By Rich Winter

605 Sports

For five seasons, Hill City’s Luke Rupert has run in relative anonymity.

The five-time state qualifier, and three-time podium finisher, Rupert shed his cloak of invisibility when he won the Nike Heartland Preview meet on Sept. 9, with a scorching fast 5,000-meter time of 15:16. 

“Coming into that race I just barely had the fastest time so I knew I would be in the race,” Rupert said. ”Coach (Joe) Noyes and I had been working on a strategy and it worked out perfectly that day.” 

The plan was to hang with the leaders and then drop the hammer with somewhere between one and 1.5 miles left in the race. 

“We tried this out at an earlier meet in Spearfish and Luke trusted the process,” Noyes, Hill City cross-country coach, said. “His move has to come at the midpoint of the race and we’ve been telling this to all the guys that even when you think you are tired and can’t take another step you have to go.” 

Rupert’s move decimated the pack of leaders and by the finish he was 10 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Sean Fries of Minnetonka, Minnesota (15:26). 

Rupert’s climb up the Class A running ladder has been a steady ascension. A late bloomer, Rupert has gone from a 4-foot-5, 100 pound seventh-grader to a 5-foot-10 senior that is one of favorites to win the Class A individual race next month. 

Rupert was 23rd at the state meet as a freshman, 15th as a sophomore and third in 2022 as a junior.  

“In the seven years that I’ve had him as a runner he hasn’t missed a run,” Noyes said. “He’s a great kid and does everything you ask of him. He’s pretty loose and making all the right choices.”

Some of those right choices include being an outstanding student where he takes dual-credit courses at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

As the curtain closes on his high school career Rupert is being courted by a number of esteemed universities including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

“I want to go into mechanical and electrical engineering,” Rupert said. “The goal is to find a school that is not only great at running but also at academics.” 

Running and academics aren’t Rupert’s only passions.

In 2022, the Sunday before the state cross-country meet, Rupert was fighting fires as part of the Hill City Volunteer Fire Department. 

Luke Rupert is a member of the Hill City Volunteer Fire Department - Photo courtesy of Brian Rupert

Rupert’s father, Brian, is also a member of the Hill City Volunteer Fire Department. At age 16, Luke Rupert became a Junior Firefighter and he’s been helping fight fires since then. 

“For one thing we have Smokey Bear as our mascot,” Rupert said. “I have a really good relationship with some of the dads at the fire station and it was good to be mentored by them and also a fun and important thing to do for my community.” 

For the past three years, Noyes has been preaching patience to the Hill City boys. Rupert has been smallish throughout much of high school and his senior teammate, Leighton Aves (12th at Nike Heartland Preview, 15:57) skipped two grades and will be only 16-years old at the state cross-country meet in October.

“The physical growth of these guys the last two years has been the difference,” Noyes said. “I’ve been telling them about their potential for the last three years and it has been fun to watch them develop and become excellent young men.”