Cibola Cross Country sending 13 runners to state championships

Seven boys and six girls will be heading to Phoenix as the Raiders are hoping for an improvement over last year's meet

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Cibola Cross Country is gearing up for this year's state championship meet in Phoenix.

Head coach Amy Sautter's team has done well in her first year leading the program, with the Raiders ranked 11th in the state.

Going into this Saturday's meet at the Cave Creek Golf Course, Sautter wants to see marginal improvement among the 13 runners she's sending out to Phoenix.

"The goal is for them just to place even one place higher than what they're ranked, that would be fantastic, so, and I know last year our boys, I think they ended up taking like eighth or ninth, and I'd like to see the same showing, and I think our girls were in like 13th," Sautter said.

Among those seven Raider boys heading to state is junior Caius Lastra, who competed in his first state meet last year.

Lastra says a meet for a state title, is simply a different beast.

"The difference between those races out in like Phoenix and everything, it's just different, like the vibe, you can just feel it in the air, and compared to here, it's just like another day of practice," Lastra said.

One of the six Cibola girls going to Phoenix will be Lillian Kamm, who says the pacing of state meets are different as well.

"State's definetely faster than the local races here, and it's way bigger, there's a lot more schools and a lot more competition," Kamm said.