6A Boys

Last years State Champion David Strome

This is arguably going to be one of the best races of the weekend on both the team side as well as the individual side! The individual race has truly become a toss up for who can come away with the win. Returning state champ David Strome has looked strong all year and has told us multiple times he's looking to reclaim the title again in his senior year. After a recent loss to both El Paso Eastwood's Daniel Bernal and Southlake Carroll's Reed Brown, it's going to make things a lot more interesting. You could say that Bernal's win would make him the new favorite but Brown is going to look to come back strong at State and put up a tough battle. Brown has raced some impressive races this year, including a first place finish in an extremely tough race at Chile Pepper. He pulled off the win by only a few tenths of a second. These three are good but with a pack of guys as deep as this field, it's tough to count anyone out. Including Amarillo Tascosa's Wes McPhail and Briggs Wittlake. The duo came in 4th and 5th in Region 1. Wittlake finished just three places off Bernal at State last year making him the sixth fastest returner. Another guy out of Region 1 who was right on Wittlake's heels in 2014 and was there again this year at region was Keller senior Carter Persyn. Persyn has finished top 10 or better in every race he's run this year except Chile Pepper where there was a deep field of competitors from several states. These guys are pretty much it as far as the top pack....(record screech) wait hold up.....thats just Region 1! Yup...thats right, Region 1 is just that deep but there's going to be several guys in the mix from the three other Regions as well.

Sam Worley taking the victory at McNeil

One guy in particular to watch out for is New Braunfels Canyon junior Sam Worley. Worley is coming back as the 3rd fastest returner. He had a rough run at Region 4 where he placed 30th being held back by sickness, but at full health we've all seen what he can do. Other guys from Region 4 that will look to be in the mix are Parker Scott from Corpus Christi King and Ethan Hageman from San Antonio Holmes. The pair went 1-2 at Region and both finished top 10 at McNeil. From Region 2 we will see some tough competition from Daniel Golden, Connor O'neill, and Adam Breaux. All three ran at the state meet last year and will be looking to better their finishes.

Nathan Gift winning Friday night lights

Another top returner will be Nathan Gift from Cinco Ranch. The senior won Region 3 in the mud show, adding to his lists of wins this year. This will be the first time we see Gift face off against some of the top names in the state all in on race. Some other guys to watch out of Region 3 are the guys from Katy Ryan Yerrow, and Peter Eskandr, Houston Bellaire junior Ababu Mohamed, and Houston Memorial senior Nicholas Hamilton. Hamilton had a breakthrough race to place 3rd at region 3. Unfortunately we will not see 2014 4th place finisher Daniel Viegra in uniform due to a stress fracture in his femoral neck or hip area. He will however be there to watch and cheer on teammate Justin Botello who has a chance at finishing in the top pack. Now I think we've covered the bases as far as the individuals go, but there's always a few guys who could have big races and mix things up, it's a stacked race!

The Woodlands after Districts

Onto the teams...one team that stands out in particular is The Woodlands. These guys are going to be hard to bring down, they've placed their top five in the top ten in every race they've ran their varsity squad at this year. Golden has led the team in every race with either a win or close 2nd place finish, while junior William Hunsdale has been right there as the strong 2nd man. Overall the team only has a 30.09 1-5 split and average 5k time of 15:37. They easily won Region 2 scoring 29 points.

Southlake after their District win

Southlake, as the returning state champions are going to have their work cut out for them if they are looking to repeat. They also have a strong leader in Brown, but don't hold as tight of a 1-5 split as The Woodlands. Either way this is the match up we've been waiting for all year on the guys side, and it's going to be exciting watching these two teams battle it out for the crown. As far as other teams it's tough to say there will be several in the mix for that 3rd spot. One team that stands out among the rest are the guys from Katy. They have been led by junior Ryan Yerrow, and senior Peter Eskandr all year. The team won McNeil, and finished runner up to the Woodlands way back at the Region 3 Preview. These guys have been on a historic year for their team and school it will be interesting to see if they can continue it with a third place finish at State. Other teams who will look to get in on the action will be Houston Strake Jesuit, College Park, and Smithson Valley.