By Rob Kiser - Piqua Daily Call
TROY — The emotion in coach Josh Long's eyes said it all.

The Covington boys cross country team had just knocked down the wall — the barrier of not advancing to the state meet as a team since 2001.

The Buccs sent that barrier crashing to the ground Saturday along the Troy Levee bank — even if it took a lot of nerve-wracking moments waiting for the results.

The Buccs finished third with 143 points, behind Summit Country Day with 109 and St. Henry with 127.

Russia and pre-race favorite Minster tied for fourth with 157. The Raiders won the final state berth with the fastest sixth man.

And for Long, it was particularly rewarding to see his four seniors (Willy Hoffert, Brandon Flora, Zach Shilt, Kody Spade) earn a well-deserved trip to state.

"Those guys have all worked so hard," Long said. "To see them in junior high, talking about all the things they were going to do in high school. Then, they realized as freshman it was a little tougher than they thought it was going to be. And to watch the progress they have made."

The waiting came to get final results and was one runner was missing and it took awhile for the results to be announced.

"That was really tough," Long said. "I had no idea where we finished. I thought we might have made it, but I wasn't sure."

And he couldn't have been prouder of the way his kids ran the race.

"It is great for those guys to get this opportunity and they have earned it," he said. "They ran a smart race. Libby (his wife and girls coach Libby Long) and I were talking about that as we were watching them today. If you had looked at us after a mile, you wouldn’t have thought we were in very good position."

Hoffert led the Buccs with a 10th place finish in 16:52.6.

Flora was 29th in 17:31.3; sophomore Dustin Fickert was 31st in 17:33.5; and freshman Lane White was 36th in 17:40.2.

Rounding out the Buccs runners were Shilt, 87, 18:22.7; sophomore Jake Sowers, 89, 18:25.4; and Spade, 130, 20:32.1

"They just keep moving up as the race goes on," Long said. "I guess you could say they are good pack runners."

Hoffert's top 10 finish in the front was a great way to start things.

"What a race by Willy (Hoffert)," Long said. "To be in the top ten at regional. That’s what we needed from him."

At the time he finished, the only thing Hoffert knew for sure was that he would be running at state after his 10th place finish. He had to stay in front of a pack of about nine runners that were together coming to the finish line.

"That was crazy," Hoffert said. "It was one big pack. I knew I had to stay in front of those guys. It is just a great feeling. All the hard work has paid off."

Later he found out after a long wait his team would be joining him.

"I really wasn’t sure if we had made it," he said. "The waiting around was tough, because we weren’t sure if we had made it or not. But, it is great for us to make it as a team. All the hard work paid off."

Even Russia coach Doug Foster took notice of the Buccs accomplishment.

"You have to give Covington credit," he said. "They ran a great race today."

The Covington girls ran into some strong competition at the regional and were unable to continue their amazing season.

The Lady Buccs finished seventh with 187 points.

West Liberty-Salem, Minster, Russia and Versailles were the four teams to advance.

Covington runners places and times included Jessie Shilt, 29, 20:34.3; Emily Fields, 44, 21:01.9; Haley Adams, 60, 21:32.0; Casey Yingst, 61, 21:37.5; Tara Snipes, 65, 21:42.9; Brittany Diltz, 67, 21:50.0; Julianna Simon, 104, 23:23.2.