Boys 3A
Kyle Doty winning state in 2014
We can start things off with the individual race, and lets just say it's going to be tough for anyone to upset State Champion Kyle Doty. Doty has run a 15:24 5K PR, and this year alone has gone 15:52. In our Q&A with Doty earlier this week he seemed ready to go saying, "I plan to approach this race just as I would any other race, confident and prepared to do what it takes to win." With Doty as the clear favorite its going to be a race for second.
Buster Roberts
There will be several guys looking to battle it out in the pack for podium finishes. One guy we can expect to see up in front is Luling sophomore Buster Roberts. Roberts finished 12th last year and is one of the top returners. He's run sub 16 once already this year and has several performances 16:30 or faster. Another guy who beat Roberts by 9 secounds at the Region 4 meet is San Antonio Cole's Christian Schreckhise. The senior ran a 15:40 to place 20th in the boys gold race at McNeil this year. Hunter Hammontree form Elysian Fields will look to be top three after placing 8th in 2014. He's run 15:59 for 5K so far this year so he will look to run a strong State race again this year. Whitesboro senior Jeffrey Butts will also be looking to better his 2014 11th place finish, after winning the Region 2 meet in 15:50 (just shy of 5K). Other guys who will be in the mix are Vanderbilt Industrial freshman Kevin Baez, Whitney senior Reo Bressman, Chapel Hill senior Will Phillips, and Tornillo Junior Adrian Morales.
Luling after the Cedar Park Invite earlier this year
In the team race there is one squad that might be able to run away with the title like Doty can in the individual race. If that ends up being the case we're going to see a tough battle play out for places 2-4. The guys from Luling were the 2014 state champs and come in with an advantage. The team only beat San Antonio Cole by 14 points at Region, so they are going to have to keep up that momentum to win again. Cole has a strong front runner in Schreckhise, but Luling has a better 1-5 split of 1:20. A team that could come up big at state but enter as underdogs are the guys from Tornillo. They only have a 44.80 1-5 split and their top 4 guys have all run sub 17. Three other teams who my be in the mix are Presidio, Wall, and Eustace all of which have experience running at state.