Citing weather conditions and an insufficient warm up, the cross country team fell behind at the state meet, placing 15th out of 32 teams in 4A.

Most of the team agreed that weather was a major problem that lead to their overall poor performance. The time of day was also a strange change, causing most of the team to be tired even with a warm up.

Junior Trevor Witherspoon finished at 19 minutes and 36 seconds- this was a minute and 17 seconds slower than his Regionals time

“This was the worst that our school has ever done this season,” Witherspoon said. “The reason that we did so bad was because we weren’t used to running in the afternoon. We usually run in the morning.” The tired and hungry runners struggled with the later race.

Witherspoon said he wanted to get a much better time at the next meet and finish at under 18 minutes.

Sophomore Jared Estrada finished his run with a time of 19:40.  Estrada said he had a major problem with pacing himself.

“I started off way too fast and I got tired. I got really emotional, and the rush was too much,” Estrada said.

Since he was not at Regionals, he did not have a recent time to compare. Next year Estrada said he will will focus on controlling his speed.

“I want to try to learn how to control my confidence and adrenaline,” he said. “Now I know in my head that I have to try harder. I have to want it more.”

Junior Tyler Gutel was at the state run but did not compete because of a knee injury. Even without participating, he still noticed the issues.

“It was very cold, then it became humid, and by time we began running it was hot,” he said. “I didn’t run because of my knee, [but] next year I hope to get under 19 minutes.”