The Mt Edgecumbe Braves cross country team raced to an eighth-place finish at the 3A state meet in Palmer Saturday.
The race marked the close of another solid season for MEHS coach Josh Arnold and his team of harriers.
The Braves' top finisher was Byron Phillips (Anchorage) who took 35th place in a time of 18:08. The Braves tallied a total of 174 points, good enough to beat Eielson and Galena.
Curtis Turner (Anchorage) finished in 41st place for the Braves, coming home in 18:16. Brian Turner (Anchorage), was 57th in 18:43; Ian Sia (Bethel) finished 73rd in 19:02; Henry Horner (Kobuk) was 81st in 19:15; Jordan Johnson (Kotlik) finished 90th in 19:49 and Terry Rogers was 102nd in 20:58.
Grace Christian Academy, of Anchorage, easily won the boys race with 27 points. Seward (84), Nome (109), Bethel (111), Sitka (146), Anchorage Christian (149) and Craig (149) were the top seven teams.
The individual winner was Jacob Kirk, of Grace Christian, who recorded a blistering 15:43, about a minute better than the second-place finisher.
Mt. Edgecumbe earned a spot at the state meet with a third-place finish at the Southeast championships.