Dragon XC Newsletter: 5A State Championships Now that all the glitter is washed out of our hair and our legs have recovered, we’d like to recap the girls’ performance at the 5A State Championships last Saturday. The girls team finished 6th, finishing one place higher than projected, beating Silverton (who bested us at Districts) by 64 points, and just nine points behind Corvallis. Before the race, the girls were busy putting glitter in their hair and face (even convincing Coach Bailey and the support crew of boys to join in). In the team tent, the vibes were so relaxed that you wouldn’t have guessed we were gearing up for our most important race of the year. However, as the girls walked to the start line, their focus sharpened, and a competitive switch flipped, resulting in the best team performance of the season. The girls squad showed up mentally and physically prepared, truly embodying what it means to be a Dallas Cross Country athlete. 5A GIRLS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP - 6th out of 13 teams | Kelsey Rodli 14th (18:52), Amber Green 19th (19:07), Jazmine Irving 42nd (20:28), Polly Olliff 64th (22:07), Jozie Peirce 71st (22:39), Tanya Green 85th (24:07) In the deepest 5A field assembled, Kelsey placed in 14th, 11 spots higher than 2023’s State Championships. Kelsey moved up two spots throughout the race and picked off a girl in the last 300m. Amber capped off her breakout season with a 19th place finish, a whopping 49 spots better than 2023’s state meet. Jazmine finished in 42nd place, moving up 11 positions from the first 1k split to the finish. Polly placed 64th, moving up four spots throughout the race with a strong last 300m. Jozie finished 71st, shaving just over a minute off her personal best after taking a minute off her PR at Districts the week prior! Tanya ran a strong race, placing 85th against girls who’d been training and competing all season. The soccer girls who joined in the last week and a half of the season played a huge role in the finish at State! All-State Honors: Second Team All-State - Kelsey Rodli Third Team All-State - Amber Green New Personal Bests! Jozie Peirce 22:39 Looking Ahead: We will have a banquet in the near future - we will send out a Remind message when we get the date and location nailed down. Coach Bailey & Coach Barry