Canyon Randall had a big win at the Region 1 course in Lubbock over the weekend
This week's edition of We Will Winsday includes some big meet performers from last weekend. There were a lot of them around the state, but some may have been overlooked or just slid under the radar.
The first and probably most obvious is Emmanuel Sgouros of Houston St. John's. The senior cruised through the first mile of the Hoka One McNeil Invitational before surging to the front in a move that was unmatched by the rest of the field.
Sgouros who previously had a 15:13.50 SB lowered that with his 15:01 win and he made a statement in doing so by besting several UIL racers including the TX No. 1 and TX No. 3 ranked runners. Five other top 15 ranked runners who had previously ran faster than Sgouros were in that race race further cementing this as a solid win.
While this wasn't the first win for Fankenberg, this was the biggest of the season. She won her opening race of the season at the Cedar Park Inv. with a 17:31 and then followed that up at Woodbridge with a fast 3 mile run of 15:59.50 for a fourth place finish.
Saturday, at the Hoka One McNeil Inv., she dropped another gem of a race by going 17:07.60, resulting in a win on the state meet course. That is the fastest time in Texas so far this season.
While some teams were getting a look at the state meet course, the Americas boys were checking out the region course. Putting the horse before the cart, they went to Lubbock to run.
They were able to squeak out with a win against Mckinney Boyd, a team they haven't seen all season. Their 58-59 victor came from being led by seniors Jared Laverty and Carmelo Corral who finished third and fourth overall.
Fellow seniors Aaron Saenz and Jesse Morales helped carry the burden by finishing 10th and 11th with less than 0.40 between them as they were ahead of Boyd's third and fourth runners, which ended up being key to the win.
The Canyon boys also got a view at what most of their regional competition will look like and how they stack up. Things looked pretty good.
With teams like Argyle, Andrews, Dumas, and Perryton, Canyon was still able to get the win running a 17:02 team average and a 1:03 split from 1-5. With a big race from the top three runners, Alexander Niemiec, Anthony Stuart, and Triston Cano combined for top-10 finishes with only 26 seconds between them.
The girls were led by junior Abree Winfrey who paced the race with her time of 11:50.80. The boys placed three runners in the top-10 in their win and the girls were able to place their entire scoring five in the 10 including freshmen Avery Brown and Kate Shepherd. By scoring only 27 points, they won by a 85 point margin.
What Canyon was to the 4A race, Randall was in the 5A race.
Cameron McConnell ran an impressive 18:00 on the tough Lubbock course and was a minute and a half ahead of the rest of the field. The rest of the Lady Raiders were handling business as well. Hailey Roberson and Sadie Sanchez added top-10 finishes and the rest of the squad ran well enough only total 38 points just ahead of Amarillo.
The Celina girls won the Hoka One McNeil Inv. Varsity 4A girls race, but it wasn't withought some stiff competition. The challenge was real as several teams looked to upset the 4A powerhouse team, but it just wasn't to be.
Sanger placed two girls in the first 10 spots and added the 11th place finisher as well. But, Celina had four in the top-10 with Adele Clarke and Alexis Frick going third and fifth.
A 12:35.14 team average and a 1:16 split sealed the victory. That's exactly how Celina hopes their next race at Old Settlers Park ends . . . in victory.