CHS cross country teams wrap up season at state meet

The Comanche cross country teams wrapped up their seasons at the Class 3A State Meet held in Edmond last Saturday. The Lady Indians brought home 10th and the Indians finished fifth.

“Almost all the boys reached new personal records,” said Jason Miller, head coach. “We did well. I was really proud of both teams.”

For the fourth straight year, Jaylee Miller and Landon Ellis medaled, marking the end of a pair of remarkable careers for the seniors. Miller finished 12th in girls, while Ellis finished fifth in boys.

“It was bittersweet,” said Jaylee Miller. “I’m excited that its over because I’m ready for track and its sad because I put in so much work the past eight years. I was kind of sad the closer I got to the end because I knew it was over.”

She won state her freshman year, so it put a lot of pressure on her to do well every year.

“My freshman year was definitely my best year,” Miller said. “I was just trying to keep that same mentality going through the whole thing and not just settle down because there was so much pressure on me because I did so good as a freshman.”

She’ll also miss being teammates with Ellis as they grew up in the sport together.

“We’ve been running for so long together and I’m pretty sure he is going to college for it and he has just worked so hard,” Miller said. “I know he did really good this year, but it’s sad we’re not going to be able to run any more together.”

Another bittersweet thing for Miller was being able to run for her dad, who also happened to be the coach.

“I was really sad that he won’t coach me anymore in cross country,” Miller said. “He was harder on me than the others because I was his kid, but I loved having him as a coach.”

Miller finished with a time of 12:52.69 in the two-mile run. Comanche freshman Brilee Combs narrowly missed medaling in her first state meet, placing 23rd (13:24.57). Karsynn Bowles was third on the team, finishing 74th (14:15.05), followed by Jillian Evans in 76th (14:22.72), Kynli Morris in 146th (16:37.14), Sadi Allie in 149th (16:53.26) and Sarai Alvarez in 156th (17:50.75),

On the boys’s side, Ellis’ time of 17:22.05 in the 5K race gave him the solid fifth-place finish. Freshman Brycen Lassley also medaled, finishing 19th with a time of 18:20.09. Koble Lewis was third on the team, taking 36th place (18:53.18), followed by Tristin Frye in 77th (19:50.30), Noah Presgrove in 110th (20:23.64), Jaxon Billingsley in 128th (21:07.97) and Hunter Lassley in 151st (22:57.57).