ENID — The Weatherford Eagles cross country team is going to the state tournament by finishing in fifth place at the Class 4A Regional Cross Country Meet in Enid and this is the eighth season in a row the Eagles have qualified for the state race.
“I thought we would have finished higher, but with Grant Christian not being able to finish that made a difference in our team score,” coach Kaleb Fischer said. “However, we are just happy to qualify and get to run better at state.”
Despite being unable to finish the race due having breathing difficultires Fischer said Christian will be able to run in the state race.
Weatherford finished in fifth place with 143 points. Community Christian won the meet with 42 points.
Garry Rose had a Top-10 finish as he finished eighth with a time of 17:23.17. Jacoby Welsh finished 12th with a time of 17:33.62. Fischer said they both had good races.
“I think they both ran well,” Fischer said. “Garry has goals to make All-State and I think Jacoby could sneak in the Top 15 as well if he runs really well at state.”
Alberto Arietta finished 30th with a time of 18:36.14. A.J. Stevenson finished 38th with a time of 19:11.84. Fischer said they ran well and have been running well lately.
“I think Alberto and A.J. both did a good job Saturday,” Fischer said. “They have been running solid but will need to step up Saturday in order for us to place better as a team.”
Jorge Martinez finished 55th with a time of 19:56.68. Luke Jett with a time of 20:14.40.
The Weatherford girls Cross Country team qualified for state like the boys did and Fischer said this is the goal each season.
“It means a lot to me to have teams that continue to qualify for state,” Fischer said. “We are happy to make it and get the chance to show we can run better than we did at Regionals.” Weatherford will run in the state race at Edmond Santa Fe. The race will begin, 11:50 a.m. Saturday. Fischer said the boys are in good shape.
“The only thing we need to work on is just to be tougher mentally,” Fischer said. “They are in great shape, but we struggle sometimes to just put our mind in the right place and fight to have a better finish. It will be a pretty light week for us in practice. They have already put in the work to get in the shape they need to be in so now we will just have a light week so their legs are fresh for Saturday.”