Region 1 Preview

Region 1 has a trio of returning juniors who swept the podium at the state meet last year. The two time defending state champion from Springlake Earth, Taytum Goodman is once again the favorite to win both the regional and state titles this season. Scout Braly from Crosbyton was the 2021 Runner up and Jayton's Daylee Chisum was the 3rd place finisher; Hayley Connell, sophomore from Sands also from Region 1 placed 7th at the state meet.

This makes four of the top-10 returners from the state meet coming back from Region 1 and it's a reasonable expectation for all four to have another outstanding year individually.

The team race is also set up to be a good battle as well. Since 2014, a Region 1 team has been crowned the team state champion five times. This year the 2021 state runner-up team from Spur is looking to join them. The Spureets return seniors Bucki Smith, Paige Gonzalez, Alyssa Fulmer, along with junior Allee Hamilton.

Borden County who finished third in the state returns five runners. They are led by junior Kambell Schmidt and also include sophomore Haven Hill, junior Kenzie White, sophomore Tyler Cole, and sophomore Kenlei Estes.

Jayton was able to finish 8th at the state meet and they are looking to improve their finish with five runners returning. Led by state runner up junior, Chisum who will compete for the individual state title, the Jaybirds will be vying for the regional title by lining up fellow juniors Kamryn Nail and Cadence Kitner along with sophomores Hannah Blankenship and Kelsi Harrison trying to take down the Spurettes.

Region 1 has been dominant in both the individual and team aspects at the state meet and that looks to be the case this season. The teams from Sands, Springlake Earth and Nazareth will look to show their growth and that they belong with the top squads from region 1.