It was one last time for Centralia Panther, Lukas Koch and Horton Charger, Leah Murata to compete on the high school level in a cross country event this time against other high school graduates as part of the annual Kansas Shrine Bowl festivities.

The night started off with a bang for the Kanzaland area as Lukas Koch came down the stretch of the 2-mile race and pasted up the leader to grab first place, something he did on a regular basis his senior year at Centralia in cross country and track and field competitions. Koch finished with an time of 10:33.

Horton Charger, Leah Murata came across the finish line at the 14:22 mark to cap off her race in fifteenth place in the girls competition, as both Koch and Murata competed for the East squad.

It was evident that both Koch and Murata enjoyed their final high school race as both Koch congratulated every runner crossing the finish line and Murata too congratulated her fellow runners after crossing the finish line. It seemed quite apparent that all the competitors had developed great friendships with fellow cross country runners from across the state of Kansas.

But for Murata and Koch said the best part of the competition was competing for all the kids and patients of Shriner's.

"It was cool to run one more high school race, but it was really for the Shrine organization and its all for the kids, they're fighting hard every day. We saw a bunch of kids born without legs and they're fighting real hard, a lot harder than I had to so it's all for the kids and we just wanted to put on a good show and give them what they deserved," said Koch.

"I had a blast; it’s amazing what we do for the Shriners, hospital and for the little kids. The motto here is Runners run for those who can't walk, so being a cross country runner that's our motto to them and we just love supporting them in everything," said Murata.

Both Koch and Murata enjoyed illustrious careers athletically in high school.

Koch etched himself in the Kansas records this year in competition and definitely proved to be one of the most dominant runners in the state of Kansas during his four years at Centralia. Lukas capped of his high school athletic career in impressive fashion sweeping the 800, 1600 and 3200 meter runs in Class 1A in the state track competition for the second straight year. While he set a state record in the 3200 with a time of 9:27.96 and was less than a second off of the state record in the 1600. His success in his senior year started in the fall, as he won every cross country event in compete in and won the Class 1A state title with a time of 16:16.00, 24 seconds better than second place. Koch finishes his Panther career with a trophy case full of great performances.

Murata, too enjoyed a great running career for the Horton Chargers winning multiple events including the Delaware Valley League title and Sabetha Invitational in her senior year of cross country competition, while capturing a fourteenth place in Class 3A at state with a time of 16:25.50. Leah placed seventh at state in 2011 in cross country. Leah’s success didn’t stop in the cross country scene as she took home a sixth place in the 1600 meter (5:25.52) and placed tenth in the 3200 meter in Class 3A at the State track meet this past year.

Koch and Murata's athletic careers aren't over as they both look to continue their athletic career on the collegiate level. For Koch he will join up with cross country and track and field teams at Kansas State University, while Murata will take her talents to Haskell Indians University in Lawrence, competing in cross country and track and field competition.

Murata says she is extremely excited to attend Haskell, "I'm extremely excited, I meant some people going to DI and DII schools which is awesome with scholarships and everything. I have a scholarship to Haskell and it makes me excited that I'm carrying on my running career."

For Koch when asked what he is looking forward to at Kansas State he said, "Training partners and a team is going to be really exciting. I got a long ways to go to get to their caliber, but we'll work on it."

Both Koch and Murata end their high school careers as a pair of top runners in the state of Kansas, representing the Kanzaland area well with great performances at the Shrine Bowl and a great display of sportsmanship and competitiveness throughout their careers.

Interview with Horton Charger, Leah Murata

Interview with Centralia Panther, Lukas Koch