The 5-foot-10, 120-pound senior set a new state 5K record at last September’s Olathe Twilight Meet, clocking a personal-best time of 14:50.00. Kelley bookended that performance with an eighth-place finish at the Foot Locker South championships to earn All-Region honors in November. The state’s top runner at the Chile Pepper XC Festival’s El Caliente Division and at the Carroll Invitational in Texas, he took second at the Class 6A state meet, leading the Tigers to the team title. A three-time All-State selection and ranked as the nation’s No. 54 runner last fall in the Dyestat 100, he also finished 24th at December’s national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.
Kelley has maintained a weighted 4.2 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a written letter of athletic aid to run at the University of Mississippi this fall.
Kelley has volunteered locally on behalf of the Young Men’s Service League and as a member of the National Honor Society. A devoted parishioner of his church community, he has also donated his time as a youth baseball coach in addition to working at Rush Running, a Bentonville gear and shoe store.
