MOULTRIE – Elizabeth Funderburk is a state champion. She took care of that in the spring when she claimed the 3,200-meter girls race in Class 7A (and almost had the 1,600 gold in hand).

The Colquitt County High senior wants to go the distance again and come out on top in the longest distance race there is on the GHSA calendar. For all of her achievements as a cross country runner, including a No. 1 ranking in the state, Funderburk has yet to even get in podium position at the state championships in Carrollton. Her final chance is approaching, and the goal is simple: win.

On Saturday, the Packer cross country teams will run for the first time in the 2017 fall season at Tallahassee, Fla. It will mark the first time Funderburk’s been in a competitive setting since the GHSA track and field finals at Berry College. Her summer was all about training for cross country season.

“I took a couple of weeks break after track season, and then getting back into it logging miles and build my mileage,” said Funderburk before another practice run Wednesday. She calculated 65 miles of running on the trails in Moultrie.

“I want to have a good senior year, go out with a bang,” said Funderburk. “One of my goals is to have the fastest time in Georgia by the end of the season. You have to keep up with all the other top girls, see what they’re doing. In cross country, all the courses are different. Some people have more opportunities than others to get on a fast track and run a fast time.

“Also, this season, I want to win a state championship and be able to compete on the national level.”

There could also be that freshman who bursts on the scene, puts up winning times and tries to knock the established runners off the top of the list.

But Funderburk and any other runner competes against the course first. Carrollton is the site for the state championships, and Funderburk has two particularly bad memories of running this course. One of those was last year’s state 7A finals.

“I’m going there to a meet during the regular season,” said Funderburk. “So I can race on it and hopefully have a good experience, figure out my strategy and what I want to do.

“Freshman year, I ran pretty good there (11th place). My whole sophomore season didn’t go very well. Last year, it was kind of a freak thing my health. Hopefully this year will be a good year.”

Funderburk also spent some offseason time looking at colleges and their running programs. When she says she wants to compete at the national level, the NCAAs are a part of that.

“We’ve gone on a few unofficial visits this summer,” said Funderburk. “I’ve talked to a lot of coaches. I think I’ve narrowed it down to five schools because the limit is five official visits in the fall. I’m hoping to be able to sign during the November period.”

Funderburk defeated Liz Galarza by just over four full seconds in the 3,200-meter finals of track. Galarza, last fall, won the 7A cross country race representing West Forsyth. Then there was the 1,600-meters at state last spring, where Galarza’s time was 5:00.45 and Funderburk’s was 5:00.64. Funderburk recalled seeing a photo of the finish and the pain etched on both their faces.

“I was in the lead on that last straightaway,” she said. “I could feel (Galarza) coming up behind me. She got me right at the line. I don’t even … it was a good race.”

Packer cross country as a whole is growing under coach Mell Wier. He did not lose many seniors from the 2016 season, and some newcomers joined the team from other Colquitt County sports, including tennis, also coached by Wier.

“We’re going to be significantly better,” said Wier. “Both boys and girls. We have a couple of additions on the girls side whom I think are going to be really helpful. With girls, I think we have a chance to be the best team in the region.”

The region, 1-7A, still consists of Tift County, Lowndes and Camden County, but Wier said there will not be a separate championship meet. Much like golf, two regions will put their cross country teams together in four area meets to settle state qualifiers. For 1-7A, that meet will take place in Tifton and involve Region 8-7A. The region championship trophies, according to Wier, will be decided by who finishes first among the 1-7As in this meet.

“The boys (team) lost a couple, but I have the core back,” said Wier. “(The tennis players) started out just for conditioning, but I think they’re going to help us out tremendously.

“A lot of the stuff we’re doing is getting the kids to start moving up toward the front and holding on as long as they can as opposed to saying Jake (Merritt) and Elizabeth are gone, I’m going to do what I do. Now, they are trying to push them. It’s making them better.”

Merritt was the top Packer boy of the 2016 season. Wier said Merritt had a good summer of work and is drawing interest himself from college recruiters.

The cross country season will include one more trip to Tallahassee for the FSU Invitational, invitationals hosted by Lee County, Bainbridge, Tift County and Thomas County-Central and the Wingfoot Classic in Cartersville.