Southern Door runner Ben Grota's road to the WIAA State Cross Country meet did not start when he broke 17 minutes for the second time this season at the WIAA Sectional Meet in Manitowoc last week, but the heavy miles he put in this summer.

That hard work paid off when he qualified for the state meet with a personal best 16:44 on the 5K course. Before this year, his personal best was 17:14 at the Panther Invite. Grota posted seven top five finishes during the season. When we talked to him earlier this season, he was the top local finisher at the Chief K Invite in Fish Creek, and he chatted about the big things he was expecting out of his junior year. 

Grota will run his race at Saturday at noon.