The California Pintos cross-country team finished third at the district meet Oct. 27 at Bowling Green.
While the team as a whole did not qualify for state, Caden Kirksey did, as he finished in 10th place with a time of 17:39.75. California finished with 138 points. Kirksville finished in second place with 107 points and Helias Catholic finished in first place with 51 points.
Head coach Ron Lebel said he thought the team had a great year.
"We came home with a lot of trophies at a lot of meets," Lebel said. "We were usually somewhere in the top one or two in just about every meet we went to."
Lebel said the district meet was a little disappointing, as the team had set a goal for getting to state as a team. But, even though they got moved up into a tougher district, Lebel said the team still defeated some good opponents at districts like Mexico, Osage and Moberly.
Lebel said it is good to have a runner represent California at the upcoming state meet Nov. 3 at Jefferson City.
"Caden is a good representative," Lebel said. "His time has improved all year long and he is running pretty well right now and I feel he will represent California good this week. "
Lebel said the team stayed focused and worked hard at practices during the season.
"They showed it at every meet we went to. They worked hard throughout the week and, by Saturday, they went and competed with some of the best teams around the area," Lebel said.
He said winning the conference meet was a prized moment, and he was pleased a lot of the runners improved their times throughought the season.
At the district meet, Jordan Bondurant finished in 16th place with a time of 17:54.66. Isaac Ash finished in 19th place at 18:05.84. Colby Sommerer finished in 45th place with a time of 19:12.08. Trevor Porter finished in 56th place with a time of 19:28.25. Austin Bolin finished in 57th place at 19:30.11. Jordon Geiser finished in 84th place with a time of 21:34.14.