Lott becomes three-time state champ, Buchanan girls claim top honor in Cross Country Championships

Thousands descended on Woodward Park for the 38th annual CIF State Cross Country Championships and there were local winners in the top division.

In boys Division-I, Conor Lott defended his state title with the 6th fastest time in D-I history. The Clovis North senior ran a time of 14:43, more than 20 seconds faster than his time of 15:05 in 2024. "I just know this course really well so I know where to work it well," Lott told Action News.

Lott is the 1st repeat champ in six years but the first repeat winner to come out of the Central Section in 31 years following the 1993-94 D-IV titles won by McFarland's Galvin Gonzalez.

Thanks to last year's win in the 1600, Lott is now a three-time state champ. He's committed to run next year at Georgetown. "You know you're hurting but you know you have more. I felt like that feeling where I feel like I have just a little bit more (just) go out there and try to win and the fast times come."

The Buchanan girls also took top honors in D-I . The Bears won the 5th state title in program history and first since 2022 after finishing runner up the past two seasons. "This team is pretty special," said head coach Brian Weaver. "One senior on the team, lot of youth, lot of tradition that they're following and it's just exciting to see the path that they're on.

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Both Buchanan & Lott will head to Portland to compete on the national stage in the Nike Cross Country Nationals.

One of the closest finishes on the day came in Division-V with Blake Bay coming up just short of a state title. The Eagles junior finished runner up with a time of 14:55 and was one of 21 runners to finish sub-15 minutes on the day.