Endicott signs to run at ACC

Iola High’s Kohl Endicott won’t have to go very far to continue his cross country running career. Endicott signed his letter of intent to run at Allen Community College next fall.
“I just like to run and school will be free. I feel like if I don’t run in college, I’ll probably get fat,” Endicott joked.
He said it also helps that his parents, Mike and Dana, will be able to see him run still.
Allen coach Vince DeGrado told Endicott to prepare to run more than he has ever before.
“Watching Kohl run, I like the style of his running. He doesn’t run track and I don’t know how much running over the summer he does,” DeGrado said. “It will be nothing compared to what he does for me. You see the success he’s had and you’re like, ‘this kid could be really good.’ He just needs to be put in the right environment and structure.”
In his senior season, Endicott won four cross country meets and qualified for the state meet. Endicott was Iola’s best runner. At Allen, DeGrado said he will be challenged by his teammates.
 “His success in Iola doesn’t quite equate to what we have going on at Allen,” DeGrado said. “We’ve got some heavy hitters and guys that are putting miles in. They know what it’s like to train in college.”
Since DeGrado has taken over as the coach at ACC, the cross country team is perennially ranked among the top-10 junior colleges.
“It’s competitive and the team is competitive,” DeGrado said. “It’s not all a lot of fast guys coming in, it’s a lot of those grinder types, mental guys that buy into the system.”
DeGrado has seen Endicott run many times at high school track meets throughout Southeast Kansas. He said that Endicott looks good when he runs — meaning he has good mechanics.
“My analogy is ‘roll a bowling ball in gravel and see how far it gets you. Not real far. If you roll a bowling ball in pavement it will get you very far.’ That’s what I try to tell my runners,” DeGrado said. “The more efficient of a runner you are, that’s less work that I have to do, to correct any mechanical errors. That’s what I noticed with Kohl.”