Beaver Area High School's very best cross country runners travelled to the city of chocolate, Hershey, PA, to compete in state competitions against every other school's very best runners.

Only two Beaver Area elite runners qualified for the November 2 state competitions after their impressive placement at WPIAL's: freshman Ella Andrews and junior Will Lamb.

Each runner was allowed to bring one cross country companion to the meet, with Lamb bringing junior Chris Gordon and Andrews bringing junior Isabella DiPietrantonio to cheer them on.

Despite being two of the fastest runners in Western Pennsylvania, both runners were unable to place high enough to compete in national competitions with Lamb placing 58 out of 227 and Andrews placing 97 out of 207. In fact, Lamb, despite placing relatively high overall, was incredibly disappointed with his performance.

"That was the second worst race I’ve ever run," Lamb lamented. "I just had a bad day at the wrong time."

Surprisingly, weather in Hershey on the day of the meet was agreeable, and, according to Andrews, the course was easier than ones in Western PA, save for a few hills.

Lamb suspects that errors in preparation for the competition could be to blame for his disappointing race.

"I probably didn’t take enough days off and maybe didn’t start tapering early enough leading up to the race," Lamb said.

Andrews had a more positive evaluation of her performance at Hershey.

"Even though my goal was to be in the top 80, I was happy with my time," Andrews said.

Though she didn’t accomplish her goal, Andrews believes that she has a path to the top 80.

"I just have to work really hard during the summer to get my time down. Plus, I have the experience of running at that meet.

The course was hosted at the Hershey Entertainment Complex.

Once both runners crossed the finish line, the cross country season could be officially declared finished until next summer where Lamb and Andrews will no doubt run again, faster than before.