The Woodlands were not the favorites at the beginning of last season to win the 6A state title. Most people thought if they were going to win it would be because they would be tightly packed somewhere in the top 40 at the state meet. As it turned out, they put two in the top 10 and were led by Ryan Cardinal who was running in his first state championship. In his junior season, he had only two races where he placed outside of the top five. It became evident that he was a legitimate contender to be near the top at state after he won the Region 2 championship over Haftu Knight and Anthony Monte. In his first time racing Old Settlers Park, Cardinal was not fazed by the big stage or elite competition. He ended up taking third overall in 14:50 and led The Woodlands to a fourth straight state title. He finished the cross country season with two solid races at the Nike and Foot Locker regional meets where he placed ninth and 30th. His track season brought big personal bests in both the 3200 and 1600; both of which came at his district meet. He ran 9:11 for 3200 and 4:15 for 1600. He posted three sub 9:15 performances in 2019. One of which came at the state track meet where he placed seventh. While Cardinal will certainly be focused on winning a fifth straight team state title and returning to Portland after a two year drought of NXN appearances for The Woodlands, he will likely be contending for the individual win in every race he runs in next season.