Senior Alexis Thompson finished 29th out of 90 runners at Saturday's regional meet. 

LAKE CITY — Tim Choe and Micah Hilliard have been challenging each other ever since Suwannee fielded its first boys cross country team in 2015.

They pushed each other again on Saturday, and it earned the two seniors a spot in the state championship.

Needing to place in the top 15 to advance, Hilliard finished 11th with a time of 16:56.24 and Choe was just behind him at 17:10.51 to finish 13th at the Class 2A-Region 1 Final at the Oaks Equestrian Center in Lake City. 

“This was the best race mentally I ran this season,” said Choe, who is headed to the state final for the second straight year. “There was nothing else to fall back on. It was all or nothing.”

Hilliard, who just missed out on qualifying for state last year, was eight seconds off his personal best. He started fast and pushed through some fatigue near the end of the race. 

“It’s not the best time I’ve ever ran,” Hilliard said. “But I knew this was a tough course. The fact that I was able to get close to my best time makes it one of my best races. I started feeling it around Mile 2, but I was able to hold on.”

SHS, which started its first cross country team when Hilliard and Choe were sophomores, will send two runners to the state final for the first time in school history.

“Last year I was the only one going — to do it together this year is a great way to end the season,” Choe said.

The state championship will be held Saturday at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.    

Alexis Thompson was the top runner for the SHS girls team on Saturday. She finished in 29th place with a time of 22:10.33.