Junior Jacob D’Souza said on the day of the state cross country competition, he had high hopes. Before the first mile was done, he had made it to second place among the runners. Trying to keep pace despite the hilly course, D’Souza kept his place at the front of the pack. On the hill next to the cemetery near the race’s end, he caught first place and won the race.

D’Souza said when he first realized he was the Kansas State 6A boys cross country champion, he was ecstatic, and enjoyed seeing his loved ones there to witness his hard work. 

“It was awesome to see all my family, friends, teammates [and] coaches, to just see their expressions, seeing them all excited for me… It’s just a fun and cool experience and I’m glad I pushed myself to get there,” D’Souza said. 

Initially, he did not expect to take first place and he said it took him by surprise when it happened. Despite not having the fastest time before the competition, he managed to surpass his personal best during the competition with a time of 15:42.

“I knew I was gonna be up there, but I wasn’t sure if I was gonna win,” D’Souza said. “I was definitely super excited [and] overall really happy.”

Cross country and track coach Rob Marriott said he already suspected that D’Souza would win, and even had a surprise prepared for him and his teammates afterwards. 

“We already had a cake made for him. So we surprised him with that, and the cake was also for the other two teammates that qualified,” Marriott said. 

According to Marriott, winning a state competition is not a simple task, especially when cross country only has one primary event, unlike the 14 events in track. With this in mind and all of the training that led up to the competition, D’Souza said that preparing before the race was certainly a nerve-wracking experience. 

“There’s a lot of high expectations from family members, friends, teammates, coaches; they all wanted me to do well. My coaches [did] a pretty good job of not [giving] too much pressure,” D’Souza said. 

While he crossed the finish line to the state championship, Marriott said he was a couple of meters away from the finish line and initially did not know D’Souza had won. When he found out, he not only said it was a sense of relief but that it was one of the best feelings.

“As best as it feels, it’s better than anything I ever did as an athlete. I mean, I had success, but it’s not the same, it’s better,” Marriott said. 

D’Souza’s teammate senior Rowan Juhl said he and the rest of the team had faith in D’Souza from the beginning and was very impressed with the achievement. 

“I think everyone on the team knew he could do it,” Juhl said. “It is just so unbelievable, and so impressive to have that kind of mental and physical capacity to go out and really be the best in the state.” 

Juhl, who said he first met D’Souza when he was in eighth grade, said D’Souza not only is a skilled runner, but also a very down-to-earth and supportive teammate.

“He is the most humble person I’ve ever met. He will never talk about how good he is,” Juhl said. “He’s always there to build other people up, to support other people.”

As a freshman, D’Souza has always been a top runner, which Marriott said does not happen very often for boys. This has not changed and even when going to races and running before junior varsity, he will stay to cheer on all of his teammates.

“He’s out there cheering them all on, from our top JV kid to our bottom JV kid, he’s out there cheering them on. I don’t know how many state champions you see do that,” Marriott said.

Focusing on his faith during training and even heading into the race is what D’Souza said truly helped him gain the determination to finish the race off strongly and eventually take home first place. 

“Staying close to God definitely helped me persevere through this race, and to run fast and to not give up,” D’Souza said. 

Looking forward to his final high school season next year, D’Souza said he hopes to continue his successes and work toward even more accomplishments. 

“I definitely want to defend my state title next year, and I wouldn’t mind breaking the school record too,” D’Souza said.