The Region III Preview is a meet that showcases the course and much of the competition from Region III teams. It also attracts other teams looking to get a 5K race on a challenging course of Kate Barr Park hosted by Sam Houston State University and some good competition.
Elite Girls
In the Girl's Elite race, Atascocita junior Avery Clover proved what we saw a few weeks ago, that she would be one of the top individual runners in the Houston area. Clover took the elite race win in a comfortable 18:29 win, 35 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
Behind clover was Kinkaid sophomore Kevrianna Scott who proved last year as a freshman that she was a stud. The versatile runner ran a 5K PR in this meet with a 18:54, which was about six seconds faster than her 2018 season best.
The team race was the interesting one. With Cypress Bridgeland not running many of their top runners, this race still had several top rated teams that the race came down to a matter of a few points.
Seven Lakes (SL) had a good rebound race from last week's performance at the Seven Lakes Showcase. Senior Molly Humes led the way for the Spartans with a fifth place finish in 19:24.50.
The difference in this race between the two teams was where CP was strong in the front, SL made up for things in their back pack runners. SL's 5 - 7 runners finished strong and packed tight. The all came in 21, 22, and 24th place all ahead of the CP fifth runner. Only seven seconds passed from the time number five crossed until the seventh runner cross the finish line.
Katy Tompkins and Stratford were also close in the race. Tompkins finished in third place with 78 points and Stratford was fourth with 95 points.
Elite Boys
Ryan Schoppe opened up his 2019 season with a 15:06.50. He looked like a well oiled machine on his way to the win and a 37 second wining margin.
Also opening up their season were The Woodlands boys. As expected, they were led by senior All-State runners Ethan Hammer (2nd - 15:43) and Ryan Cardinal (3rd - 15:52). They ran a 16:08 team average and a 44 second split.
Seven Lakes followed up last week's performance with a second place team finish and a 16:31 team average and another sub 60 second split. The Cedar Park boys managed a third place team finish among the 6A teams. They scored 116 points with a 16:48 team average.
5A - 6A Girls and Boys
The 5A - 6A girls race was won by Magnolia West senior Peyton McQuillan. She won by 12 seconds over second place finisher Madison Habeck from Freeport Brazoswood. McQuillan and Habeck were the only two girls in the race to go sub 20:00. Brazoswood won the race with 88 points just ahead of Clear Creek who scored 105 points.
The boys race saw more Brazosport with senior Leo Perez winning the race with a 16:35.30 performance. The Woodlands' put their entire five scoring runners in the top 10 led by senior Nicholas Berta and sophomore Kyle Easton.
The Woodlands scored 28 points with a 17:10 team average and a 45 second split. Brazosport tried to keep pace with the Highlanders, by placing three in the top 10 when Sam Whitmarsh and Riley Kuhlman joining Perez to lead the team to 81 points and a 17:34 team average.
1A - 4A Girls and Boys
The Huffman Hargrave girls dominated the Girls 1A - 4A race. Riding a 1, 2, 3 performance, the Falcons only tallied a score of 26 points. They were led by a freshman duo of Cassidy Davis (1st), Jetzibe Trevino (2nd), Emmy Nolte (3rd), and sophomore Madison Shojaei (9th).
East Bernard and Houston Awty tied for second with a score of 79 points. East Bernard took the second place finish by the fifth runner tie breaker (37>47).
The Awty girls lost the second place spot on a tie breaker, but the the Awty boys refused lose. Led by junior Alexander Gadin's individual win, the boys team would go on to take the win as well. Gadin to the win in 16:50.90 and his teammates backed him up going for a 18:33 average and 70 points.