On July 22, Gabrielle Converse didn\u2019t know a single runner in a Manhattan High uniform. That was the day her family moved from Lafayette, Indiana. She would be only days removed from unpacking boxes when she showed up at Warner Park for her first summer workout with the Indians.<\/p>\n
Within minutes, the coaches noticed.<\/p>\n
The new girl in town, running unfamiliar trails with unfamiliar faces, was suddenly holding pace with Manhattan\u2019s top group. A mile and a half uphill, in Kansas heat, on her very first days.<\/p>\n
A newcomer hadn\u2019t just arrived. A program-changer had. The junior would finish the season with a third-place finish at state, leading Manhattan girls\u2019 cross country to its first 6A title in a decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really exciting,\u201d Converse said. \u201cI know as a team we had really big goals this year. Just going from Joplin onward, it was really cool to be able to work toward it and accomplish what we wanted to do. And we worked really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her role in the team\u2019s feat and much more, Gabrielle Converse is The Mercury\u2019s Fall All-Flint Hills Female Athlete of the Year.<\/p>\n
At the time, in late July, the move felt abrupt. One week, she was in Indiana; the next, her family was settling into a new home across the Midwest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember I started going to the summer practices, and I got to know the girls,\u201d Converse said. \u201cAt first, it was a little bit difficult because I didn\u2019t know anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
What she didn\u2019t know was that her arrival had caught the attention of head coach Susan Melgares almost immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe noticed that the first workout, a mile and a half uphill, she was right up there amidst some of the guys,\u201d Melgares said. \u201cThere was her speed, but she\u2019s also just a gritty runner, and she will push herself in the workouts. She wants more competition \u2014 she thrives on competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that mindset, and that example, was contagious for our crew \u2014 not just the girls, the guys too.\u201d<\/p>\n
As quickly as she was running with Manhattan\u2019s best, she was blending with them. The bond formed almost instantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were really welcoming when I came in,\u201d Converse said. \u201cThey were talking to me and were really friendly. I\u2019m really grateful to have come into a team like that. We have a lot of fun at practice. We know how to be serious and get work done, but we also have fun, which is really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melgares saw that chemistry formed just as quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe fit right in with the girls that were here \u2014 very sweet women of high character all the way around \u2014 and she just added to that,\u201d Melgares said. \u201cIt was really fun to see. I\u2019ve been the new girl in high school; I\u2019ve lived that. This is rare. This is a rare situation, and it just made it all the more rewarding to see them get along. I feel like they\u2019ll be friends for a long, long time beyond this.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the trail, Converse didn\u2019t just join Manhattan High\u2019s lineup. She took the front of it.<\/p>\n
Her first meet in Kansas was her first win in Kansas \u2014 an individual first-place finish at the home opener at Warner Park. Then came first at the Baldwin Invite. Then first at league. Then first at regionals.<\/p>\n
Not to mention the historic performances.<\/p>\n
Manhattan captured its first Southern Stampede championship since 2015 at the prestigious meet in Joplin, Missouri, where Converse finished fifth overall in 18:03.65 \u2014 breaking the school record.<\/p>\n
Her favorite memory of the fall came during that same weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had our overnight trip in Joplin, Missouri, which was a lot of fun,\u201d she said. \u201cWe stayed in a hotel, and the course was a lot of fun \u2014 I think all of us got PRs. That was really cool, and we were happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Manhattan High\u2019s Gabrielle Converse runs next to Shawnee Mission East\u2019s Charlotte Hardy at the 6A state cross country meet Nov. 1 at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence.<\/p>\n