Chrisman Senior Finds Running, Then Finds Success
Story By: Dominik Ortiz
Senior Chris Bunce gets up like any other person on a regular morning, but on meet days, he only has one thing in mind, winning.
He meets with his teammates on the starting line, along with all of the other Varsity runners from all of the other schools.
When the race starts it’s all he can think about, winning and pacing himself to be the best he can be
But, this is his first year on the XC team. It all started his junior year during William Chrisman’s track season.
“Coach [Tyler] Rathke kind of forced me, kept telling me to come out for track,” said Bunce.
It wasn’t easy at the start of the season as Bunce ran close to a 6:30 mile. But, things soon change,
“It came to me naturally,” he said. "Well, not at first. I had to put a lot of effort into it,” he said.
“I did not know what to expect from Chris,” cross country coach and assistant track coach Jason Stacy said. “In my eyes he wasn’t a runner, it looked painful for him, I joked that he looked like a 50-year-old man the way he held his body.”
Bunce’s work ethic and determination quickly paid off.
Bunce was running a five-minute mile and competing at the varsity level in just over a month after starting to run.
“By looking at his times, I was hoping he would help us on JV, I think we just threw him into the Blue Springs meet, that's when we saw he was running and competing very well,” Stacy said. “We started running him in varsity, he started running 5 minute miles, it’s not anything we did as coaches, it was his work ethic, his will, competitiveness, and his desire to be great. He’s definitely a runner now.”
Then, Stacy approached him about giving cross country a shot as well. Stacy knew he could be successful but he has quickly become the Bears’ second best runner, has earned First Team All-Conference honors, and earned medals in almost every meet.
“It feels good to come in as top two varsity,” he said. “I worked a lot to get there, I ran basically every day over the summer, every weekday, I wasn't expecting to be where I am now.
Even with the success, and a chance to get to Sectionals with a strong run at Districts this weekend, Bunce is focused on the passion he found last spring.
“I’m running to stay in shape for track, it helps me clear my head, but this sport has also made me gain a lot of friends from joining the Cross Country Team,” he said. “I am hoping to meet my goal of a 4:30 mile during track season.”
Once highschool ends for this senior, he hopes to run at a collegiate level, something that was not even an afterthought a year ago.
“I would like to run for Buena Vista, or Cloud County,” said Bunce.
Senior Chris Bunce gets up like any other person on a regular morning, but on meet days, he only has one thing in mind, winning.
He meets with his teammates on the starting line, along with all of the other Varsity runners from all of the other schools.
When the race starts it’s all he can think about, winning and pacing himself to be the best he can be
But, this is his first year on the XC team. It all started his junior year during William Chrisman’s track season.
“Coach [Tyler] Rathke kind of forced me, kept telling me to come out for track,” said Bunce.
It wasn’t easy at the start of the season as Bunce ran close to a 6:30 mile. But, things soon change,
“It came to me naturally,” he said. "Well, not at first. I had to put a lot of effort into it,” he said.
“I did not know what to expect from Chris,” cross country coach and assistant track coach Jason Stacy said. “In my eyes he wasn’t a runner, it looked painful for him, I joked that he looked like a 50-year-old man the way he held his body.”
Bunce’s work ethic and determination quickly paid off.
Bunce was running a five-minute mile and competing at the varsity level in just over a month after starting to run.
“By looking at his times, I was hoping he would help us on JV, I think we just threw him into the Blue Springs meet, that's when we saw he was running and competing very well,” Stacy said. “We started running him in varsity, he started running 5 minute miles, it’s not anything we did as coaches, it was his work ethic, his will, competitiveness, and his desire to be great. He’s definitely a runner now.”
Then, Stacy approached him about giving cross country a shot as well. Stacy knew he could be successful but he has quickly become the Bears’ second best runner, has earned First Team All-Conference honors, and earned medals in almost every meet.
“It feels good to come in as top two varsity,” he said. “I worked a lot to get there, I ran basically every day over the summer, every weekday, I wasn't expecting to be where I am now.
Even with the success, and a chance to get to Sectionals with a strong run at Districts this weekend, Bunce is focused on the passion he found last spring.
“I’m running to stay in shape for track, it helps me clear my head, but this sport has also made me gain a lot of friends from joining the Cross Country Team,” he said. “I am hoping to meet my goal of a 4:30 mile during track season.”
Once highschool ends for this senior, he hopes to run at a collegiate level, something that was not even an afterthought a year ago.
“I would like to run for Buena Vista, or Cloud County,” said Bunce.