WINSTON-SALEM — If the state 4-A cross country final was only a three-mile race, then Watauga’s boys would have had a chance at winning a state championship. Had it been just three miles for Watauga’s girls, it would have ended in disaster.

The boys’ team got off to a fast start, but could not maintain the pace and finished ninth overall at the Tanglewood Park course Saturday. The girls’ team got off to a slow start, but rallied to finish seventh.

Watauga’s boys’ team, which won the Western Regional held the previous weekend at Freedom, took off quickly from the start and tried to set a fast pace for the rest of the field. But the Pioneers could not keep up their quick start and no Pioneer finished higher than Watauga’s Ben Vollmer, who crossed the finish line with a time of 17 minutes, 14.90 seconds.

“The boys went out there aggressively,” Pioneers coach Randy McDonough said. “I told lots of people I wish they would have stopped the race three miles into it because we would have won it going away.”

McDonough said the runners were not happy with their results, but McDonough was happy with the effort they gave.

“They were not at all happy, but I was happy with their effort,” McDonough said. “They could have done a lot better, but I think they were a little over their heads starting out. If they had started slower, they would have improved their place a bit.”

Vollmer was one of five seniors running for the Pioneers. Will Barbour, a junior, was next to finish for Watauga, taking 51st place with a time of 17:36.05. Watauga’s other three seniors, Jay Weaver, Zeb Sanders and Jordan Trivette, were the next Pioneers to cross the finish line. Weaver was 59th (17:44.10), Sanders 62nd (17:49.30) and Trivette 66th (17:51.66). Another senior, Dylan Carp, was 107th (18:36.22) and junior Wesley Templeton was 125th with a time of 19:22.39.

“Ben ran very well,” McDonough said. “He wasn’t happy with it. His time on a different course would have been close to last week. He wanted to improve on it.”

The Pioneers finished with 198 overall points. Raleigh Broughton was the state team champion with 81 points, followed by Raleigh Enloe (101), Green Hope (114) and Chapel Hill (117). All four are from the Mideast Region.

“We swept our region,” McDonough said. “We beat the other three teams in our region.”

The girls’ team finished with 172 points, three behind sixth place Providence and five behind fifth place Northwest Guilford. Chapel Hill won with 85 points, while Myers Park was second with 123.

Kristina Kanagy was the first Watauga runner to cross the finish line. She completed the course with a time of 20:38.79. Kayla Schneider was 37th with a time of 20:43.22, while Dolly Dollars was next with a time of 20:55.20.

Amanda Carringer was 51st with a time of 20:57.49. Bridgette McLean was next at 52 (20:57.78), while Ruth Smith was 115th (23:00.21) and Hillary Prevost was 125th (23:42.81).

“If they had stopped the race at the three mile mark, there were only five girls behind our girls,” McDonough said. “They got a terrible start, but they worked their way through it. They got seventh place, but they were only five points out of fifth place.”

Watauga turns its attention to the indoor track and field season, but McDonough said the emphasis will be placed on the sprinters, jumpers and throwers. He’ll let the distance runners get some rest before they begin working toward the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Indoor track begins Nov. 12.

“We’ll let them get away from it a little bit this winter,” McDonough said.