The Florence girls cross country team will compete for the Class 3A team title Saturday at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. The race is set to start at 10:55 a.m. The Lady Buffaloes are the first Florence girls team to reach state since 1986, the last time they finished sixth in the event. Since then, only individual Florence runners had advanced.
The team won the Region IV meet, and all five scoring runners finished in the top 25. Senior Sara Koch was the first Florence finisher, with a time of 13 minutes, 49.94 seconds. The team totaled 68 points, placing ahead of Poth, Lyle and San Antonio Cole, which are also state qualifiers.
Freshman Primo Martinez earned an individual state berth by finishing 16th at regionals in 19:03.84. The Florence boys team placed sixth at regionals with 187 points, and Martinez will compete at state. Florence hopes to win its first team championship, the school said.