Flower Mound's Jacob Price PRed at the 2019 Marcus I Inv.
When you think of the good teams, you think of their top runners and when you see them race, you look for their top guys to be near the front.
That is the case and has been the case for Flower Mound (FM) over the past several years. They've had Alex Maier and Jarrett Kirk leading the way and making their presence felt in just about every race.
Flower Mound has been driving that force home even more so far this year by adding more names and faces to the front of their pack. It is something we should get accustomed to as Thomas Romanow, Jacob Ricks, and Jonathan Flint have only run two meets, but they are putting the state on notice that they are coming out hitting hard.
However, the position runner that can put the most pressure on other teams in races is the fifth runner. That is exactly what the Marcus I Invitational Elite boys race showed us about Flower Mound's number five.
That pressure is coming from a guy many may not be familiar with -- Jake Price.
Like all of FM's top seven runners except one, Price is in his senior season. However, he just hasn't been as familiar of a piece as some of the other Jags. Price entered this season with a 2018 5K SB of 17:43 and he just participated in his first track season last year as a junior. That first track season produced PRs of 4:44.85 in the 1600m and 10:07.32 in the 3200m.
Well, Price has run cross country all four years at FM. Cross country is all about putting in the effort to get better and being as good as you want to be. That is exactly what he has done, "He (Price) has been consistent in his training and made a good jump in his fitness over the summer," Flower Mound Head Coach Andrew Cook said.
His 13:24.40 4K performance at FNL was a PR and then over this past weekend he busted his second PR in as many races when he ran a 16:17:06 5K. That is over a one minute Improvement for Price taking down his old criteria of 17:29.
That bodes well for his senior season. In the past three years, his times at Marcus I were far away from this year's as they have been 20:07, 17:29, and 17:53 last year.
So, what does that mean for FM? He is a game changer and they can possibly go as far as Price goes.
The kid who wasn't even on varsity last year is currently the top 5th man in the state, raising the bar for every team.
His impact goes even beyond the 5th runner position. His 16:17 not only makes him the top number 5 in Texas, but so far, that makes him faster than every fourth man in the state except Southlake Carroll's number four and faster than every team's number three runner except for four teams.
Here we are talking about setting the standard and we've just finished the last weekend in August. There is a lot of season left to run in 2019, but right now give Coach Cook, FM, and Price their props.
Welcome to Texas' 2019 high school cross country season and know that Jake Price is ready to play.