ARLINGTON – Despite not qualifying for next week’s state championship meet in Round Rock, the Harker Heights girls cross country team closed out the season with a strong finish at the regional meet on Saturday at Vandergriff Park.  

In a meet dominated by The Woodlands (who had three girls finish in the top 10), the Lady Knights finished 13th overall with standout Aliese Hyde leading the way with a time of 12:01 (31st overall).

Other Heights finishers included Marissa Rozdilsky (12:05.7), Kari Stewart (12:34.4), Michelle Pritchard (13:04.4), Monique McMichael (13:04.6), Brittany Graham (13:05.0) and Lateasha Mayo (13:20.4).

Although they didn’t achieve their goal of qualifying for state, Heights Coach Michelle Womack was more than pleased with the effort of her team this season.

“This was an awesome group of girls to work with this year,” she said. “I’m so proud of the way they worked together and bonded as a group over the course of the season.”

With the season coming to a close, Womack couldn’t help but to look forward to next season.

“We’re losing four seniors so the younger girls will have to step up in order for us to build off of this season,” she said. “They’re definitely going to have to get their mileage up.”

The Woodlands finished 1st overall with an average time of 11:24:96 led by Sarah Andrews, who finished 1st overall with a time of 10:42:40.