Nov. 1 -- Rogers County has some endurance beasts, for several local teams and individual runners punched their tickets to the cross country state meet.
Among the small schools, the Verdigris boys and the Chelsea girls will each compete as teams, while four individuals from other schools also qualified.
All state meets will be held Saturday at Edmond Santa Fe High School, with online tickets priced at $10 (plus a $1.50 processing fee) or $13 at the gate.
In Class 4A at the Henryetta Regional on Oct. 26, the Verdigris boys secured their state berth, scoring 154 points to finish fifth out of 17 teams.
Leading the Cardinals was Carter Gibson, who clocked 17 minutes, 50.14 seconds to place 11th in the 5K. Lincoln Christian's Ty Brooks won the race in 16:44.12, and his team took the championship with 24 points.
Other key Verdigris runners included Jude Tyson, who finished 26th overall and 25th among eligible point scorers in 18:52.65, and Michael Prewitt, placing 31st/30th in 19:04.41. Nyc Genay (19:20.89) and Jacob Nichols (19:53.86) rounded out the team's scorers, placing 40th/37th and 54th/51st.
Additional runners Ian Budler (20:51.92) and Cayden Sappington (22:26.48) will also compete at state.
At the North Rock Creek Regional in Shawnee, Oologah's Lucas Livingston earned an individual state spot, finishing 31st out of 114 runners with an 18:17.36 in the 5K.
The Class 4A State Championships for boys, including Verdigris and Oologah runners, will start at 2:10 p.m., with awards at 2:55 p.m.
In Class 3A, Sequoyah's Wyatt Thompson and Gauge Patterson qualified as individuals at the Oklahoma Bible Academy Regional in Enid.
Thompson led with a time of 18:48.4, placing 26th in the 5K, while Patterson finished 38th with a time of 20:53.8. Both runners will compete in the Class 3A State Championships at 11:40 a.m., with awards following at 12:25 p.m.
At the same regional, the Chelsea girls clinched the fifth and final state berth in Class 2A, totaling 130 points to edge out Morrison by 10 points.
Natalie Lopez led the Lady Green Dragons, placing 20th/17th in the 2-mile race with a time of 14:09.4, while Hooker won the team championship with five runners in the top 10.
Other strong performances from Chelsea included Maddie Hillburn (14:26.5) in 25th/21st, Bryonna Wisdom (14:45.2) in 30th/24th and Avery Lawhorn (14:48.0) in 31st/25th. Dolly Anderson rounded out the team's scorers at 16:19.3, placing 55th/43rd. Jewell Hubler (16:39.5) will also join them at state.
In the boys Class 2A race, Chelsea's Slayte Smith was the lone qualifier, placing 10th with a time of 18:50.3 to secure his state spot. Hooker's Ulisses Jimenez won in 17:05.8, helping Hooker win the team title.
The Class 2A State Championships will begin with the Chelsea girls running at 12:25 p.m., followed by Smith at 12:55 p.m. The awards ceremony will be held at 1:40 p.m.