A Hoisington teenager is one of more than 250 runners carrying the American flag across the country as part of Relay for America.

Tristin Compton, who will be a Hoisington High School senior this year, learned about the event through social media and thought it would be fun to join the relay on a 13-mile run. She met the qualifications, as a track and cross-country athlete who was a state qualifier this year. She also ran a half-marathon in honor of the Oklahoma City bombing victims when she was in the eighth grade.

Relay for America runners started at the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco and are making their way more than 3,000 miles across America, passing the flag from one runner to the next. The goal is to reach Washington, D.C., by July 4. Compton will start her segment on Thursday, near Beattie, in northeast Kansas.

In addition to celebrating the 250th birthday of the USA, every mile of the Relay is dedicated to a veteran who served our nation. In Tristin’s case, the honor goes to her father, Jeffrey Compton.

This story originally appeared in the June 25, 2026 edition of the Great Bend Tribune.