The boys cross country team recently traveled to Huntsville to compete at the Regional meet. Despite the unique schedule the team has had this season, they managed to stay determined and came home with several bragging rights.

After missing three previous meets due to Harvey, the team tried their best to outshine their competitors and run their strongest 5k run as possible. Junior Eli Peveto won first place out of 168 runners and will advance to the State meet on Nov 4. This was his third year in a row to win the Regional championship. Senior Rayce Piper placed 31st, junior Jackson Baeza placed 53rd, junior Trevor Turner placed 60th, freshman Cameron Smith placed 145th, sophomore Matthew Erb placed 150th, and sophomore Blake Marshall 153rd.

“Eli Peveto is the strongest runner on the team,” boys cross country coach Dena Adkins said. “He set himself a goal back in junior high that he would win State and he has worked hard to meet that goal every year. He has yet to win but he has a very good chance this year and next year.”

As for next year, the members of the team will need to continue to train once they have had a short break. They need to build up their mileage from now until they meet again next August for the first practice. According to Adkins, the beginning runners should try to get 20 miles a week in, and advanced runners need to work up to 75 miles a week.

“I love to see the kids improve and to want to get better,” Adkins said. “They are a great group to be around and it makes my job that much more enjoyable.”

Adkins said she was very pleased with the boys performance at district and is looking forward to the girls team getting stronger in the upcoming years. Adkins used to be a runner herself, so she decided to coach cross country with the experience she has. Coaching cross country also ties in nicely with her role as a softball coach.

“The Regional meet was a bittersweet ending for me,” Adkins said.” I was so elated to see Eli blow away the competition, but my heart was broken for the other guys like Rayce who is a senior, Jackson, and Trevor who trained so hard all summer to make it back to Austin.”