For a brief moment, Steve Heffernan wondered who would rise to the occasion.

Three years ago, when Heffernan, Free State High’s cross country coach, lost his top girls runner, Alysha Valencia, to graduation.

At the time, he knew someone needed to step in and fill the void that next season to keep the Firebirds’ program moving forward.

“A lot of people said, ‘What’s going to happen?'” Heffernan said of Valencia’s departure.

Enter Kyra Kilwein.

Kilwein, a freshman during Valencia’s senior year, immediately took charge upon Valencia’s exit, occupying the No. 1 position on the team at every race despite her youth.

Heffernan hasn’t had to worry since.

Kilwein, the Journal-World’s all-area cross country female athlete of the year, demonstrated a commitment to improving individually while helping her team get better. Her team-first attitude revealed itself at the Class 6A state meet at Rim Rock Farm in the final race of her career.

She very easily could have tried to improve her fifth-place result in her last 4K. But Kilwein did not need individual accolades. Instead, she played it safe, not wanting one last push for her own greatness to compromise the team score.

Kilwein’s decision proved advantageous.

Her performance helped the Firebirds finish third at the state meet, the first time the Free State girls ever had placed at state in the team’s 12-year history. “One of the things that made Kyra special to our team, it sounds kind of blasé, but she was a very dependable, consistent person and runner,” Heffernan said. “When you have success at that level, it tends to pull kids along.”

For her career, Kilwein won three races individually. Two of those came this year, including one race in Manhattan in which she broke the course record. In addition, Kilwein was a state medalist, earning top 20 honors all four years in a Firebird uniform. She finished in the top 10 three times at state and four times at the Sunflower League meet.

“Throughout the years since Free State opened, there’s been really great distance runners,” Kilwein said, “and I’m just glad to be a part of that.”