If the current situation holds to form, there will be a new UIL 4A state cross country individual champion this year. Last year's state champion Anna Casey is reported to have left the Llano cross country team.
Per the Llano News Facebook page, Casey along with three other members of the team and important pieces from last year's squad Etta Cuthbertson, Grace Fletcher, and Madison Zyetz have also decided not to finish the season.
Casey has been one of the top middle distance runners in all of Texas since she burst on to the scene as a freshman when she won state titles in both the 800m (2:12.90) and the 1600m (5:07.60) before winning the state cross country title last year after a 12th place freshman season.
Casey didn't have the expected end to her sophomore track season. She ran a 5:09.59 SB at the Texas Relays in the 1600m, but that would be the highlight of her season as she was hit with illness that hampered her during the championship season.
Zyetz, a junior was the number two returner on the Llano squad, and Cuthbertson was the number three returner on the squad heading into the 2019 swason. Fletcher has not only been a valuable member of the cross country team, but she has been a versatile member of the track team competing in the 200m, 400m, and the 800m as well as both the the long jump and triple jump events.
Lauren Lee (11th) was the top finisher for Llano last weekend at the TAMUCC Islander Splash in 13:09.86.