Coming in second last season in the Class 3A state cross country meet was enough motivation for Park City's Gillian Gorelik to aim for an individual title.

But her goals didn't stop there. In the last meet of her high school career, she wanted to run her fastest time and to lead the Miners to the best team performance the state meet has ever seen.

With her finish of 18 minutes, 33.3 seconds at Sugar House Park on Wednesday, Gorelik accomplished all of her goals.

"I was really nervous. I always freak out before races, but as soon as the gun went off, it all went away," Gorelik said. "At Park City, winning is a tradition, and it feels good to be a part of this."

The Miners won their second consecutive girls' team title and seventh in the last eight years. Five Park City runners finished in the top 10, and the team finished with 23 points, the best the Miners have ever performed at the state meet.

"This is a really special group. They were absolutely undefeated this year," said Park City coach Jeff Wyant. "They're the best team in the history [of our school]."

All five scorers ran the course under 20 minutes. When freshman Alisse Walker was racing, there was more than just her teammates pushing her.

"It's so much pressure to be a part of this program, but I had to fulfill my duties because it's our history," said Walker, who finished ninth. "We had to fight to make the lowest score."

The boys' race was much more wide open. Canyon View's Matt Wright has made great strides since competing last season. At last year's state meet, Wright came in 15th with a time of 16:46.7. This year, he won the 3A individual title with a time of 16:01.4.

"Last year, I hated the course because I felt so bad [afterwards]," Wright said. "The race felt a whole lot easier. I just improved a lot."

Wright's performance helped the Falcons finish third in the team competition. Cedar took the title, as three Cavemen finished in the top 10. Shaun Coan was the top runner for Cedar, finishing with a time of 16:21.1.

"We knew our top three would do well, we just needed our fourth and fifth runners to get up there," said Cedar coach Derek Pruitt. "You know they're capable of doing it and it's really neat to see them do it."

mthach@sltrib.com