Texas State Championships Go Big
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6A Division: In the girls' race, Macy Wingard of Denton Braswell clinched her second consecutive title with a time of 17:07.90, finishing a season where she won seven of eight races. Flower Mound secured its fifth consecutive team title, placing three runners in the top six and led by sophomore Adeline Bennett. Carroll's Caden Leonard dominated the boys' race with a swift 14:50.10, remaining undefeated at the 5K distance this season. His performance helped Carroll narrowly defeat Austin Vandegrift by just four points (49-53), securing their sixth straight team championship.
5A Division: Elizabeth Leachman of Boerne Champion reaffirmed her dominance, repeating as champion and remaining undefeated in her four races this year, winning the girls' race by over 52 seconds with a time of 17:14.80. The girls title was won by the Smithson Valley girls who dominated with a 43 margin of victory over Lucas Lovejoy. In the boys' race, Bryce Denton of Anna captured his third straight title with a 15:16.90 finish. The team title was won by the Lucas Lovejoy boys who dominated to the tune of a 60 point victory with a 16:16 average.
4A Division: Addyson Bristow from Canyon remained undefeated, setting a 4A record in the 3,200 meters with a time of 10:43.30 and winning her 8th title of the season. The team title was won by the
Canyon boys, where Bristow led them to a 29 point margin of victory. Senior
Lathan Lewter ran a time of 15:25 to win his fifth straight race of the season, a year after finishing in 4th place. The
Canyon boys also secured the team title with a margin of victory of 55 points.
3A Division: Sophia Bendet from Randolph set a new course record of 10:40.50 in the 3,200 meters, finishing an undefeated season and winning by 24 seconds.
Holliday repeated as the girls' team champions, with
Kenli Atwood leading the way to a minuscule score of 35 points.
Noah Strohman of Holliday won his third consecutive boys' title, breaking the course record with a 15:24.80 finish, while leading the Holliday boys to a second place finish behind
Lytle High School who claimed the state title with 68 points.
2A Division: Cara Sims from Elysian Fields clocked an 11:34.60 in the 3,200 meters to capture the girls' title and capping off a season which only saw her lose once.
Hamilton won their third straight championship with 37 points - 40 points better than runner-up Farwell. Hamilton had five in the top 20, led by Presley Long, who was fourth. After finishing as the runner-up last year, Marco Cunningham took the win with a time of 16:12.70. Plains won the boys team title for the third year in a row with 52 points.
1A Division: Lilly Benson of Roby earned her first state title in the 3,200 meters, setting a personal best of 11:56.
Behind 5 in the top 17, the Tilden McMullen County girls won the title with 38 points. In the boys' race, Sebastian Talamantez from Comstock defended his title with a time of 16:10.30, improving by 15 seconds from last year. Comstock won the boys team title by 33 points, with Talamantez leading the way.