Mason Strader

Breaking records is always something that athletes strive for when they begin a season, but for former Holton Wildcat and now Pitt State Gorilla Mason Strader he never could have imagined doing what he did last week.

In the sophomore’s home meet last week, the Gorilla track and field star shattered the school record for the mile, running it in just four minutes and five seconds which secured him an NCAA qualifying mark and second place in the meet.

Back on Jan. 16 Strader had another strong performance in a home meet as he won the 800-meter run with a time of 153.99 in what was his first meet in a year

He then followed that up with a first-place finish in the mile a week later, as he won at the Washburn Invitational with a time of 4:09.75.

This all comes after a strong career at Holton which saw Strader earn three Class 4A all-state honors including a pair of second place finishes at state his senior year in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs along with fourth place in the 800.

Strader will now look to continue his recent success at the collegiate level as postseason gets underway next week with the MIAA Indoor Championships at Washburn University.