The boys’ cross-country team placed 12th out of 32 teams at their state meet in Tallahassee on Saturday, its best placement in school history.

“States this year went better than expected,” Bryce Valverde (12) said. “The course was well-groomed as expected and the cold front which came by made the conditions ideal. I was able to  [personal record] by 13 seconds, running the race in 17:08.”

Brayden Cheek (11) also set a new personal record.

“Brayden Cheek placed No. 7 out of the 230 guys,” Coach Julie Hannah said. “He ran a personal best time of 16:14,”

Five out of seven boys set new personal records at the meet. The team’s average time was 17:33.

“It was overall a pretty successful race,” Cheek said. “The course was great and it was fun to race on.”

Cheek’s new personal record was one second away from the school’s all-time record.

By Madelyn Sorgenfrei