King’s boys XC, football each win 1A academic state title

The King’s boys cross country and football teams won 1A state academic championships.

The harriers had a collective grade-point average of 3.85, while the football players posted a cumulative 3.40 GPA.

So much of King’s academic success “is because of the school culture. Athletics are secondary here,” Knights coach cross country coach Rod Wilcox said. “It’s rare that I’ll have three-quarters of my team at practice on any given day because kids will take days off to do homework. And they aren’t taking easy classes — everyone on the team takes at least one Advanced Placement class during the season.”

Three King’s boys runners — Cameron Chew, Colby Crispeno and Anthony Hart — qualified for the 1A state meet. In the girls race, sophomore Naomi Smith placed seventh, leading the Knights to a sixth-place team finish.

“Our girls team was the second-fastest team in school history,” Wilcox said. “Naomi was the second-best sophomore (at the state meet), so her future looks good. This was one of my favorite years (of coaching). They took care of business in the classroom and are leaders in school. It was a fun group to work with, full of high-character kids.”