Paced by freshman Braleigh Wood, the Quitman Lady Bulldog cross country team placed 5th in the state finals at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock Saturday morning. 

There were 149 entries in the girl’s Class 3A competition.

Placing ahead of Quitman in the final team standings were Whitesboro, Poth, Lytle and Holliday.

Braleigh Wood’s time of 12:33.5 placed 15th overall. Teammate senior Madyson Pence came in 31st overall with a time of 12:49.1. Pence and Bonnie Vandershchaaf are the only two seniors on the team.

Mineola’s Olivia Hughes came in 30th place with a time of 12:49.1.

Quitman sophomore Katie De Gorostiza came in 36th place with a time of 12:55.7 followed by McKenna Wood, also a sophomore, who placed 50th and had a time of 13:45.9.

Sophomore Kendall Davis came in 132nd with a time of 14:37.6. Fellow sophomore Amarita Bautista was 144th with a time of 15:12.4 and senior Vanderschaaf finished 145th with a time of 15:23.7.

Quitman Coach Michael Scott was pleased with the results.

“Our girls know what it takes to win and they have worked hard all year long. I’m really proud of how they represented Quitman,” Scott said.

“Five of the seven runners will return and we have some eighth grade girls ready to come up to varsity next year,” he said. “They all know the program well and we expect to do well again next year.”