Rank: #4
Name: Alex Maier
School: Flower Mound
Graduation Year: 2019
Maier had sort of a roller coaster season. He entered his junior year as one of the top returners in the nation as he placed fifth in the 2016 NXN and Foot Locker national meets and an outstanding 2017 track season.
The 2017 cross season started out with a 15:01 win at the Marcus I Invitational, right on point with expectations. Maier would continue to win in every meet he ran including an impressive 14:19.48 UIL 6A - Region 1 for the win. Sometime that week is when things changed for the Flower Mound stud. Maier would get sick with an untimely upper respiratory infection.
Related: The Biggest Story Of The Weekend - What Happened To Alex Maier And What's Next?
That drastically affected his breathing, stamina, and caused fatigue. Maier attempted to run in the state meet more for team aspirations of team championships than individual gains, but was unable to finish the race due to the sickness.
Maier returned a few weeks later for NXR South as he finished second, helping to lead his Flower Mound team to NXN.
Track season was good for Maier as he would go 8:33.74 in his first indoor race ever at the New Balance Nationals Indoor 3,000m finishing in seventh place. His SBs were 2:02.06, 4:16.52, and 9:11.53, which are all impressive but pretty conservative for Maier.
The 2018 cross season will be the last high school season for Maier. With rest, recovery, and an off season of training with a state champion teammate, what will Maier produce this year? We learned that Alex Maier is not a robot, but even though he is human after all even when not at his best, the dude is still 1st team All-State!