He took 12th overall in the Class AA race with a time of 16:29.

“It’s a great feeling,” Mizdail said about getting top 15. “I ran almost 20 seconds after than last year at the same meet. I can’t be more proud of myself, my teammates, and definitely my coach.”

Mizdail went out at a measured pace, sitting in 26th at the mile before working his way up to 15th at the halfway point. He was 13th at the 2-mile, and then 12th with 1000 meters to go.

It was a fast start as, despite being outside the medals at the mile mark, Mizdail came through in 5:02.

“I have never ran that fast to start a race off,” he said. “Something my coach preached to me before the race. Everybody I was associated with was to go out fast and just hold on. I came in, I did that - it was a very stacked field.”

He’s hoping this will set him up for that elusive individual track and field state medal come spring.

“Stay consistent,” said Mizdail. “That’s the only thing you can do in this sport, is to stay consistent.”

CV freshman Clare McKee took 129th in the Class AA girls race in 21:57.

She picked up quite a few places, coming through the mile mark in 138th before moving up at each marker.

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