EDMOND —The Weatherford Eagle boys cross country team qualified for the state tournament, but finished 15th as a team.
“Wednesday was not a good day for us,” coach Kaleb Fischer said. “We struggled to compete at the level that we know we are capable of. It was a great season, they are a great group of guys who work hard and are fun to coach and I am glad we got for finish an entire season.”
Weatherford finished 15th as a team with 363 points. Oklahoma Christian School won the state meet with 79 points.
Garry Rose finished 26th with a time of 18:00.18. Jacoby Welsh finished 52nd with a time of 18:33.39. Grant Christian finished 110th with a time of 19:45.62. A.J. Stevenson finished 113th with a time of 19:58.21. Alberto Arietta finished 122nd with a time of 20:09.00.
Jorge Martinez finished 148th with a time of 20:52.14. Luke Jett finished 150th with a time of 20:58.85. Fischer said everyone knows they can perform better in races.
“We just hard work in the summer next year,” Fischer said. “We know this year we did not show what we are truly capable of and we did not perform to the standard we expect at Weatherford so we want to get back to that next year.”
There are four senior runners on varsity in Rose, Christian, Stevenson and Martinez. Fischer said the returning runners can take a lot from this season.
“I think we can just continue to work on our mental toughness,” Fischer said. “Jacoby and Alberto are both really good runners and they will just continue to improve.”
Fischer said this year’s eighth grade class can really make a difference next season and some runners could see varsity time as a freshman.
“I have got about four eighth grade boys who will be freshman next year,” Fischer said. “A couple of them, named Joe Bradley and Nick Jett could really help out the varsity team next year. They are competitive guys who have been working to get better and I am excited to see what they can do at the high school level.”
Fischer said the boys get excited for track season in the spring and running track can help with the boys speed.
“Track this spring can help us get more speed work in,” Fischer said. “We tend to get a lot more of that during track season than we do in cross country season.”
Fischer said Welsh has learned some things running varsity as a true freshman which can help him during his running career.
“I think Jacoby has learned what it will take to run at a high level in high school,” Fischer said. “Getting to run with Garry and Grant has helped push him to be a better runner. He is one who is going to have a great high school career. He will be one to watch for during the next few years.”