PCM cross country runners sophomore Coby DeRaad and freshman Lila Milani have punched their tickets to the state cross country meet as the girls fell just two points short as a team at the state qualifying meet hosted by Pella Christian.

DeRaad finished 17th overall and was the 5th at large qualifier with a time of 17:22.99, and Milani finished 13th with a time of 20:45.49. The PCM girls finished fourth with a team score of 101 points, just two points behind Clarinda who finished third. The boys team finished 11th with a team score of 252.

Senior Tiffani Koonce finished 17th with a time of 21:20.20 and sophomore Abi Teeter finished 19th with a time of 21:24.80, as both girls were seconds off of qualifying individually. Koonce was the top runner for PCM this season, who qualified for state as a freshman, and PCM coach Eric Karr spoke openly that it will be hard for him to picture PCM cross country without her. Karr expressed that this meet was an example of every runner counting.

“We talk about it all the time. Every spot counts, and it does. It would be different if I thought we didn’t run well tonight and we could sit and pout about it, but we did run well. We really, really did. They were ready physically and mentally and all that stuff. They were ready.”

Lila Milani and Coby DeRaad will compete at the state cross country meet on Saturday, October 28th in Fort Dodge.