The Allen cross country team travelled to Meyer’s Park in McKinney to compete in the District 6-6A Championship that took place on October 19th.

The boys varsity team placed 3rd overall, led by senior Tim Jones and junior Jake Johnson, who placed 2nd and 3rd respectively. They will be advancing to the UIL 6-A Region 1 meet taking place on October 26th.

“We’ve just been really focused on the goals that we want to reach,” Jake Johnson said. “We’ve worked really hard in practice, really locked in, everyone’s focused on getting faster.”

The girls varsity team placed 5th overall, led by junior Danielle Drogosch, who placed 4th overall. The girls team will not advance to regionals, but Drogosch will advance as an individual.

“I think [the team] is motivated and is pushing hard together,” Drogosch said. “For me individually, I’m hoping to go to state.”

Head coach Kirk Trent attributes the team’s success this year to their mindset.

“The mentality of the team has changed,” Trent said. “They’re very driven, and because of that we’ve been very successful on the boys and girls side [this year].”

This could possibly be the last race of the season for the team, but as senior Kevin Ptak put it, they won’t go out quietly.

“You’ve just gotta have that mindset that it’s do-or-die,” Ptak said. “This is your only chance. You’ve got one race to show out, so just put it all out on the line.”

Several runners have the opportunity to set personal records or advance individually, but the Allen cross-country team as a whole only has one goal, and that’s to take home the gold.

“That’s always a goal here at Allen: To win.” Ptak said.