All Photos by Dan Loughlin
The Great American Cross Country Festival is one of the biggest invitationals on the East Coast. This year, Texas #1 and U.S. #3 Carter Cheeseman of Forth Worth Christian took to Cary, North Carolina to challenge the awesome field that was assembled.
The Kingwood girls and boys squads also made the trip for the 5K competitions.
The individuals and teams entered in the race were some of the best in the nation. Competitors came from all over the nation. Not only did it have the local flavor of the Carolinas and the Texas competitors, but states like Virginia, and all of the way up to New York were a part of the exciting atmosphere.
In the boys race, Cheeseman demonstrated his fearlessness and preference of front running as he led parts of this fast race. In the end, there were three guys who ran in the 14s of this deeply talented 5K race. Cheeseman was able to finish in the top ten with his seventh place finish and 15:12 time. The race was won in 14:57 by Dalton Hengst of McDonough.
For Kingwood, sophomore Nick Majerus finished ten spots behind Cheeseman in 17th with a PR 15:38. Majerus was able to lead his team to a eighth place finish. With some of the top teams in the east in that race, including U.S. #1 Loudoun Valley from Virginia, Kingwood has to be impressed with an 8 out of 23 team finish.
Kingwood's #2 runner Carter Storm was also able to crack the 16 minute barrier.
The Kingwood girls also faced some of the east's top talent. Their 5K race saw Sophomore Kelsey Chmiel of Saratoga Springs out of New York blaze the Cary, NC course in a #2 All-Time 16:50. The Kingwood girls were able to finish 13th out of 23 teams with a 19:46 team average.
Cheeseman will return to Fort Worth to get ready for his run at a TAPPS state title and Kingwood will get ready for their road back to state beginning with their district meet next week.
Great American Cross Country Festival