Chase Atkins competed against some of the state’s best cross country runners week in and week out. The Hopkinsville senior finished first or second in five of the seven races he entered in 2020.
While the state meet didn’t end the way he wanted, Atkins still managed to leave his mark on the Hoptown record book in his career.
Atkins has run the 24 fastest times for Hopkinsville in the past 22 years, including a school-record time of 15:25 in finishing second at the region meet last month.
He finished claimed victories at the Warren East Raider Twilight Invitational and the Owensboro Fast Cats Invitational.
Atkins saw his development in cross country build after his sophomore season. He finished eighth at the region meet and 29th at state.
He carried that over to the spring track and field season where finished fourth at region in the 3,200 meters and 16th at state.
As a junior, Atkins had seven finishes in the top-three of the cross country races he entered. He was third at region and seventh at the Class 3A State Cross Country Meet.
Not only does Atkins excel on land but in the water too. He was the region swim champion in the 200-freestyle and finished second in the 500-freestyle, the swimming equivalent to a distance running event.
Atkins was also part of the region champion 400-free relay team and the 200-free relay team that finished second.
Atkins is one of the few Hopkinsville athletes that has competed at the state level in three different sports. He will look to return to the state tournament in both swimming and track in 2020 if the coronavirus doesn’t put a halt to it.
He knows running will be a part of his future at the college level. He is still undecided on where that will be. Until then, Atkins heads to the pool to prepare for the 2020-21 swim season for Hopkinsville as he works to add more swim hardware to his large collection of cross country and track awards.
