The boys’ cross country team placed fourth out of sixteen teams in regional competition at South Fork High School on Oct. 31. In order to advance to the state competition they needed to finish in the top 6 in regionals. The team tied with Okeechobee High School who placed fifth, but placed fourth on a tiebreaker due to West Shore’s sixth place runner, Travis Hoibraten, placing ahead of Okeechobee’s.

”Going to States with the team is exciting because we are all going to compete and that pushes me to work harder because my place affects the team’s score,” Junior Christian Hayes said. “The atmosphere is more intense, it’s exciting to be there with my teammates.”

Junior Austin Camps finished in third place with a time of 16 minutes and 14.5 seconds, slower than his personal best by .1 seconds. Camps’s goal for the state competition is to finish with a time under sixteen minutes.

“We beat Okeechobee because Travis finished two seconds ahead of their sixth place runner, it was really close,” Camps said. “We would have advanced anyways but it’s really cool that we finished fourth.” 

The boys will compete along with twenty-three other teams in the FHSAA Cross Country State Championships on Nov. 7.