Meet Preview: The Greenhill Luke's Locker Six-Mile Relay

DALLAS -- When the first 6 Mile Relay event went off in 1985, a solid collection of schools had no idea they were making history in kicking off a North Texas cross country tradition. Plano Senior's boys won the large school division that day, while Garland won the girls race. Ever since, teams from across Texas and neighboring states have converged on Norbuck Park to open up their cross country seasons over hills and hay bales with a garden glove in their hand as a baton. The 33 rd annual Greenhill / Luke's Locker 6 Mile Relay scheduled for August 26, 2017 promises to carry on that tradition.

Over the course of the meet's history, Mesquite Poteet (7) and Southlake (6) have amassed the most boys championships and Southlake (13) and Highland Park (9) have most frequently led the girls competition. The 2011 Southlake boys team, anchored by Joe Sansone, became the first quartet to break the 30 minute barrier when they won in 29:52. A handful of teams have raced faster than that, with a Reed Brown anchored Southlake team setting the course record of 29:28 in 2015 only to have it broken by their fellow Dragons the following year (29:03). A revamped 1.5 mile course helped contribute to fast times in 2016. The Southlake girls have simply dominated the field in recent years, winning 6 of the past 9 relays. Gillian Mortimer anchored her Dragons to a new course record of 34:36 last year. Sanger and St. Mark's have been up front in the small school boys race in recent years and the Alvarado girls have consistently been in the top 3. The defending champions will wear their standard Tour de France type yellow jerseys on race day and those teams are: Southlake (boys and girls 6A/5A), Sanger (boys 4A and under), and Greenhill (girls 4A and under).

There will be many questions to answer on race day. Can anyone break the Southlake girls streak? Defending UIL 6A state champions Keller, led by Abby Santoro, should be right in the mix. Keller enters the 2017 xc season as the top ranked returning NXN girls team in the South. Also look out for 5A powerhouse Prosper because they are returning six of their top seven runners from their 2016 UIL runner up team. Flower Mound and Highland Park should be up near the front, too. There will surely be some surprise teams, perhaps from north of the Red River. Another question to be answered involves how far Alex Meier, the individual UIL 6A runner up and top five finisher at both the NXN and Foot Locker meets in 2016, can carry his Flower Mound teammates in their relay. Dallas Conrad will be looking for a good first race and a return to the state meet after finishing 7 th in the 5A division last fall. The 4A and under division at the relay should be packed with lots of contenders. The boys include Sanger (4 th at the UIL 4A state meet), Kaufman (5 th in the UIL 4A race), Melissa (7 th in the UIL 4A race), and St. Mark's School of Texas (SPC runner up). The girls side includes Greenhill (SPC runner up), Kaufman (2 nd in the UIL 4A race), Alvarado (3rd in the UIL 4A race), Decatur (6 th in the UIL 4A race), and Hamilton (2 nd in the UIL 2A race). The new champions will be crowned around 10:30 am on race day.