The South Dakota state cross country championships took place in Rapid City, SD on Saturday at the Hart Ranch west of town. During the event, West Central's Derick Peters had the fastest overall run time.
He finished the 5K Class A boys meet with a time of 15:06.20, which not only gave him a first place arrival, but it was the fastest time by any individual who ran the course that day.
Derick Peters of West Central finishes first in the Boys' Class A meet with a time of 15:06.20 #SDCrossCountry17pic.twitter.com/lz88BxNy3P
— Nate Wek (@Nate_WekSDPB) October 21, 2017
In an interview with The Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, Peters said he disregards what everyone else is doing, and just concentrates on his own race.
"I try to run what I can do," explained Peters. "You’re busting your chops in that first mile, but the tough part is hanging back, running your race and sticking to what you know how to do."
Alec Atwood of Beresford finished second in boys’ class A with a time of 15:58.74, which was 52.54 seconds behind Peters.
During the state cross country meet in Huron last year, Peters also finished in first place with a time of 15:37.67. That gives his state meet performance from this year a 32 second improvement over his finals performance from 2016.
West Central ended up winning the team state title as well, which is the third state title for the Trojans in the past four seasons.
Daniel Burkhalter of Bison held the fastest time in boys’ class B with 15:41.27, and Jack Elliott of Sioux Falls Lincoln finished first in boys’ class AA with a time of 16:09.73.
To see full results of the 2017 state cross country championships, click here.
