The boy’s cross country team and two girls will travel to Lubbock Oct. 25 to compete in regionals.

“I think district went exceptionally well, although I do believe I could’ve ran better, but overall as a team I think we ran really, really well,” sophomore Kaleb Roberts said.

To make it to regionals, the boys and girls team had to place top three, or an individual runner had to place top ten. Abby Valdez finished 6th with a time of 12:59 and Nyla Long finished 7th with a time of 13:01, landing them a spot at regionals. The boys team took third, beating Brownwood by ten points and Glenn Rose by 45 points. The placers were senior Tate Rainwater finishing at 7th with a time of 18:38 and Clayton Shaw finishing at 10th with a time of 18:45. 

“Season has gone better than expected,” Ben Stone said. “Some of our runners have improved a lot, especially since some of them have never done distance before.” 

The last time the boys made it to regionals as a team was 2017 and the girls made it in 2018. Since then, both boys and girls teams have had individual qualifiers make it. Last year, because of COVID, only the top two teams were able to make it, meaning both teams were unable to go.

“I don’t know what I was expecting for the season but it was really good, and a lot better than last year,” Valdez said.

The top four teams at regionals automatically qualify for state. To qualify individually, runners have to finish in the top ten, not including the teams that qualify. Therefore, some runners can place in the twenties and will still be able to qualify for state.

“We are in a tough region which I think is good for our kids to see and race against,” head coach Macey Siegert said. “I have high expectations for all the ones who qualified, but I will be happy if they just give their best and have fun!”