The girls cross country teams will advance to the regional meet Monday, Oct. 26 in Lubbock, after competing at the district meet Oct. 16 in Amarillo.

The varsity team finished second overall with 53 points and the junior varsity placed second with 33 points.  Girls cross country coach Ray Baca said his goal was to prepare for one meet at a time.

“Now that we are past district, we just have our girls varsity team working out, so they are the main focus,” Baca said. “We are just getting ready for regionals, and hopefully we qualify for the state meet.”

Sophomore Ayse Allison finished third at district and will use what she learned from past meets to excel in her placing.

“You just have to relax,” Allison said. “You can’t be stressed out about it because then you will have already beaten yourself before you have even raced. You have to be really positive.”

This year, Allison has made cross country her main focus and wants to take on the role of being a leader for the team.

“We had a lot of girls graduate last year, so we really didn’t have a leader,” Allison said. “I have made it a priority to put cross country as my number one, so I can become more of a leader. I have been raised with cross country and that helps with my knowledge of the sport a lot.”

Growing up around the sport, Allison said she has learned to not give up and keep her spirits high.

“It’s tough. It is not something you can be naturally good at,” Allison said. “You can’t race one day and then say you don’t want to do it anymore. You have to keep going with it. The biggest thing I want people to see out of me is positivity because it is so easy to be negative in cross country. Being negative not only takes away from you, but also from the team.”

For the upcoming meets, Allison has set individual goals for herself.

“I’m hoping to get within the top five at regionals,” Allison said. “It would be awesome to get fifth at state, but I am hoping to finish in the top 10.”

Baca said he has created a bond with all of his seniors this year, and he is not ready to see them leave.

“With our seniors we have a time at the end of the season where we let them say something to the rest of the kids, and that’s when I prepare what I’m going to say to them,” Baca said. “To be honest, I haven’t even thought about it because it’s so hard to say bye to them. As of right now, I would tell them I appreciated them running for us, all of the hard work and the dedication they have put in.”

Varsity girls results:

3^rd– Ayse Allison

8^th– Mallory Shehan

12^th– Kelsee Dudley

13^th– Rachel Jones

17^th– Brantley Bristow

18^th– Jordan Garay

19^th– Izzy Wilson