Texas Shows Off Depth At State Meet
5A Girls
The Texas University Interscholastic League Championship did not disappoint with some of the top runners in the nation throwing down at Old Settler's Park in Round Rock on Saturday. The day started off with the Class 5A girls race, where we got to see Flo50 No. 7 London Culbreath from McKinney North compete. She took the win by over 30 seconds in 16:56 -- the only girls performance under 17 minutes.
This was Culbreath's second Class 5A state title after winning as a freshman in 17:06.72. Only a sophomore, she now has four state titles between cross country and track.
Coming in second was Frisco Liberty senior Carrie Fish (17:29.50), who helped lead her Redhawks to the team title with 122 points over Canyon Randall's 126. Rounding out the top three for individuals was Aledo's Gracie Morris, who ran 17:46.40.
5A Boys
The next race on the course was the Class 5A boys race, where we got to see Gracie Morris's twin brother, Graydon Morris.
It came down to Morris edging out El Paso Hanks' Michael Abeyta in 14:58.90 to 15:00.18 ... at the line. In third place was Rice University commit Ace Castillo in 14:45.50.
In the team race, Lucas Lovejoy took home its second state title in a row scoring with 69 points for the win. Rounding out the final two teams was Grapevine with 91 points and Cedar Park with 112.
6A Girls
On the individual side, Halena Rahmaan from Montgomery took the win in 17:16.30, but it was the ladies from Keller who stole the show.
Flo50 No. 6 Keller took home the win with 63 points for its second consecutive Class 6A title.
The Indians were led by senior and recent Texas A&M commit Julia Black, who placed second. Counting Black, Keller put three in the top 10, with Abbey Santoro placing eighth and Isabel Van Camp placing ninth overall. Keller's final two were 18th and 30th. The team ran a 1:18 1-5 split and 18:01 average.
Impressively, all of the top four finishes from state came from this same region.
Following Keller's title win was Lewisville Hebron in second with 122 points, Southlake Carroll in third with 130 points and Flower Mound in fouth with 141 points.
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keller | 63 | 2+6+7+18+30 (41+71) | 1:18 1-5 Split | 18:01 Avg | |||
| 2 | Lewisville Hebron | 122 | 9+10+15+39+49 (51+59) | 1:22 1-5 Split | 18:36 Avg | |||
| 3 | Southlake Carroll | 130 | 17+26+27+29+31 (43+61) | 0:20 1-5 Split | 18:40 Avg | |||
| 4 | Flower Mound | 141 | 4+8+37+42+50 (66+84) | 1:48 1-5 Split | 18:41 Avg | |||
Boys 6A
Finally, the Class 6A boys race saw one of the biggest surprises of the day as the favorite for the state championship, Flo50 No.4 Alex Maier from Flower Mound, did not finish the race.
After the race, we found out that Maier dropped out just after the second mile due to a sickness he battled all week. That left the door opened for Maier's teammate, Kirk Jarrett, who took the win in 15:02.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | POINTS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirk Jarrett | 10 | Flower Mound | 15:02.60 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Gavin Hoffpauir | 12 | The Woodlands | 15:08.80 | 2 | ||
| 3 | Haftu Knight | 11 | Tyler Lee | 15:09.90 | 0 | ||
Although Jarrett picked up strong for the Jaguars, the team -- which was in contention for a podium finish -- fell to eighth.
The Woodlands would end up winning its third consecutive state title in a row in a close battle over Southlake Carroll, 88 to 94. The Woodlands were led by senior Gavin Hoffpauir, who took second in 15:08.80. El Paso Eastwood placed third, scoring 123 points.
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