Only one team in Texas can graduate three strong runners and end up getting better, and this year's edition could be a monster.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. That's been the story of Texas cross country for the last 3 years, and just about every indication is that the Southlake Carroll dynasty will continue to roll in 2014. The database places the Dragons as the 3rd-best returning team, but we all know the variations in course difficulty that Texas has (not to mention the courses listed as 5K that are not quite that long). That's why I always look for other measures to support a team's returning 5K times, and Carroll has those in spades. As mentioned by a previous evaluator, his team returns 7 sub-10 3200 runners and 5 that ran under 9:40, which ranks them 3rd in the nation behind Christian Brothers (NJ) and Great Oak (CA). The most impressive thing about Southlake Carroll, however, is the track record of improvement from season to season. If you believe that it is harder for a highly-trained team to post solid gains, then you'll believe this: the Dragons are far and away the best in Texas when it comes to replacing departed runners. That's how you stay on top, and that's how you can lose 3 seniors and potentially be even better the next year.
| Southlake Carroll (TX) | |||
| 1) Eli Canal | 15:34.00 | ||
| 2) Johnny Kemps | 16:02.90 | ||
| 3) Luke Lanham | 16:26.00 | ||
| 4) Eric Karl | 16:33.00 | ||
| 5) Ansel Richards | 16:34.00 | ||
| Average Time: 16:13.98 Total Time: 1:21:09.90 1-5 Split: 1:00.00 | |||
| 6) Timou Toure | 16:46.00 | ||
| 7) Eric Vetere | 16:53.00 | ||