Dragons Roar at 31st Annual Greenhill/Luke’s Locker 6 Mile Relay

Greenhill Luke’s Locker Six-Mile Relay
Travis Miller


Thanks to Jason Yaffe for writing the meet recap below!

Dragons Roar at 31st Annual Greenhill/Luke’s Locker 6 Mile Relay

NORBUCK PARK, DALLAS, TEXAS: With the help of cloudy skies and a competitive field, the 31st annual Greenhill / Luke’s Locker 6 Mile Relay was a successful opener to the 2015 cross country season for over 50 schools. This year’s event was marked by competing schools from three states with the Southlake Carroll Dragons emerging from the field to show their depth and talent.


When the gun fired to send off the 6A/5A boys race, forty three teams set off for an adventure over the challenging 1.5 mile Norbuck Park course, complete with three sets of signature hay bales. When the lead runner emerged from the woods, it ended up being Houston Strake Jesuit junior Jeff Price (their #3 man at the 2014 UIL state meet) setting a blistering pace. Strake was a state qualifying team in 2014 and their performance today indicated they will contend for a place on the starting line in Round Rock in November. Southlake Carroll was in the hunt behind Strake, as was Dallas Jesuit and defending champs Jenks (OK). When Strake was surpassed by Carroll, teams jockeyed for positions 2-4. As the top five teams set the pace, other notable teams such as Mesquite, Flower Mound, Norman (OK), Wylie and Northwest pushed to get into the top 10. When Carroll’s third leg (Shea Whatley) handed off to junior teammate Reed Brown, the Dragons surely knew they were in a great place. Brown, Southlake’s leading runner at last year’s state meet (7th overall), closed it out in style as his squad cruised to a fifty three second win. Their winning time of 29:28 is the fastest recorded time ever since the 6 Mile Relay moved to one course back in 2012. It was the fifth 6 Mile Relay title for the Southlake boys. That performance surely brought a smile to Coach Justin Leonard’s face as the Dragons prep for bigger races in November and December.

The girls 6A/5A race did not include the lead changes of the boys, but it was still very fast. Southlake’s Kaylie Jones opened up a lead on the first leg that the Dragons would hold for over half an hour. Giving chase, two other Southlake teams, a surging Forney quartet, and the ever-present Highland Park Scots held their positions in the top five. Senior Antigone Archer closed the race out for the Dragons in a finishing time of 35:48, some forty five seconds faster than their winning time in 2014! Southlake swept three of the top five spots in the girls race with Forney racing to an impressive third place as a 5A school against the 6A Southlake squads. For Southlake, their win marked their tenth title since 2000.

Not to be outdone, the Sanger boys team of Josh Rainey, Alfonso Fascio, Landon Ceballos, and Miguel Ibarra claimed their first ever boys title in the 4A and under race. The defending champions from the Kinkaid School were always in the mix and finished in third behind Sanger and St. Mark’s School. Sanger entered the 6 Mile Relay as a top 10 ranked team in a recent CCCAT poll and their performance over six miles proved they surely belong there. Coach Clint Davidson’s squad would have placed a respectable eighth place in the large school division with their 31:49 finishing time.


Alvarado repeated as the girls 4A and under varsity champions. Coach Darryl Bishop’s group of Distany Rodriguez, Abigail Garcia, Hope Drury, and Aimee Molina won in the same dominating fashion as they did last year, winning by close to a minute over Sanger. Sanger, another former championship team, claimed second ahead of Greenhill, Liberty Christian, and the Home School Athletic Association. Alvarado’s time of 38:40 would have placed them a strong seventh in the large school race.


Outside of the four different varsity level races, there were packed fields in the four junior varsity races. Lake Cities really stole the show in the JV B race by sweeping the girls and boys races by over a minute. Coach Brad Lutz’s young runners showed such grit and drive against their older high school competitors. Beyond the unique race format and challenging course, the range of competitors from state champions such as Southlake and Jenks to emerging Middle School students on the Lake Cities club is precisely what makes the Greenhill/Luke’s Locker 6 Mile Relay a success. With the help of meet sponsors Luke’s Locker and Saucony, the 31st annual relay was a good time for all.

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