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Texas MileSplit is counting down the 12 days until the first full weekend of cross country meets. Each day we will highlight one boys team and one girls team, with the idea that they are "programs to watch" for the upcoming season. This series is not intended to be a true ranking of the top 12 teams in the state overall, but instead an opportunity to highlight schools that have had strong recent success or have lots of talent returning for this fall.</p>
Can a team that didn't make the 5A state meet last fall be a contender in 6A? With a budding star and a tight pack, yes.
We're getting into some of the real heavy hitters in Texas cross country, programs that get mentioned not just in the state but across the region and the nation. Marcus fits the bill, as a school with powerful teams in both genders that can aspire to make a run at NXN South (if that's the direction the team and coaches want to go). The Marauders did not get the result they wanted from the Region I meet last fall, as they did not advance to the state meet, but they have their top 4 runners back from that race. Those top 4 are only separated by 21 seconds, too, giving this team the potential to be a quintessential pack-running power. Logan Hendrix might be faster than that, after running 9:29 and 4:16 in the spring; Brady Steele, who is the returning #5 from 2013, may make it a 5-man pack up front for the Marauders after an outdoor season in which he posted a 9:45 for 3200. Nobody can predict if it will all come together for any team, but if it does for this team then they might be a dark horse contender in 6A. Imagine 5 guys well under 16 minutes this fall, with a 1-5 split under 40 seconds, and you can see why TX MileSplit is bullish on Marcus.
