Region 4-5A
The girls individual race will be a battle of the youngsters. Last year's 4-5A champion has moved up to 6A. That leaves the field full of underclassmen to battle for regional supremecy.
That battle could come down to sophomore Macy Livingston, freshman Sophia Munoz, junior Mia Rowe, and another handful of freshmen. With a group of girls all within a 10-20 seconds we could see a true pack of runners battling for an individual win.
Team wise, the girls 4-5A race will be an all out fight. With so many quality teams in the region the four qualifying spots are more than a premium desire.
Boerne Champion has been one of the hottest 5A teams all year long. The Dripping Springs and Edcouch Elsa programs have been two of the most consistent teams in the region over the last several years. That makes three quality teams that all have a shot at qualifying for state every year. Then, you must consider Sharyland and Sharyland Pioneer. Both of these teams just are just as talented as any of the other teams. However, they both pose significant threats because of their style of running. Both teams pack run extremely well and their splits are some of the best in the entire state of Texas.
Region 4 is not a stranger to turning out some of the best boys distance runners in Texas. We are just used to seeing it come from 6A out of this region. However, the 5A class boasts some of the best 5A boys in the state. In what will possibly be the best team and individual race at the state meet, the 5A boys from this region will get a crash course of how difficult the state meet will be. One of the best runners in the nation in Cruz Gomez moves down to 5A only makes the race even more interesting. Add Bobby Holt and Dripping Springs teammate Caleb Lopez who are two sub 16:00 studs and an ubber talented Austin LBJ quartet of Cameron Kleiman, Yaseen Abdalla, and Charles Albach, and Philip Metcalf who are all also sub 16:00 then the race will have a chase pack that will not only have individual implications, but a team effect as well.
Just like the girls team race, the boys will be just as much of a fight as the girls. As mentioned, both Dripping Springs and Austin LBJ will look to claim one of the four spots, but then there is a dangerous Foster Wilfong led Boerne Champion group, Edcouch Elsa, Rio Grande City, Lockhart, and PSJA Memorial as a sleeper team. Only for spots, so something will have to give.