DFW Boys To Keep An Eye On In 2022

William Carlson - Lovejoy

Carlson's debut cross country season placed him in the top tier of freshmen in Texas last year. Along with earning a spot in Lovejoy's top seven, Carlson was consistently a scoring member of the team. He was fifth at the 5A District 10 Championship, then 19th in Region 2 as Lovejoy claimed both titles. As good of form as Carlson was in, the greatest test of a talented freshman's quality is how they handle the pressure and inevitable chaos of a state championship race. Fortunately for Lovejoy, their fantastic freshman came through on the big stage, finishing 38th overall as the top freshman in the race and the third man on their bronze medal winning team. 

If his performances in the fall weren't enough to grab the attention of his competitors, his outdoor track campaign did the job thoroughly. He tested the waters in every distance from 400 to 3200 meters and found his specialty in the middle. In the early months, he displayed solid speed by running a 55 second 400 and a 2:03 800. In April, he summoned the strength built in the fall to run a 3200 meter personal best of 9:43 before finishing third in the event at his district meet. He ran six 1600 meter races last spring and broke 4:30 four times. The best performance of his freshman year was the 1600 at the district meet. In a personal best time of 4:20, he put away a strong chasing pack of experienced upperclassmen and became the state's fastest freshman miler. 

With three years of high school left, Carlson already has an admirable collection of team and individual medals. He did nothing but improve all year and the experience gained from racing well at district, regional and state championships will prove invaluable as Carlson rises through the ranks of Texas distance running and leads the way for the Lovejoy boys.  

photo credit: @dragon_track twitter

Brady Golomb - Southlake Carroll

After only racing once in the fall, Golomb made the most of his sophomore track season and set himself up to contribute to the Dragons' pursuit of a fourth consecutive state title. It was clear from his first race last spring that he had gone to a new level. He dropped his 3200 personal best by 64 seconds to win the varsity 3200 at the Coppell Relays. However, his time of 9:32 does not fully illustrate the quality of this performance. He defeated his teammate David Fisher and Andrew Mullen of Coppell, who were 18th and 7th place respectively at the 6A state meet. He followed up his statement victory in Coppell with another personal best at the Texas Distance Festival. His time of 15:41 was his first time under 16:00 for 5000 meters and further demonstrated the significant improvement he made in the winter. Yet another personal best came three weeks later at the Jesuit Sheaner Relays. This time around, he was fourth in the 6A Boys 1600 with a time of 4:26. Another 4:26 1600 at the Dragon Relays served as a tune up for the climax of Golomb's season at the 6A District 4 Championship. He kicked things off by claiming his first district title in the Varsity 3200 over a group of veteran upperclassmen. After finishing third in the JV 1600 one year prior, Golomb concluded his sophomore year with a silver medal and personal best of 4:25 in the 1600. 

As impressive as his 2022 track season was on its own, the program he runs for boosts the expectations and excitement around the potential of Golomb's junior season. 

Adam Burlison - Grapevine

There are many components to Burlison's sophomore year that make this fall an extremely compelling prospect. There are plenty of dual sport athletes in cross country. However, few of them compete on turf under stadium lights and on the wet grass as the sun rises on Saturday mornings. Though he wasn't quite at the elite end of 5A cross country last fall, he improved as the season went on and set himself up for the track season where he really began to shine. He was third at the 5A District 4 Championship and 23rd at the 5A Region 1 Championship. 

For most of the track season, his focus was on training for the 400 and 800 as he was a part of the Lubbock High 4x400 team. While he does own a respectable personal best of 1:58 for 800 meters, the middle distance training combined with his cross country strength to lower his 1600 personal best by roughly 10 seconds to 4:19 at the Texas Distance Festival. 

The final layer to this story is that Burlison has left Lubbock High and joined the NXR South and 5A State Champions, Grapevine. In addition to transferring schools, Burlison has hung up his helmet and pads and will be a full time cross country runner for the Mustangs. After just one full summer's worth of training with Grapevine, Burlison won the North Texas 3200 in 9:18. This hot start to the fall confirms that there was a wealth of untapped talent in Burlison, whose potential is among the highest in the state. 

Owen Cole - Flower Mound

When it comes to producing breakout stars, there is no program that does it better than Flower Mound. Ever since the famous sophomore years of Alex Maier and Jarrett Kirk in 2016 and 2017, Flower Mound's talented underclassmen are viewed with an extra degree of anticipation as to what they could become. Owen Cole displayed plenty of talent as an Underclassman. 

The first race of his sophomore year was a 9:27 3200 at the Southlake Carroll 2 mile in August. Roughly a month later, he was 51st at the Woodbridge Classic in 14:56 for three miles. While the last race of his season was a rough race at the regional meet, he rediscovered his form in the spring. Securing personal bests of 4:26 and 9:20, he demonstrated that fitness will not be an obstacle going forward. 

While it was his sophomore year, the trend established by past Jaguar stars was a sharp improvement in their second year in the program. Without heaping a world of expectation on the rising junior, Cole is certainly on the DFW watchlist of young talents who could soon flourish into prolific upperclassmen. 

Caden Biltz - Wylie 

Biltz's progression has been very normal thus far. After showing promise as a freshman with a third place finish at the district cross country meet, he has continued to drop his times on the track and be one of Wylie's top runners on the grass. While no single race can be pinpointed as a breakthrough, he was very consistent throughout the cross country season and held his own in some of the state's biggest races. The end of his fall campaign demonstrated resilience built by quality experience in those deep fields. After coming 54th at the 6A Region 1 Championship, he was 48th at the state meet and 53rd at the NXR South Championship. 

His new personal bests of 2:02, 9:39 and 4:29 were all significant improvements from 2020. While his resume does not have a headline grabbing time or startlingly high finish, the combination of his range, experience and ability creates the potential for a quiet rise to prominence this fall. 

Aleksandr Acuna - Denton Braswell

In the fall of 2021, Acuna was Braswell's leading man and the top freshman in 6A District 5. As fast as his times and high as his finishes were, the standout characteristic of Braswell's freshman year was how he progressed through each season with his last races always being his best. He was eighth at the district meet and the top freshman at the 6A Region 1 Championship where he was 34th. 

For most of the track season, Acuna was finishing anywhere from 7th to 9th in his races with his times hovering around 10:00 and the low 4:50's. However, there was a point in late March where he began competing at the front end of races and even picked up a 3200 win at the Byron Nelson Relays. Once the championship season arrived, he raced like he was no longer a freshman. At the district meet, he came out on the right side of a sprint finish with two juniors to claim bronze in the 3200, then proceeded to drop his personal best in the 1600 by eight seconds to finish eighth in 4:31. He capped his season off at the area meet with an agonizingly brilliant performance. In a race saturated with experienced upperclassmen and top 10 finishers at the state cross country meet, Acuna clawed his way to fifth. His time of 9:35 was a 16 second personal best but one second shy of regional qualification. 

It is easy to gloss over a 34th place regional finish in cross country and a fifth place finish at the area track meet, but every sign available indicates that Acuna is on a rapid upward trajectory. 

Parker Noffz - Lewisville Marcus

The results of Noffz's freshman cross country season were solid for a freshman and suggested he would likely come good for Marcus two or three years down the line. However, his performances on the track indicate the wait for his contributions may be much shorter than expected. 

He spent about two months poking at the the 10:00 barrier in the 3200 before finally breaking through with a personal best of 9:54 at the Lewisville Max Goldsmith Relays on the last day of March. His signature performance of the season came in his final race at the district meet. After struggling in the 3200 one day prior, Noffz brought his freshman year to a close emphatically with sixth place finish and seven second personal best of 4:23. 

If he performs in the fall of 2022 as he did in the spring, Marcus will have a standout sophomore leading the way this fall.