ROUND ROCK — It was a bittersweet ending but a great effort from Little Cypress-Mauriceville’s Eli Peveto at the Class 4A State Cross Country Championships at Old Settler’s Park Saturday.

Peveto finished a solid 21^st overall out of 152 runners with a time of 16:55.39 but it was his effort just to get there that showed his fighting spirit.

At the 2.5 mile mark, Peveto lost one of his shoes while he was in second-place but he kept battling and had a chance to medal late when he passed out with a little more than 30 meters to go.

The young man got up and finished the race, still ahead of 131 other competitors.

Peveto entered state as the 4A Region III champion along with being the District 22-4A champion.

Orangefield sophomore Maddison Helm finished a solid 52^nd overall in the girls race, running the two-mile course in 12:44.51 as 149 girls competed in the raced.

San Elizario’s Edwin Gomez won the boys race in 15:36.55 while Alvarado’s Emily Garcia won the girls race in 11:28.65.