The De Soto High School boys’ cross country team has had a successful season that concluded Oct. 31 in Wamego, Kansas, when the team placed second in the State meet.

The team has been working hard in order to try to make it back to State, and their work paid off.

“We had to take the opportunity to work really hard. They can tell you you’re going to be really good, but if you don’t work, it’s not going to happen,” senior Luis Murillo said.

Assistant coach Katie Wilber agreed that the boys have put a lot of work in this season.

“They’ve been running since the beginning of June,” Wilber said. “Their season has been going for about five months.”

Over this time, the team has created a strong team bond that has helped them succeed.

“The boys are really close. They would have barbeques together, and would cheer each other on,” Wilber said. “They had their own special chant and took time to make sure that they ran together.”

With their strong team bond and hard work, the team placed second at Regionals by a mere six points, qualifying them for State.

Overall, the team was successful at State, placing second in the class 4A category.

“They did really well; first was quite a bit ahead of us, but we were way ahead of the third place team,” Wilber said.

In cross country, points are awarded for each position, and the lowest team score wins. DHS was ahead of the third place team by approximately 30 points, according to Wilber.

“Second place is the best place the boys have done [at State],” Murillo said. “To come back and get second was a really big thing.”