The girls’ and boys’ cross country teams will advance to state Nov. 8 in Round Rock after qualifying at regionals in Lubbock Oct. 31. The girl team placed second with 101 points and the boys placed first with 53 points.

For the girls, sophomore Angel Hayden placed sixth and freshman Ayse Allison placed ninth. For the boys, junior Treet Allison placed fourth, sophomore Dylan Knight placed sixth and junior Joseph Trevino placed 13th. Freshman Ayse Allison said the team has been practicing daily to prepare for state.

“We do a lot of speed work along with distance running,” Ayse said. “We do both jobs as sprinters and distance runners, so we are doubling up in practice.”

Ayse said being a freshman at the regional meet was overwhelming.

“You have to do your job and add to the team, but I was always told not to be nervous,” Allison said. “Everything that we have done has led up to this moment, so I just went with the flow and that got us pretty far.”

Senior Jacob Wilhelm said his favorite thing about cross country was seeing their hard work pay off.

“We work so hard and it makes me proud to see what we have achieved as a team,” Wilhelm said. “I’m really glad we made it to state.”

Wilhelm said the team was expected to win regionals.

“Coach didn’t want us to go in being big headed, so we were trying to stay modest,” Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm said the cross country team has more of a team atmosphere rather than an individual feel.

“Our team success isn’t based on individual talent,” Wilhelm said. “If everyone does their best, we have a good chance to win state.”