After placing fifth in the Regional meet a few weeks ago, the boys cross country team qualified for the state meet. The runners included: seniors Calvin Miller and Agam Jain, juniors Joey Pavich and Daniel Vanbelleghem, sophomores Harry Challis and Harrison Helmich, and freshman Nicolas Vandenheede.

On Friday the 13^th the team traveled to Great Meadow Park in the Plains under sunny skies and a perfect racing temperature of 55 degrees. Last year the boys team was just two seconds away from qualifying for the state meet. This year was just the third time in school history that a cross country team has qualified for states. The team was ranked eighth going into the State meet and finished eighth out of twelve teams.

With so many Titans qualified for this race, the boys were often seen running as a pack. Senior Calvin Miller, who is committed to run track/cross country at D3 Christopher Newport next year, said, “Racing with your teammates by your side really makes a different mentality knowing that someone is there with you.” Miller finished 37^th out of 102 runners with a time of 17:27.

Placing 27th in the race with a time of 17:16, senior Agam Jain came in first out of the Titans. Although he accomplished his primary goal of making it to the state meet, his season was not as successful as he had hoped. “We were trying to place fifth or higher, but we ended up eighth,” Jain said. “I was unable to beat my fastest time from the year before which is 16:55, so personally I do not feel so accomplished. Yet, I feel satisfied in that I ended my cross country career on a high note preparing me for any feature endeavors.”

Head coach Kevin Cody is optimistic about the future of Dominion Cross Country: “To be a truly successful program, we must continue to build a winning team culture. Next year I believe both Boys and Girls teams will qualify for States and achieve even greater success.”