Both the boys and girls cross country squads of Polk County High School just missed earning berths to next Saturday’s state finals at Beeson Park in Kernersville, N.C..

Ranked sixth and seventh going into the 2A West Regional Championships, the Wolverines would better their rankings, each team placing fifth in the 5K event held at Freedom High in Morganton, N.C. on Saturday, Oct. 26. The top four teams qualify for next week’s state showdown.

Luckily three of its top performers will keep the spark lit for the Wolverine family and move on to represent Polk at state. In each race, the top five individuals not on a qualifying team advance. For the boys, Sophomore Sean Doyle placed sixth in 16:48 and senior Jacob Collins placed ninth in 16:52.

Polk’s lone female freshman India Godlock placed fourth overall in 20:01 to qualify. Senior Shea Wheeler ended her career with a personal record (PR) 21:43 just missing a state bid by 33 seconds, taking 20th overall and eighth among individual qualifiers.

Sophomore Mitchell Brown raced back with a vengeance following surgery just a few weeks ago, setting a PR of 18:20. Jake Russell 18:31, Jacob Wolfe 18:35 and Eli Hall 19:03 all finished their season with personal records. Hayley Kropp finished her first season on a high note by breaking the 23-minute barrier and setting a PR of 22:39.

The Wolverines will have all returning next season except Collins, Wheeler and Deaver. Hats off to a good season for all and on to state finals for the qualifying trio.