The Mineola girls cross country team is headed back to Austin. They secured their ticket with a second-place overall finish at the regional championships last week. 

Mineola cross country coach Shelby Turner could not contain his enthusiasm when describing the year that the team has produced so far.

“Months of hard work and early mornings with a mixture of senior leadership and young talent have catapulted our girls forward as contenders at the state meet…it is an understatement to say that I am proud of these girls,” Turner commented. 

Seeded fourth entering the regional meet, the first five Lady Jackets finished within the top 40, and the team secured the second-place combined finish. Each of the seven team members ran a personal best time.   

The Quitman Lady Bulldogs very nearly joined the Lady Jackets at the state meet. The Lady Bulldogs finished with a team fifth-place, a mere four points behind the fourth-place finisher.  

Lady Bulldog junior Madyson Pence, who finished seventh overall with a time of 12:05.64, will be representing Quitman Friday at the state meet. The top ten individual finishers join the top four teams as state qualifiers. 

It was a banner year for the two schools and their cross country programs. Both the Mineola and Quitman boys squads seemingly came out of nowhere at the regional championships last week in Arlington to register team sixth and eighth place finishes, respectively.  

The state Class 3A girls cross country meet will be run at 10 a.m. Friday at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.