The Westlake Invitational took place on Friday, and it was a 3 mile course. Paige Hofstad and Devin Clark battled it out for the win. Hofstad finished 3 seconds ahead of Clark in a time of 16:42, setting the new season record for the 3 mile.
The other big meet this weekend was the Georgetown Invitational. The times this year were significantly faster than last year-Amelia McElhinney won comfortably with a time of 18:34, followed by Brittany Mitchell with a time of 18:54. The race had 19 girls under 20 minutes, whereas last year they only had 2.
Looking at the small school race, Liberty Hill had 7 girls in the top 15. I spoke with their varsity team after their race, and their season goal is to win the state meet. When asked if they’d rather race a 5k than 2 miles, the girls shook their heads and McKynzie King explained “since we have such a young team, we want to run two miles.”
Annie Dunlap won the small school race easily, with a time of 11:33 (and the course was slightly longer than 2 miles). Last week, Dunlap set the 2A state record at the McNeil meet, running a time of 11:14. I caught up with Dunlap after her race and asked her what she thought about running just a 5k instead of 2 miles. She answered “the 5k would be cool, because that’s how it will be in college, but we’ll take the two mile.”
There is still a heated debate on whether or not smaller divisions should race a 5k instead of 2 miles, and it seems as though the runners have different opinions on this issue.
Now a look at the top teams in the state, Southlake Caroll averages 30 seconds ahead of the Woodlands for 5A schools, and Round Rock and Seven Lakes are neck-in-neck for the third spot.
In 4A, Canyon Randall has some fast times, but only 5 runners on their varsity team. Highland Park is set in 2nd with 7 runners and Natalie Rathjen leading the way.
3A has Kaufman and College Station High tied for 1st, and 2A has Bushland in a strong lead. Let's not forget the 1A schools, as Gruver, Era and Lindsay are only separated by 14 seconds. However, every course is different and it is difficult to tell which teams will come out on top at the state meet.
That's it for today, thank you for watching Stride by Stride and tune in next week for more team interviews as the district meets kick off and a preview for regionals. For more recaps, visit www.stridebystriderecaps.blogspot.com