District champion. Region champion. Amalie Mills is unstoppable.

The senior placed first overall at the Region 4 Championships in Corpus Christi yesterday, with Sara Scott close behind at third. This morning, both seniors signed to run in college, Mills to the United States Air Force Academy and Scott to Tulsa University. Overall, the team placed second and will compete at the UIL State Championships in Round Rock on Nov. 24.

Though her Region time was not her personal record, Mills states that the best is yet to come at State in two weeks.

“I played the race very conservatively,” Mills said. I don’t want to wear myself out at regionals when I have State coming in two weeks, so I made sure not to race my hardest.”

Even for a district and region champion, Mills has much work to do before the State meet.

“Over the next couple weeks, we will be focusing on our state meet preparations,” Mills said. “This usually consists of some faster workouts and more easy runs because we want to go into the state meet feeling fresh.”

Amalie’s original goal was to place in the top ten at the State Championships, but now she is shooting even higher.

“After my last couple of races, I think I need to to set my standards higher,” Mills said. “I’m wanting that top five. I’m just going to be putting all of my trust in God over the next  couple of weeks in training and at the race.”

Head Coach Trenton Hall is proud of the girls’ performance at Region.

“The girls handled the situation very well,” Hall said. “They really took care of business.”

Sara Scott finished fourth at the state meet last year, and Amalie Mills plans to reach the podium this year as well. The girls cross country team dominated district and will move on to represent Smithson Valley at State.