Region 1 Preview: Team Battles Highlight All Classifications With State Berth On The Line

Bryan Deibel

Region 1- 5A

Boys (Virtual Meet Preview)

Who: 
    Teams: Grapevine, Justin Northwest, El Paso Austin, Azle,  Aledo
    Individuals: Graydon Morris, Harrison Tillman, Michael Abeyta, 

When: Saturday, October 29th, 10:00am - 10:30am
Why: This is going to be a big match up on the individual side of the race. Out in front appears to be two strong freshmen in Graydon Morris and Michael Abeyta. Morris has held his own aginst some of the best in the state including a runner-up finish at the Carroll Dragon XC Classic, 6th place finish at the Marcus I Invitational, and 3rd place finish at the Southlake Carroll Invitational. Morris rolled the competition at his district meet winning by over a minute. Abeyta from El Paso Hanks had one of his best races when he finished 2nd at the Canutillo Invitational only behind El Paso Eastwood's Daniel Bernal. One other runner who will be looking to chase the win is Morris's teammate and senior Harrison Tillman. Tillman has a 2016 season-best race of 15:40.91 from McNeil. 

In the team race, Grapevine will look to take their 2nd Region title in a row. They rolled their competition at the district meet scoring 25 points. One team that could look to give them some trouble is Justin Northwest. Justin Northwest is new to 5A after racing in class 6A last year, they also had a solid district meet scoring 49 points for the win. Aledo and Azle were within ten points of Justin Northwest at their district meet. Aledo could see a tougher time scoring as high as they did at districts what the larger region field. They have a 1-5 split of almost three minutes. Azel, on the other hand could move up with a tigheter 1-5 split of :45 sec. 

Girls (Virtual Meet Preview)

Who: 
    Teams: Canyon Randall, Canyon, Grapevine, Saginaw
    Individuals: Binta Ka, Ayse Allison, Lauren Edwards, Maddie Vondra
When: Saturday, October 29th, 10:00am - 10:30am
Why: Binta Ka is one of the top runners in the state. Last year when Richland was in class 6A Ka finished 8th at the Region meet, and 31st at the state meet. She is the favorite to win the individual title this year. She could see a challenge from Canyon's Ayse Allison, Grapevine's Lauren Edwards, and Fort Worth Arlington Heights's Maddie Vondra. If running at full strength Ka has an over :20 second PR on the rest of the field and will be hard to catch, also keep in mind nothing is set in stone. Her biggest competition could be from someone we almost forgot to mention an that is freshmen Gracie Morris from Aledo. Morris has been one of the many freshmen standouts this season taking wins at Marcus I Invitational,  Southlake Carroll Invitational,Paschal Invitational and UIL 5A - District 6. She also finished 2nd behind fellow freshmen standout McKinney North's London Culbreath at the Carroll Dragon XC Classic. The team battle could be up in the air.

The girls from Canyon Randall appear to be the favorites but you can't underestimate the team from Grapevine. Both teams are ranked in our Saucony Flo50 Rankings. Canyon Randall is ranked at No. 3 while Grapevine is ranked at No. 6. Also in the mix should be the ladies from Canyon who are ranked at No.5. Canyon had what appears to be a rough race at District though finishing 2nd behind Canyon Randall 21 to 42. Grapevine's strong 1-2 punch in Lauren Edwards and Lindsey Smyth could take down Canyon Randall with a strong performance from their 3-5 runners. There's no denying it's going to be a challenge though with Canyon Randall's :51 second
1-5 split.  

1A - 2A | 3A | 4A | 5A | 6A