Never satisfied: Kapaun runner now chasing cross-country glory
Daniel Enriquez ran the fastest 1,600-meter race in Kansas high school state meet history this past spring.
He shattered the record with a time of 4 minutes, 6.58 seconds and did it practically running by himself. It was one of two Class 5A gold medals he won that weekend, as he helped Kapaun Mt. Carmel win its second straight team championship.
But he couldn’t help but feeling a little disappointed. He wanted to go even faster.
“I can be pretty hard on myself,” Enriquez said.
That self-criticism is nothing new for the Kapaun senior. What has changed heading into his final cross country season is how he channels it. Instead of letting his lofty expectations weigh him down, Enriquez has started to embrace a line from his father, Sal: Do your best and forget the rest.
“I think I’m finally starting to come around to the ‘forget the rest’ part,” Enriquez said with a grin. “Once you push yourself past what you thought you could do and prove yourself wrong, it just makes you want to keep doing it again and again.”
That mindset paired with a rare combination of endurance and closing speed has made Enriquez one of Kansas’ best distance runners.
And he’s not putting a limit on what he wants to accomplish this season, which begins Saturday at the J.K. Gold Classic at Clapp Golf Course. Records, titles, Enriquez is coming for them all this season and he’s convinced his coach, Gage Garcia, that nothing is out of the realm of possibility with his drive.
“He’s changed the way I think about high school athletes, or at least this high school athlete,” said Garcia, a former standout runner himself at Wichita State. “The workouts he’s doing right now are harder than what I was doing in college. He has more resilience and grit than any high school runner I’ve ever seen.”
Garcia’s respect comes from both results and firsthand astonishment. He recalls crafting a grueling speed session last spring — 1,000 meters, then 800, 600, 400, and finishing with 200. Enriquez not only hit the elite paces set for him on the first run-through, he matched them exactly on the second.
“Most kids would love to race at that kind of pace,” Garcia said. “Daniel did it twice in the middle of a workout on a Tuesday.”
Part of what makes Enriquez special, Garcia says, is his “boxer’s mindset” — an almost genetic trait, since Enriquez’s uncle was a Golden Gloves fighter.
“There are a lot of times with running when people struggle with the stress and the pain,” Garcia said. “When he gets in his zone, nothing can break him.”
That edge has translated across seasons. Enriquez entered Kapaun as a pure distance prospect, but his work in the shorter races, especially the 800, has forced Garcia to rethink his long-term potential.
“That’s the question for the ages,” Garcia said. “But the one thing I do know is that he wants to be great at cross country right now.”
Enriquez leads a loaded roster that includes fellow seniors Cole Reintjes and Will Etheredge, plus sophomore Jack Sauer, junior Koelton Erwin and sophomore Kolbe Meyer. The group is determined to end the program’s 44-year drought without a boys cross country title.
Kapaun’s dominance in track and field over the past two springs has added fuel to the distance crew’s fire. The Crusaders finished behind defending champion Spring Hill and Blue Valley Southwest at last fall’s 5A state meet, but know they have the pieces to contend.
“It goes unspoken, but everyone knows that’s what we’re all gunning for,” Garcia said.
For Enriquez, the team goal is just as motivating as anything he wants to accomplish individually.
“The beautiful thing about cross country is that you can win as an individual, but also as a team,” Enriquez said. “That’s what drives me in races. I think about those boys and I know how hard they work. Those are my soldiers. When my races get tough, I think of them — it’s a reminder I’m not doing it for myself.”
It’s that blend of selfless motivation, unrelenting drive and rare talent that has Enriquez’s senior season shaping up as something special — even if he’ll probably still find something to improve on.
“What I love about running is that you’ll surprise yourself more often than not when you push your own limits,” Enriquez said. “Who knows how far I can take this?”
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