The boys cross country team headed to the State meet on Nov. 10 in Roundrock, Texas.
“They had an extraordinary season,” senior Zoie Wilson said. “They are truly one of the best teams Plano West has ever seen. They have an extreme amount of talent and potential.”
The boys cross country team started their road to State by receiving the title of District champions at the District 10-5A meet after having placed first in seven of their eight meets. This allowed them to advance to the Regional II meet.
“Our boys team was favored to win at Districts,” junior Ari Surles said. “The whole season, they ran as a pack, fighting for each other, and I think that has made the difference in their amazing season.”
At the Regional II 5A, the team had a lot of competition. Only the top three teams from each region have the opportunity to advance to State. In Region II, there were a lot of aggressive competitors such as Kingwood, College Park and the Woodlands.
“I was very nervous the week leading up to Regionals,” junior Drew Megura said. “There was a lot of pressure to do well, but only because we knew we were good enough to advance to State.”
The boys placed third at Regionals beating the fourth place team by 24 points. The top five scoring seniors Walter Edstrom, Luis Cuenca, Mike Coopman, Grant Copeland and junior Drew Megura each reached personal records on the Regional course. Copeland led the boys team and finished with a time of 15:08. The boys team of 2012 advanced to State and was only the second boys cross country team in Plano West history to have done so.
“The last time the men’s cross country team made it to state was back in 2006,” Edstrom said. “Now it is 2012 and all of us feel extraordinarily proud to be a part of what we see as a huge accomplishment.”
The team placed sixth in the State and concluded their season on a positive note.
“The varsity team has four seniors on it,” Edstrom said. “For us to make it to State was the perfect way for us to end our high school cross country careers. Years from now we will be able to look back at all the sweat and pain we put into our training and see it as a reminder that when you put hard work in, great things can be accomplished.”
