The Camp Verde High School cross-country team is focusing on improving times and qualifying for state.

The team is relatively young and coaches Mike O’Callaghan and Matt Malloy hope to build more interest in runners to get more participants.

“We have between 15 and 20 runners this year so far,” head coach of 22 years Mike O’Callaghan said. “That’s about the same as last year.”

The team struggled to place well last year with a young and inexperienced team.

This year, however, the team might have runners with the talent to qualify for state.

“We have several individuals who have the ability to qualify this year,” O’Callaghan said. “But based on the numbers, we won’t have the depth for state as a team.”

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Aug. 15, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.