Marcus and The Woodlands Invitationals take center stage.

What a week for Cross Country in Texas. The highlights of the week were the Marcus I Invitational (Northlake\'s Park) and The Woodlands Invitational (Montgomery College). Jake Morse made his intentions that he was going to be a contender for the 5A title this year known. He cruised to a 14:34 victory. That time bettered his 2002 effort by 21 seconds. The Keller Indians defended their title they earned last year. On the Girls side, Southlake Carroll (#3) made a big statement by running away with the team title. They placed 3 girls in the top 4.

The Woodlands Invitational featured the Nations #1 team. The Woodlands Boys dominated a host of CCCAT ranked teams. 5A was represented by Kingwood (#2), Klein (#4), Cedar Park (#8) and Klein Oak (#10). Also in the meet was the 4A top ranked team Friendswood. As anticipated, The Woodlands dominated the team competition with 32 points. In a bit of a surprise, Cedar Park upended the #2 and #4 teams in the state to take second place with 76 points. Not to be outdone by the 5A schools, 4A #1 Friendswood did very well placing behind Kingwood to take fourth place ahead of Klein and Klein Oak.

The individual race had a bit of a surprise. Dane Hurtubise (The Woodlands) ran away with a two second victory over Erik Stanley (Klein). Stanley supposedly had a mishap at the finish chute that allowed Hurtubise to take the victory. Noticeably absent from the field was super senior Brian Sullivan (The Woodlands). Even in his absence the team put 5 runners in the top 10.

The Girls had a great team battle as the best in 5A competed. Kingwood (#1), Cedar Park (#2), Klein (#9), and The Woodlands (#10) went head to head. Cedar Park girls took the team victory (43 points) with impressive running by Cassie Hostick and Hallie Bullin. The duo ran 11:38 and 11:40 respectively to take first and second. Kingwood followed closely with 55 points.