Senior Jeff Weisheit smiles at his coach after running during the Fun Run on Sep. 8.

Junior Jeff Weisheit sprints coming down to the last 100 yards. He has a comfortable lead, but dashes to the end, crossing the finish line with his hands in the air. He has just won the Cross Country state championship.

Last year’s 3A state champion cross country runner Jeff Weisheit joins the Legacy Cross Country team.

“We lost some strong runners from last year and he is a strong runner,” Coach Lacy Beckler said. “The team looks up to him as a role model, because he knows what it takes to win a state championship.”

Weisheit moved into the Legacy district over the summer from Venus because his dad’s job required him to move to where he lives now. He won the 3A state championship running a time of 15 minutes and 54 seconds.

“I like legacy,” Weisheit said. “The school is a lot nicer than Venus’. I like the teachers so far, they all seem pretty nice”.

The addition of Weisheit to a cross country team that placed last in regionals reassures the team going into the season.

“I think we will take a couple of individuals to state,” coach Beckler said. “Our goal is to take both teams to state, but they will have to put in work. We will definitely take both teams to regionals.”

Fellow runner Christian Oldham likes the idea of Weisheit being a leader of the team.

“Jeff is an inspiration,” Oldham said. “He knows what he’s talking about, and he knows what it takes to win a state championship.”