What to Watch Out For at Nike South


Every meet at Bear Branch Park is a good meet and every year Nike South adds another exciting chapter to the meet's history. Nike South 2016 figures to follow suit.  There will be TX MileSplit Flo 50 ranked teams and a US nationally ranked team.

On the Girls side, several Houston area teams will of course be present along with others from all over Texas bringing in some top talent.  Houston Stratford is the #7 ranked team in the TX MileSplit Flo 50 poll.  Stratford has been quietly competing at a high level with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores with a couple of juniors sprinkled in there. Stratford has a bunch of names that you might not know and I think they like it that way. With seven girls all under 20:00 (using their PRs they have a team avg is 19:22), we'll see how long they can stay one of Texas' best kept secrets. Kinkaid's Camila Vicens is fresh off of her 3rd place finish at A&M last week where she dropped a 19:03 and has an impressive 18:31 PR, on the books.  New Caney Porter's duo of Laura Tonchina and Rebecca Gonzalez will ride the momentum of their one-two finish last week at Clear Falls where they PRed with 19:06 and 19:10.  Conroe's Hannah Gault also PRed in 19:24, at the same Clear Falls meet. Eagle Pass' Monica Rivera and Corpus Christi Carroll's Jolyssa Cortez look to make their presence felt in their race.  Rivera comes in with a PR of 19:09 and Cortez has a best of 19:25. 



 On the Boy's side, The Woodlands squad is the feature.  The Highlanders are TX MileSplit Flo 50 6A #1 ranked team and they are #3 nationally.  The Woodlands College Park is the TX MileSplit Flo 50 6A #3 team in the state and comes fresh off a win at the Kansas Rim Rock Inv. where they upset US #19 St. Thomas Aquinas. Conroe Oak Ridge comes in ranked #12 in the TX MileSplit Flo 50 poll.  Individually, Oak Ridge's Theo Goff is ranked #3 in Texas, with a 15:13.90, on the season. Goff, will face off with his district foes from the Woodlands Noah Wells, William Hundsdale, Gavin Hoffpauir, and Daniel Baker who are ranked #12 and #13, #16, and #21 respectively.  Ethan Mercado of the Woodlands is the nation's top 5th man and is also in the race. Mercedes brings their squad which is led by a sub 16:00 one-two punch, with their top two runners Dominic Cavazos and Johnathan Reyes.