After a first place finish at the Region IV meet in Corpus Christi, the boys cross country team is advancing to the State Championships in Round Rock Nov. 4.

The team finished the region meet with a score of 94, nearly 50 points fewer than the second place finisher, and was once again led by juniors Andres Engle, Clayton Wilkerson, and Mason Garner who finished in 9th, 12th, and 16th place respectively.

The girls team fell short of state qualifying after finishing fifth place with a score of 163 in a sixth runner tiebreaker.

Despite the group’s loss as a team, junior Sydney Jensen finished 9th  and will advance to the state championships as an individual runner.

Coach Brittney Lanehart said Jensen would thrive during the race, despite the fact she will compete without any of her teammates.

“It’s tough standing by yourself,” Lanehart said, “but she’ll continue training, and we’ve got a very supportive team.”

For the boys team, a season full of dominant running looks to continue on the biggest stage.

“We’ve had consistency as a group.” she said. “We’ve shown the ability to handle pressure in big races.”

 Lanehart’s motivation to her runners has been maintained through a simple message that goes a long way in describing physical and mental adversity faced when running a race.

“We always say, ‘Be comfortable with being uncomfortable,’” she said. “We’re having to make 100 different decisions during a race, mostly mental decisions.”

Coming out on top at the state championships will take the runners’ best efforts but Lanehart said she believed they were ready for the challenge.

“It’s going to hurt,” Lanehart said, “but winning is addictive.”