By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
I tried to find a synonym for running that starts with the letter K, so this titled rolled off the tongue the same way “Rochholz is running wild” did, but alas, I could find no good K words that would do the trick. That does not change the fact that ACGC’s Preston Kent is once again proving he is one of the most dominant cross country runners in class 1A.
Going back in time, ACGC qualified for the state meet as a team when Kent was a freshman. The Chargers placed second behind Lake Mills, and Kent got his first postseason experience at a young age. He would finish 93rd in 18:18. ACGC qualified for state again during his sophomore season, this time placing ninth. But, Kent improved his performance greatly. He placed 51st in 17:26, improving his time by nearly an entire minute. He went from having the slowest time at state for the Chargers to the second fastest.
The Chargers would not qualify as a team in his junior season in 2025, but Kent did as an individual, placing seventh at the qualifying meet in 16:48, another big jump in his time. That time of 16:48 was the fifth fastest in school history. And, at the state meet that year, he once again greatly improved his placement, finishing 28th in 17:06.
That brings us to 2026, where Kent has had an electric start to his senior campaign. He won the team’s opening meet at the Southeast Valley Invitational in 17:24. Kent then won a shortened race, but a win nonetheless, in ACGC’s second meet in 12:10 at Woodward-Granger. At the Gilbert Cross Country Meet, facing competition from various levels, Kent finished 19th in 17:13, not too far off from his time at state last season.
The cancellation bug also hit ACGC, as Kent wouldn’t race between Sept. 10 and 24. A big gap but, nonetheless, Kent finished second in 16:41, his best time of the season, and would be an improvement on his time from 2025. It would still remain the fifth fastest behind Justin Reinhart’s 16:36 from 2022, but was a sign that Kent was not slowing down despite the lengthy break. Another cancelled meet saw Kent run on Oct. 5 at the Glenwood meet, where he would pick up another win, this time in 16:47.
Kent ran in the Jim Klein Invitational on Oct. 8 and ran another excellent race, placing second in 16:40, improving on his time once again. That means so far this season, Kent has three wins, broke his own best time twice, two second place finishes, and a 19th place finish racing against various class sizes.
Kent all but seems guaranteed to make state again for his farewell season, and it will go down as one of the best seasons in ACGC cross country history. He is currently ranked ninth as an individual in 1A. His time of 16:40 this season would have placed 11th at the state meet last year, but it appears he could be on track to finish faster than that. With a state qualifier still to go, it will be fun to see where Kent will cap off an excellent high school career with the Chargers.
Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.