In 2020, junior Kyle Urban was awarded Section VI Runner of the Year.

He won because of his hard work and effort. “He wasn’t first, but I saw his work ethic and I know he had the ability to be better and most of all he has the will to be better,” said Alden High School cross country coach Mr. Carll.

Matt Sentz, a teammate of Kyle’s, spoke on his work ethic. “Kyle is one of the hardest workers I know. He always gives it 110%,” Sentz said.

Kyle started running when he was in 7th grade because he was influenced by his parents who ran track and cross country in high school.

“I liked running so I tried both and fell in love with running cross country.” Kyle had many influences as a runner such as his coach and a senior captain when Kyle was a freshman.

He refers to his team as a ” second family,” which goes to show the type of bond they all have together. He said that being runner of the year has not really set fully in yet. He was told that he was runner of the year by his friends texting him and his neighbors giving him the paper.

He said that he wants to achieve more than runner of the year. “My goal is to try to break every record for our school for the cross country 5K, the 2 mile in track, the steeple chase … I want to try to get first or second at states and get a medal at federations or even nationals cause that would really set into perspective what I have done.”