Senior Zach Cates is preparing for his last high school cross country race this coming Saturday when he and the Guthrie BlueJay Cross Country compete in the State Tournament. However, the senior will always remember his second to last race.
Cates won the Class 5A regional, at O’Brian Park, in Tulsa Saturday afternoon with a time of 17:05.60. Teammate Jonathan Ogan was four seconds behind (17:09.40) for a second place finish.
As a team, Guthrie finished second overall behind Bishop Kelley. The Comets finished with 44 team points while the Jays recorded 46. Tahlequah was a distant third with 73 team points.
In the other 5A regional, it was Taler Buck and the Deer Creek Antlers coming away with the regional trophy. Buck the overall favorite this week at state, ran a 17:14, and the top four spots went to Antler runners.
Walker Cross was sixth overall in a time of 17:41.50 and Hunter Sallee was 11th in 17:55.90. The fifth BlueJay to cross was Caleb Murillo, who ran in his first varsity race of the season after coming out a few weeks back.
Hall of Fame head coach Clay Tarter said Murillo may have had a higher finish, but he started out to quickly and was unable to maintain a consistent pace throughout the race.
The Jays will return back to Mitch Park, in Edmond, for the first time since winning the 2009 state championship. This season, McGuinness and Deer Creek are the favorites, but Guthrie, Bishop Kelley and Tahlequah will look to stage the upset.
The 5A boys race will be the final run of the day and is expected to start at 2:45. The day will begin with a 10am start with the 6A girls run.
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