The streak continues for the Montgomery County cross country team.

For the seventh year in a row, the Wildcats will have some runners at the Class 3 state cross country meet as senior Jadrian Thurmon and freshman Emma Rodgers will be the MCHS representatives at the event, which is scheduled for Nov. 9 at Gans Creek Course in Columbia.

Thurmon and Rodgers qualified for state after placing in the top 30 in their respective races at the Class 3, District 3 championship meet at Fulton High School on Nov. 2. Thurmon placed fifth with a 17:09 in the boys race to clinch his third straight state berth, while Rodgers came in 27th with a 21:37.88 in the girls race.

Thurmon and Rodgers continued a streak of MCHS state qualifiers that started in 2018, when Connor Galarza clinched a state berth. Other Wildcat runners who participated at state were Lyric Ford, Malia Rodgers, Dawson McCown and Destiny Shaw.

“It means a lot because we come from a small school,” Emma Rodgers said. “Just having people going to state is great.”

Rodgers will compete in the state girls race at 9:45 a.m. She will continue an outstanding freshman season in which she has seven medals, including first-place medals at the Mexico and North Callaway meets.

“I’ll just try to run my best because it’s the last meet of the season,” Rodgers said. “I just want to run really good so I can get all-state because we have one of the best districts in the state. If you place in our district, I feel like that’s really good because in our district, the people who won would probably win state.”

Rodgers became the first MCHS freshman since her older sister Malia in 2020 to qualify for state. Thurmon has some advice for Rodgers for her first state meet appearance.

“My biggest thing I would probably tell her is to not put so much pressure on yourself,” the senior said. “Just let yourself go, get out and treat it like a normal race. If you put the weight of being a state race on your shoulders, it will make you run bad. It’s more anxiety inducing.”

Thurmon turned in his best district finish. He was in fifth for most of the race.

“It was a great race,” Thurmon said. “It’s really nice. I love the energy that the Class 3 boys bring. They’re all very kind and encouraging. There’s not much arrogance going around as it was in the past. There was a lot of love and cheering for everyone qualifying.”

Now, Thurmon is looking to earn an all-state medal for the second year in a row. Last year, he placed 15th with a personal-best 16:17.9 after coming in 71st in 2022.