There is no better time to run a personal record than at the section meet, and no better feeling than qualifying for the Wisconsin State Meet. Lucky for Elena Almonte, that’s exactly what she did this past weekend.

“There was about 400 left and I know I could hear one of the parents yell at me ,”Oh, you’re going to states! You got it! This is it!” It just felt so nice. I just knew that it was locked in. It was really unexpected. We were not expecting it to be that fast. So I was aiming for a 19:45 and [Coach] Sims kind of told me like the splits I needed to hit, but also that I needed to be in the race and competitive. I really had to stick in there.”>

The Wisconsin cross country state meet is this Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids at Ridges Golf Course.