Siuslaw senior Jack Pickell saved his best for last, and now will be the only Viking male running in next week's Oregon School Athletic Association Class 4A cross country championships in Eugene.

The boys 4A race starts at 11:50 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, at Lane Community College.

"It was a real emotional run, my last district race," Pickell said Thursday after finishing fourth place in the Far West League championships at Tugman State Park.

Pickell ran a personal-best 17 minutes, 11 seconds. North Bend senior Michael Brown won in 16:13.

North Bend took the boys team title with a score of 41, followed by Marshfield with 50, Siuslaw with 53, South Umpqua with 82, Brookings-Harbor with 99 and Douglas with 140.

North Bend and Marshfield qualified for the district's two team entries at state.

Siuslaw was left on the outside looking in, despite personal records by Pickell, freshmen Kiger Johnson and Jonah Jarman and senior Ryan Alletson.

Johnson was ninth in 17:32, Jarman 11th in 18:00 and Alletson 15th in 18:12.

Ailing junior Isaac Griffes, who usually runs stride-for-stride with Pickell, finished a dispiriting 14th overall and fourth for the Vikings in 18:09.

"Isaac was sick. Yesterday he had a fever of 102," Pickell said. "So he's still recovering. So he did amazing. I'm very proud of him."

Pickell and Griffes apparently were the only two on the boys cross country team to come down with a bug that swept the school this past week. Some 100 students missed class Monday, according to one report.

"I missed school Monday," Pickell said. "I'll definitely get some rest this week, get ready for state."

Pickell is peaking as he heads to his last cross country race for the Vikings. His personal-best time Thursday surpassed the personal record he set at the state championships as a sophomore in 2014.

He might run faster at the state meet. But he won't run happier.

"I like this meet so much more than state," Pickell said of the district run. "I'm just really excited about this meet. I love this meet."

He only wishes that he and Griffes could have been 100 percent healthy. Instead, they settled for giving 100 percent effort.

"My stomach still hurts a little bit, but I'm not throwing up any more," Pickell said. "I feel like I could have done better.

"I'm not my 100 percent, but I'm getting back to it."

And he's getting back to state, for the third year in a row, with his best perhaps yet to come.

Results of the district meet are online at http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=117379#/183.