Lady Wildcat Tyler Carlson (20:38) finished 16th in the 3A bracket of the state track meet to lead the pack for Richmond Hill High School.

The event took place Saturday in Carrollton. Overall, the Lady Wildcats finished 23rd out of 31 teams while the Wildcats finished 26th out of 32 teams.

"I was real pleased with both teams at the state meet," RHHS Coach Jimmy Hires said. "Tyler did better than last year, when she came in 35th place. Brett Tuten, Josh Donlevy and Courtney Hicks all ran personal bests."

Russell Lawless led the RHHS boys with a time of 17:48 for 41st place. Behind him was Justin Caulkins (19:02), followed by Donlevy (19:50), Tuten (20:04), Charles Zhu (21:10), Jay Hires (21:48) and Jeffrey Fortier (22:00).

Lady Wildcat Shanee McKey, who has placed well all year, pulled a muscle which dampened her hopes for a top spot. The Lady Wildcats were hit with another obstacle this year when their number two runner, Carrie Rivera, moved to Texas.

Placing behind Carlson in the girls’ race was Janelle McKinney (23:56), Hicks (25:15), Makaila Offutt (26:17) and Taylor Ivester (26:32).

Coach Hires said it was a great year for RHHS cross country. Last month, the girls took the region title and the boys came in second. Hires lamented on the imminent loss of senior Tyler Carlson but said he will return many experienced runners on the boys’ team, such as Donlevy, Jameson Cunningham, Hires and Fortier.