Southlake Invitational
Southlake Invitational, 8/25/2007
The Southlake Invitational was held earlier than last year. The 5K
course was the same, with tough footing and tight turns over the
first 2 miles followed by more forgiving terrain over the last
mile; however, the August heat (mid 80's to low 90's) and humidity
(70-80%) led to slower times. On the girls side, Kristie Krueger,
Argyle, (3A 1600/ 3200 double gold medalist at May's State track
meet) was the individual winner. Krueger ran away from the field to
post an impressive time of 18:23. Jenny Swan, Plano West, finished
second in 20:23 leading the Wolves to the team title (41 points).
Her teammates followed with a tight 30 second spread between their
2nd and 7th runners as Alexa Ramsier, Katie Bassett, Nicole Eckles
and Ellen Stow rounded out the team's scoring. Mansfield was the
runner-up (53) led by Brette Fleming-Wood, 5th in 20:42. For the
second year in a row, the Southlake girls failed to win their
invitational, finishing third (73) as Tara Upshaw and Taylor
Stephens (#1 and #2 runners from last year's State Meet) were held
out. The Dragon's were led by Sophomore Jessica Harper, 4th overall
in 20:31. The Girls top 5 was rounded out by Andrea Torske,
Garland, 3rd in 20:24.
On the boys side, Colby Lowe (5A 1600/ 3200
double gold medalist at May's State track meet) continued his
unbeaten steak from last year finishing in 15:40 while leading from
start to finish. The other half of the Dragon's 1-2 punch, CJ
Brown, finished second in 16:10. Sophomore Neal Smith and Juniors
Ahmed Toure and Evan Garner rounded out the team's scoring as the
Dragons took the title with 36 points. Plano West was the runner-up
(52), led by Connor Doyle, 6th in 16:59, while cross-town rival
Plano finished third (56), led by Alex Wallace, 5th in 16:57. The
top five was rounded out by Andrew Herrera, Southwest, 3rd in
16:42, and James Hodges, Paradise, 4th in 16:44.
Mike Brown