Kurt Ruegg was hoping to make the top 40 and came out breaking a record.

The Napa High junior finished 28th in the Div. I race at the CIF State Cross Country Championships on Saturday, finishing in a career-best 15 minutes, 40 seconds on the 3.1-mile course at Woodward Park in Fresno.

The first Napa Valley runner to reach the state meet three times, he also ran the fastest time ever at the state meet by a Valley qualifier, according to Mark Proteau, a former Napa High coach who worked with him this season.

The previous best time was by then-St. Helena senior Brian Cole, who ran a 5:50 while placing second in Division IV in 2006. Cole went on to earn All-County Co-Athlete of the Year honors for the 2006-2007 school year.

Ruegg averaged 5:03 per mile.

“He ran a 4:54 first mile, which was exactly what he ran two years ago as a freshman. He wasn’t strong enough to handle that pace then and fell apart, but this year he handled it,” said his father, Napa High coach Roger Ruegg. “His time was 10:10 after the second mile, which has a big hill and slowed him down, but he ran the last 1.1 mile in 5-flat.

“He was in around 40th place at mile 2, so he passed quite a few guys in that last mile. He said it was a fun race.”

The divisions alternate each year on which gets to race first and right on schedule, at 8:30 a.m. Ruegg’s division happened to be the first this year and that helped, his father said.

“It was a little foggy and cool, but there was no dust,” Roger Ruegg said.

Kurt Ruegg even bettered the time of 15:46 he ran in winning the varsity high school boys division at the prestigious Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in Walnut a month before.

“The state course is longer, but it doesn’t have the big hills at Mt. SAC, but he still ran really, really well today,” Roger Ruegg said. “He took 33 seconds off his (state) time from last year.”

Ruegg finished just 35 seconds behind Div. I winner Tyler Valdez, a senior from Dana Hills. Among the five divisions, Ruegg finished among the top 20 non-seniors.

As with his first two state meets, Ruegg and his entourage — which included his parents, his uncle Garren Mizutani, two grandparents and an another uncle and a cousin who ran for Long Beach Wilson for three years — got treated to a home-cooked pasta meal care of Fresno’s Tom and Margaret Castelazo. They are the parents-in-law of Vintage High science teacher Jen Castelazo.

“They live three miles from the hotel where we stayed,” Roger Ruegg said. “Three years ago, Jen called and said we could come on over and it’s been very relaxing for us ever since.

“We had an early dinner then stayed in a hotel that was crawling with cross country runners, so there was good energy. Kurt had a breakfast bar and ran a great race, then hung out with a lot of friends there he’s made through the years.”

Kurt Ruegg will run against even more elite competition next Saturday at the Foot Locker West Regional Championships, also at Woodward Park.