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

Bryan Deibel

Region 1- 6A


Marcus 2015 Region 1-6A Girls Team Champs and 6A State Champions after the Region Meet

Girls (Virtual Meet Preview)

Who:
    Teams: Southlake Carroll, Keller, Marcus, Lewisville Hebron, Abilene, Keller Timber Creek
    Individuals: Ashton Endsley, Abbey Santoro, Julia Black, Abby Riordan, Brooke Gilmore, Gillian Mortimer, Ashlyn Hillyard, Quinn Owen, Allison Green
When: Saturday, October 29th, 11:00am - 11:30am 
Why: This race is going to be a battle on the team side. It's arguably the most cutthroat region in the state for the girls. Since 2011 the winner of the 6A girls state meet has come out of Region 1 (dating back to when it was class 5A). For the past two years, the top two at the state meet have been from Region 1. In 2015 the top three teams at the state meet were the same as the top three teams from Region 1. That's how good this Region is!


The same three teams that were in it last year will be in the hunt again this year, including Marcus, Keller, and Southlake. Although the team from Marcus lost some key girls last year they've had a lot of young talent to step up and help them out big this year. Allison Green is one of these runners. Last year at the state meet she placed 38th, this year she's stepped up big to become Marcus's number one runner. Marcus also has a somewhat silent weapon in their arsenal in Quinn Owen. Owen has only raced one full race this year at the district meet but was also on the Marcus state championship team from 2015. As a sophomore, she finished 6th at last year's state XC meet and 4th in the 800m at state this past spring. With a team that's already been running well, getting Owen back at full strength will be a huge boost for this Marcus squad. One team that may stand in their way are the #1 Saucony Flo50 ranked Keller ladies.


This squad did some impressive things last year finishing 3rd with mostly freshmen and sophomores. This year they are looking to claim not only the region 1 title but the state title as well. We caught up with them for a Workout Wednesday shoot and all of them stressed the goal last year was top three at state, but this year's goal is to settle for nothing less than a state title. The team has been running  like a well-oiled machine all year claiming wins at several major meets including, Marcus I, The Ken Garland / Northwest Invitational, and Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival. One of their biggest advantages lies in their one-two punch with Julia Black and Abbey Santoro. Santoro has been crushing it. She has been leading the Indians for the majority of the year with Black right on her heels. Both are no strangers to the high level of competition having raced every meet from Region to NXN South. Santoro finished 3rd last year at both the Region and State Meet, while Black finished 6th and 27th. The team as a whole has improved and has help from some freshmen who stepped up big in Vera Thompson and Makenna Pallozzi. These ladies are going to be tough to takedown for the Region crown, but if any team is going to do it I'd put my money on Southlake.  


When their varsity squads have faced each other Keller has beat Southlake every time this year.  With that said knowing coach Leonard and the Southlake team, they are going to come prepared to run strong when it counts. Southlake's power comes from their depth and strength in numbers. Every girl in their top five has run sub 19 minutes with their top three all 18:30 or faster. They almost beat Keller at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival scoring 90 to Kellers 86. Gillian Mortimer is their top runner and will look to be in the top five for the individual battle. Some other teams that could be in the mix for a trip to the state meet are Lewisville Hebron, Abilene, Midland Senior High School, Keller Timber Creek, and Mansfield High. Hebron is led by Abby Riordan who finished 7th last year at the Region meet and 8th at the state meet. Both Abilene and Midland have been running solid al year. Abilene's lead runner is Ashton Endsley who should be a lock for her second region title in a row.

Endsley has been undefeated all year and should be ready to throw down this weekend in Lubbock. She's been running some mind blowing times, including a 16:50.65 to take the win at McNeil over 2015 state championship Julia Heymach. 


Daniel Bernal after 2015 Region 1 win

Boys (Virtual Meet Preview)

Who: 
    Teams: Reed Brown,Daniel Bernal, Alex Maier, Briggs Wittlake, Wes Mcphail, Eric Casarez, Ryan Teuscher, Jake Johnson, Jackson Vicary
    Individuals: Southlake Carroll, El Paso Eastwood, Flower Mound, Northwest Nelson, Plano West, Amarillo Tascosa, Allen
When: Saturday, October 29th, 11:00am - 11:30am
Why: On the guys side Region 1 isn't as loaded with teams, the battle will still be fierce. Southlake has a much stronger hold on the team standings here than any other team. They have had major wins at Marcus I and the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival. Led by the undefeated Reed Brown the Southlake guys rolled the competition at District 5-6A scoring 35 points.

The team I think will be the closest to them are the guys from El Paso Eastwood. The team has had a historic season so far also led by their own undefeated senior Daniel Bernal. Their biggest win came at the Desert Twilight XC Festival where they took first scoring 109 points over teams that were nationally ranked at the time. These two teams have yet to face each other in a head to head battle but I'm sure both will be ready to roll come Saturday. Other teams who should be in the mix are Flower Mound, Northwest Nelson, Plano West, Amarillo Tascosa and Allen. Flower Mound finished second to Southlake at districts, while Northwest Nelson was right on their heels. Amarillo Tascosa rolled at their district meet dropping 37 points. They have two strong leaders in Briggs Wittlake and Wes Mcphail but they will need big performances from their 3-5 guys to be in the mix for a podium finish. 

This race could arguably be one of the best individual battles of the entire weekend. The battle between Reed Brown, Daniel Bernal, and Alex Maire is a one we've been waiting to see all season. Maire who is only a sophomore has raced both Bernal and Brown this season finishing only a few seconds behind each of them. As we know Bown and Bernal are two of the top runners in the state and Maire has proven he can stick with both of them. Bernal took the win in last year's race over Brown by ten seconds, but I feel like both runners have made huge strides this year and we've yet to see either pushed to their full potential. This trio of guys is going to make for one epic battle! There will be another group who will be right there on their heels, in including McPhail and Wittlake from Tascossa, Ryan Teuscher from Northwest Nelson and Eric Casarez from Keller Central. 

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