For El Paso Eastwood, it looks this might be their year. Flower Mound is very scary. Klein came out of nowhere and they are surprisingly very good. College Park runs as pack and is experienced.
This might be the year for all of these teams. Eastwood looks like they are for real. They have the number one team if you look at the numbers. Flower Mound has one of the best one two punches in the nation. They could go 1-2 at the state meet. Klein's line up can match up with anyone in the state. College Park is also as talented as anyone and these boys are for real.
Does any of it really matter?
-Photo by Jessie McCabe
History Favors The Wooodlands or Southlake Carroll
TWHS are the back to back UIL 6A champions and they are going for their third straight title. In those two years, SLC was the runner-up. Before the current TWHS streak started SLC had won four straight titles from 2011 - 2014 and TWHS was second in three of those years. Before that, it was a couple of years of TWHS taking home the title. Are you starting to get the picture?
Only one other school has won a top two trophy in the last eleven years. This is more than a decade long thing and it stretches way past that.
Since 1972, UIL cross country only had two classes, A &B. In 1980, the UIL went from class A and B to 3A, 4A, and 5A. That year, they also transitioned from running two miles for the boys to the 5K distance. In 1985, the UIL added class 2A and throughout time 1A would be added and eventually 6A was added effective in 2014.
Dating back to 1980, there have only been five teams besides TWHS or SLC to win the state championship in Texas' largest classification.
In 1980, Pasadena Dobie won the 5A championship over the individual state champion Kyle Wright, Conroe McCullough (now renamed TWHS) and his McCullough team. From 1976 - 1996, Conroe McCullough was a middle school as well as a high school housing students from 7th-12th grades. The legendary Dan Green was the coach of McCullough and eventually transitioned over into TWHS with the high school students where he coached until his retirement. Eventually his son and current TWHS coach Juris Green (2017 USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year) would take over the program.
Conroe McCullough would win the next two state titles and actually would take every one up to 1990 except for 1983 when El Paso would win take the state title that year and in 1988 when Humble Kingwood would win their first title.
In 1991 and 1992, Houston MacArthur, who had been a strong teams for several years won consecutive state titles over runner up Kingwood.
Kingwood then went on to win their second state title and they wouldn't finish until they won six consecutive state tiles from 1993 - 1998, which was at the time a UIL record until recently broken by the current Luling streak in the 2A/3A classes.
In 1999, TWHS would break up the Kingwood streak for one year with Kingwood going on to win two more state titles in 2000 and 2001. After 2001, TWHS would then win state in the 02, 03, and 04 seasons.
In 2005, Corpus Christi King and Flower Mound tied for the state title with 71 points. Corpus Christi King would be awarded the win through the 6th man tie advantage. SLC would finish third place in that race.
That was the last time to this date that anyone not named TWHS or SLC would win a boys cross country state title in UIL's largest classification.
Since 2005, it has been all TWHS and SLC to winning 97% of the two state trophies given per year. Back in 2011, SLC won the title, TWHS finished 6th, that was the only year they didn't go first and second.
-Photo by Juan Herrera
This Year
Of course, everything depends on what happens tomorrow, but there are serious challengers for the 6A crown. Perhaps, there hasn't been this much parody and uncertainty in several years.
TWHS is still in the mix for another title. They got off to an unconventional start with the effects from Hurricane Harvey, but they have picked up steam and are in stride at just the right time of the season. They are the #2 team in the recent Flo50 rankings and they have six guys who have run under 16:00 this season, not to mention their seventh guy is right at 16:00. Their team 1-5 split is a mere 22.40 seconds when they're are all at their best.
SLC is the #1 ranked team in the state. They have four guys running under 16:00 on the season and the number five guy is at 16:01. Their split when they are at their best is a ridiculous 13 seconds, which will make them incredibly hard to beat. This group is battle tested as they ran at the Woodbridge classic out in California earlier in the year.
History isn't on the side of anyone other than TWHS and SLC, but there are several teams who are in position to come away with a win.
Can anyone join Pasadena Dobie, El Paso, Kingwood, Houston MacArthur, and Corpus Christi King as the only other teams aside from TWHS and SLC to win UIL's largest cross country state championship? Is there a team that can do what no other team has done in eleven years?