Qualifying for state meet is a key goal for most high school cross-country runners.

The Trojans got an early taste of the course they will need to conquer Saturday during competition in Wamego – where the Class 3-2-1A state meet takes place in late October.

With six runners competing, the boys’ team was able to place a team score.

Out of 22 placers, Hillsboro’s 480 points left them in 20th place.

Caleb Diener paced the boys, completing the 3.1 mile course in 18:57 for 15th out of 172 finishers.

Freshman Pedro Nieto was 107th at 21:50.

Nick Cunningham came in 143th in 24:02 while Josh Diener and Jason Latham were 164 and 165.

Diener finished in 27:10, six seconds faster than Latham’s 27:16.

Nathan Lopez rounded out Hillsboro’s runners with a 28:59 for 170th.

With only four runners competing, the girls’ team was unable to register a score.

The tough course posed no problems for Emersyn Funk, who along with Caleb Diener, qualified for Wamego last year.

Funk paced the girls with an 18th place time of 22:42 in the 139-runner field.

Freshmen Ainsley Duell and Moriah Jost were 64th and 82nd, posting times of 25:51 and 26:54.

Senior Millie Sechrist was 110th in 28:59.

The Trojans compete on the road Thursday at Herington’s golf course.