The Killeen Daily Herald All-Area Cross Country Team Posted On: Thursday, Nov. 26 2009 05:44 AM His coach just wanted DreVan Anderson-Kaapa to make it to the state cross country meet. Anderson-Kaapa wanted more ... and, secretely, so did his coach.

Anderson-Kaapa became the first Killeen High cross country runner to advance the state meet since 2005 and the first since coach Carlos Quinonnes' third-place finish in 1981 to place in the top-5.

That finish secured Anderson-Kaapa's place as Killeen Daily Herald's 2009 boys cross country Runner of the Year.

"My goal was to get DreVan to state and he exceeded that and then with the way he was running at the end, I told him, 'Let's push it, 'let's go for a medal,'" Quinones said. "For me, it was a privilege to coach DreVan to be better than me. If your record is going to be broken, you want to be involved with the person who does it."

Anderson-Kaapa didn't break Quinones' record at the meet but his fifth-place finish was years in the making. The reigning two-time District 25-4A individual champion placed third in the Region IV-4A cross country meet in 15 minutes, 45 seconds after a 16th-place finish in 2008.

The first Killeen boy to qualify for the state meet since Zachary Davis in 2005 then ran a 15:46.68 at the at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock on Nov. 14, ahead of Region IV rival Angel Banda of La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, who placed second in front of Anderson-Kaapa at the regional meet.

"He really succeeded this year," Quinones said. "I never expected that DreVan was going to run like that this year."

Derwin Graham

School: Copperas Cove

Class: Junior

2009: The District 12-5A boys champion finished eighth at the 5A Region II meet, becoming the first Cove runner to reach the state meet since 2006. Graham, who won the Temple Invitational and Hewitt Kiwanis Midway Invitational this season, finished 19th at state

Silvester Harrison

School: Ellison

Class: Sophomore

2009: District 12-5A all-district first team selection, finished second at the district meet with a personal record time of 16:11.92 and 19th at the Region II championship with a PR time of 15:43.

Luis Hernandez

School: Ellison

Class: Senior

2009: District 12-5A all-district first team selection, finished third with at the District 12-5A meet and 34th at the Region II Championship with a PR of 16:03.3.

Patrick Murray

School: Salado

Class: Freshman

2009: Finished a team-best 16th at the Class 2A state meet with a personal best time of 17:15.81, took 12th at the Region IV championships.

Jace Peralta

School: Salado

Class: Senior

2009:

Overall District 25-2A champion, finished second at the Region IV championships with a personal record time of 16:52.70, led the Eagles to its second-ever Class 2A state championship appearance.