Two Salem runners, one boy and one girl, will compete in the Class 4A state cross country meets this week. The Class 4A races are scheduled to take the gun on Friday, with the girls at 11:45 am and the boys at 12:30 pm.

Freshman Anna Pitts qualified for the girls’ state race when she finished 17^th in the Region D race at Randolph Park in Pulaski County last week. Anna ran a time of 20:33 and was among the top five runners not on one of the qualifying teams. Kaitlynn Wolfe of Blacksburg won the race with a time of 18:15.

The top three teams advanced to the state race. Blacksburg was the team winner, followed by Jefferson Forest and Pulaski County, who beat William Byrd by just one point, 113-114. Salem was fifth at 126.

Salem’s top six runners all topped or were within seconds of their best times of the season. Following Pitts were Alyssa Ingerson in 29th with 21:29, Claire Peterson in 30th with 21:32, Carolina Bowen in 32nd with 21:34, Emma Chamberland in 35th with 21:38 and Samantha Richardson in 53rd with 22:41. There were 70 girls in the race.

Gaven Conner of Salem qualified for the boys’ state race by finishing 12^th in the regional with a time of 17:14. The winning time was 16:03 by Theo Woods of E.C. Glass.

Blacksburg also took the boys’ team championship, followed by Pulaski County and Jefferson Forest. Salem was ninth and every Salem boy ran a personal best time.

“It’s not often that each of the seven runners can run their best times in the same meet,” said Salem coach Tom Roth. “This is an outstanding performance by each team member.”

Also scoring for the Spartans were Aiden Sable in 40^th, Kirill Daniel in 43^rd, Zachery Hoyer in 55^th and Elijah Hairston in 60^th place. Nathan Helems and Walker Chambers also competed and ran personal bests.

The state meets will be held at the Great Meadows Horse Farm in The Plains, VA.