ROSHOLT – When Tri-State senior runner Kaleb Foltz steps up to the starting line at 1 p.m. today for the Class A boys’ race at the State Cross Country Meet at Yankton Trail Park he will be looking to cap off a stellar senior season.

“Can’t wait. Going to put it all out there,” Foltz said of competing in the final cross country race of his high school career. “However it ends up, I’ll just feel good as long as I tried my best.”

Today will put a bow on what has been quite a campaign for the Rosholt native.

After placing second at the Milbank Breathe Easy on Aug. 28, Foltz went on to win six meets in a three-week span — the Webster Invitational on Sept. 11 (17:33.30), Roncalli Invite on Sept. 14 (17:33.69), Deuel Invite on Sept. 18 (16:51.43), Clark-Willow Lake Invite on Sept. 21 (17:23.84), Groton Invitational on Sept. 25 (17:29.61) and ECC Cross Country Meet on Oct. 2 (17:18.22).

Most recently, Foltz finished second (17:14.73) at the Region 1A meet behind Milbank’s Payton Brown (16:36.04).

Foltz credited this year’s success to his training and determination, as well as Tri-State cross country coach Stacey Fritz.

“I have to give it to my coach,” he said. “She’s a great person, and she likes to push me.”

Winning races isn’t something new to Foltz, though. As a sophomore, he was crowned a champion in three events at the Class B state track and field meet — 800-meters (1:59.73), 1,600-meters (4:35.01) and as a member of the sprint medley relay (3:45.27).

“He is a natural athlete,” Fritz said. “I don’t want to say it comes easy to him, but running is in his blood. He’s just a good runner. I think that’s part of what his success is — and being a coachable kid.

“If you tell him to jump, he jumps. If you tell him to run five miles, he runs that. He doesn’t argue about anything.”

And while Foltz may have the “natural” ability to be a successful runner, Fritz is still pleasantly surprised by the steps he’s taken over his Tri-State cross country career.

“When he started out as a seventh grader, I would never have imagined him being the runner he is today,” Fritz said. “He was all arms and legs when he started out as a seventh grader. His form has improved every year, and just his ability to run and endurance has helped him a lot.”

During his time running for Tri-State, Foltz has been chasing a program record that stands after nearly four decades. At Lakeview Golf Course in 1986, former Rosholt and South Dakota State University cross country standout Harley Hanson ran the fastest 5,000-meter time in Tigers history at 15:25. Hanson was also a three-time state champion for the Tigers from ‘85-’87.

Foltz’s personal best is 16:09.90, which he set at last year’s Deuel Invite.

“They (Hanson’s records) have definitely, always been a big motivator for me because my coach knew him decently well,” Foltz said. “She would always tell me these stories about how we would run 20 miles in one day, and he was a very hard trainer. Just to be up there, to be mentioned in the school as one of the best runners besides Harley Hanson even is a huge honor.”

Including the girls, Fritz has 15 total runners on her 2023 squad. They all practice together, but Foltz is the lone senior. And only a handful are juniors.

“Most of the time, he is running against himself because he is so far ahead of everybody else running or with our training,” Fritz said. “But he is a really good leader, encouraging some of those younger kids to try to stay with him. And they try as best as they can. He’s usually on his own, or I’ll give him more miles to run than the other kids.”

Tri-State will see three of its runners competing today — Foltz, Amsden Piotter and then freshman Alyvia Geffre. Piotter secured 20th (19:34.42) at regions and the final state-qualifying spot while Geffre placed 17th (22:13.80).

Now, all three runners have a chance to make an impact among the state’s elite runners.

“If any of them place in the top 10, it would help out my program a lot,” Fritz said. “And as a coach, I would be so excited for those kids. It would be a dream come true for me to have those kids place that high. Right now, I just hope they run their best. That’s all I ask of my kids is to do their best.”

In last year’s state cross country meet, Foltz finished 21st with a time of 17:15.84. This year, he still wants to win it, but he’s “shifted” his state goals since the Tigers moved up from Class B to Class A before the 2022 season.

“Some of these kids are just freaky fast, and the odds of me beating them are slim,” Foltz said. “So definitely, (I) always want to do my best. But more so, I go in there thinking about time and not as much about placing. I always want to run my best time at state.”

But if the best-case scenario happens, and he ends his Tri-State cross country career on the mountaintop?

“That would be a dream — check it off the bucket list,” he said. “Because, that’s definitely been one of my top dreams since I started running in seventh grade.”