BLOOMSBURG — The Halbfoerster name will be going back to states for Canton, this time with two runners, while Landon Lake had his best race of the season to earn a second state berth at the District IV, Class A Cross-country Championships Thursday.

In the boys race Manuel Halbfoerster (17:08.6) was fourth overall to punch his ticket while Lake (17:40.7) took seventh - the final state qualifying spot - to earn his second berth.

In the Class A girls race freshman Elizabeth Halbfoerster (22:45.1) was 19th as she took the final state qualifying spot.

For Manuel this was redemption after just missing out on states last year.

"Last year I should have made it, but what are you going to do," he said. "No excuses, I made it this year. I put in the work over the summer, that's all that matters."

Halbferster and Lake both ran in the chase pack, and used that to propel them throughout the race.

"I just wanted to keep the lead in my pack, and it worked," he said. 

Coming down the stretch Halbfoerster had it in the bag as he moved from sixth to fourth, and he remembered what it was like at this point last year.

"Everything that's left, everything that happened last year, it flashed in my head," he remarked. "All the work I put in over the summer, it just shows it paid off."

Lake picked the right time to have his best race of the season, and he did it by sticking with his teammate the whole way.

"Today I took off my watch because I didn't even want to know what my times were for each mile," he said. "I just knew that if I stuck with Manuel for as a long as I could that would give me my best shot of going. And I'm really glad I did that because I think I would have gotten in my head if I didn't."

Manuel called Lake a 'Hell of an athlete,' for sticking on his shoulder until the final stretch.

With just five individuals going Lake knew the margin for error was slim.

"If I let anybody behind me pass me my chances of making it would go down the drain, so I just knew that, even though I was hurting really bad, I had to give it everything I had," Lake remarked. 

It was a relief for him that he punched a second straight trip to states.

"I just teared up in my mom's arms when she came over and told me the news," Lake said. 

Last year he went with Lawrence Halbfoerster, now he'll be going with Manuel.

"I'm really happy I got go to states with him my senior year, because we were really hoping to make it together last year, but that didn't end up happening," said Lake. 

As a team the Warriors took fourth with 91 points.

Kobi Hoover (20:21.8) was 31st, Tommy Preston (20:25.8) took 32nd, and Levi Vermilya (20:28) came in 33rd.

In the Class A girls race Elizabeth was excited to follow in the family footsteps.

"I was very surprised but it feels very good," she said. "I was just trying to push, and not give up, and just keep my eyes ahead."

She was just trying to run her best race, and she was glad to know her best was good enough to make it to states.

"It feels really good," Halbfoerster remarked.

Teammate Sarina Hess (23:44.7) took 23rd overall.

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