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We knew the Southlake Carroll course at Bob Jones park was flat and fast, but nobody expected what we saw on Saturday morning.
Pearland junior Madison Peters who didn't even qualify for the state meet in Round Rock last year showed us all we needed to see in this one race to know she is adequately prepared for the 2022 cross country season. We also saw Southlake Carroll junior Alexandra Walsh prove what she displayed last week on the track transferred over well to the grass.
Neither girls have been big time names across the state, but that officially changed with their performances today. While Peters has yet to make it to the state cross country season she did qualify for the state track meet last May in both the 1,600m and the 3,200m. With Walsh, she made it to state in cross country with her Carroll teammates last November, but she didn't make it to Austin on the track.
Last year at this meet, Peters was seventh in 17:57 and after encouraging state track meet, she toed the line with confidence today.
Speaking of confidence, Walsh clearly has it with some to spare. She ran 10:28 last weekend in a 3,200m on the track for the TX No. 33 all-time performance in the distance.
Madison Peters runs down the finish and heads into the chute
Photo Credit: Jessie McCabe/MileSplit TX
The race went out extremely fast with mile split (pun unintended) under 5:10 with Walsh in the lead, Prosper senior Shewaye Johnson in second, and Peters in the third position. That's when Walsh really began to push the issue; you could tell by her arm swing that she was intentionally pressing the gas pedal as she and Peters quickly made it a two girl race.
However, it was Peters in the second half of the race who was in control. With about 5 meters on Walsh at moving into the last 1K, Peters visibly had the turnover going and held the rhythm until crossing the finish line. She would finish with a 17:00.76 PR with Walsh in second in 17:05.45. Both times were significant improvements on previous personal best on grass. It was even a 21 second improvement for Walsh who ran 17:26 in the 5,000m on the track at the Texas Distance Festival, back in May.
Both girls proved that no matter what perception is one year, that effort and dedication to training can quickly change everything. It's something we saw last season with Natalie Cook and we're already seeing it again.
A total of eight girls ran under 18:00 in the race.
Name Team Time Pace Year 1 (< 5) 3812 Madison Peters Pearland 17:00.76 5:27/M 11 2 1 3209 Alexandra Walsh Carroll High School 17:05.45 5:29/M 11 3 2 3163 Ava Bushaw Carroll High School 17:25.37 5:35/M 12 4 3 3584 Margaret Thompson Hockaday 17:29.53 5:36/M 11 5 4 3874 Shewaye Johnson Prosper 17:31.56 5:37/M 12 6 (< 5) 3743 Abigail Bass Melissa 17:35.39 5:38/M 12 7 (< 5) 3854 Haley Harper Plano West 17:43.53 5:41/M 12 8 5 3233 Allie Love Colleyville Heritage 17:52.95 5:44/M 11