TAPPS State Meet Recap

William Grundy

TAPPS 6A Recap

6A Girls

The TAPPS 6A girls individual race was destined to be an exciting race. 

With the defending champion Alyssa Menendez (San Antonio Antonian) improving her into fitness in the latter parts of the season, Leah Klenke (Houston St. Agnes), and Amanda Hogan (Dallas Ursuline Academy)who has been running extremely well. This was to be one of the highlight races of the day.

6A GIRLS TWO MILE RUN FINALS	
PLACE	ATHLETE		TEAM	RESULT	POINTS
1	Leah Klenke	12	Houston St Agnes	11:29.90	1
2	Micaela Villarreal	9	San Antonio Antonian	11:37.00	2
3	Amanda Hogan	12	Dallas Ursuline Academy	11:55.50	3
4	Mariana Chapa	10	The Village Houston	12:09.30	4
5	McCarly Holloman	12	Midland Christian	12:21.60	5
Klenke had an outstanding race by going 11:29 to capture her first individual cross country state title.

While Menendez didn't win, another Antonian runner Micaela Villarreal had a good day by going for a 11:37 PR, that led to a runner-up finish.

Hogan, who has had a great 2021 season finished third with a time of 11:55.
TEAM SCORES
PLACE	TEAM	POINTS	SCORERS	TIMES
1	San Antonio Antonian	38	2+6+7+8+15 (18+24)	1:23 1-5 Split | 12:27 Avg
2	Houston St Agnes	48	1+10+11+12+14 (21+26)	1:30 1-5 Split | 12:36 Avg
3	Dallas Ursuline Academy	84	3+16+17+23+25 (28+37)	1:20 1-5 Split | 12:54 Avg
The team race was also an exciting part of the 6A girls race. Defending state champs Antonian had hopes of repeating.

They did just that. 

After Villarreal finished second, Antonian ended the race early when their 2-4 runners all crossed the line consecutively in sixth through eighth place and within nine seconds of one another. With only 38 points, the Antonian race was almost masterful.

Menendez who won the meet a year earlier was the all important fifth and final scorer for Antonian this year to seal the repeat.

Finishing second was St. Agnes who also had an impressive team race. After Klenke's win, they also had their 2-4 runners cross consecutively in 10th -12th place.

St. Agnes only scored 48 points, just 10 behind Antonian.

Dallas Ursuline Academy took the third place trophy with 84 points.


6A Boys

Ben Tijerina (San Antonio Antonian) was fifth in last year's race, but he was one of the favorites heading into yesterday's race.

Tijerina followed through with an impressive 16:14 win on a tough course for the win.

Kyle Whaley (San Antonio Christian) went 16:38, Nathan Morales (San Antonio Central Catholic) finished 16:48, and Robert Trevino (San Antonio Central Catholic) finished fourth in 16:57 as the only sub 17-minute runners.

6A BOYS 5000 METER RUN FINALS	
PLACE	ATHLETE		TEAM	RESULT	POINTS
1	Ben Tijerina	12	San Antonio Antonian	16:14.40	1
2	Kyle Whaley	11	San Antonio Christian	16:38.80	2
3	Nathan Morales	11	San Antonio Central Catholic	16:48.50	3
4	Robert Trevino	12	San Antonio Central Catholic	16:57.90	4
5	Alexander Pena	12	San Antonio Antonian	17:01.30	5

Central Catholic put together a tight race as they won the state title.

After Morales and Trevino's third and fourth place finishes, they added top 10 finishes by Noah Fernandez and Andrew Rivas finishing sixth and seventh. Isaias Martinez added his 15th place finish to seal the victory.

Their 35 point win and 39 second split was masterful.

TEAM SCORES
PLACE	TEAM	POINTS	SCORERS	TIMES
1	San Antonio Central Catholic	35	3+4+6+7+15 (25+27)	0:39 1-5 Split | 17:03 Avg
2	San Antonio Antonian	50	1+5+11+16+17 (33+43)	1:19 1-5 Split | 17:08 Avg
3	El Paso Cathedral	69	8+9+12+14+26 (28+40)	0:57 1-5 Split | 17:26 Avg

Last year's champion Antonian gave a great effort to repeat.  They had two top 10 finishers and then placed their 3-5 runners all in the top 20. This led to a score of 50 points and the runner-up trophy.

El Paso Cathedral was third overall as they also put in an impressive race with 69 total points.