more do it than any other class.
“That’s an honor, to do that, because usually you have good students and good runners. Then to have that line where you work hard enough to do both, that’s just an accomplishment.”
Blakeslee said that he has never experienced anything quite like winning the state title.
“It felt pretty awesome actually,” Blakeslee said. “When they announced our name at state as the champions, it was probably the greatest feeling that I’ve ever had. Then receiving the trophy, it was pretty awesome.”
Blakeslee competes in cross country in the fall, basketball in the winter and tennis in the spring, but he still has time to focus on his schoolwork.
“Basically, during the year I work on my grades pretty hard,” Blakeslee said. “Just to know that with my grades, getting academic all-state, that’s a pretty good honor for myself.
“It just boosts my confidence a little bit. My GPA was just a hair over the cutoff.”
