A trip to state for the first time in nine years is on the line Tuesday for the boys’ cross country team when it competes in the UIL 5A Region II cross country meet at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie.

“Mentally, we need to be confident,” coach Ben Manning said. “We need to believe we can get out and be one of those top four teams.”

With the top three teams at Tuesday’s meet advancing, the prize of the season’s labor is clear to junior Fernando Levya-Montiel. 

“We gotta make State,” Levya-Montiel said. “We’ve trained way too hard and way too much not to make it.”

Senior Jada Williams, the lone representative of the girls’ team, needs to finish in the top 10 of individuals that are not on a state-qualifying team, in order to make state.  

“This will be my third time going to regionals,” Williams said. “Working on speed and mileage has just been the biggest thing. We also focus on a mock 5k, what we would do in a 5k. We also do lots of eating healthy and hydrating. When you get to the race, our district is pretty competitive already so it isn’t too different.”