This week, we published an article about Madison Peters and the medical challenges she encounters while participating in a major energy exertion sport like cross country that further exasperates her situation. From her performances this season you can see the dedication she puts into figuring things out to run to her best.
Today, we saw the same form of running at the Texas A&M Invitational that led to her US No. 7 ranked 17:00 performance. The Pearland won the event with a 17:52 with a pace of 5:45 in the Texas heat and humidity. Her run was good enough to get the win by nearly a 58 second margin.
Finishing runner-up was Klein senior Kristen McHugh who is also working herself back from some real world challenges. McHugh led the race in the early goings and was the only girl on the day to challenge Peters in the race. She finished with a 18:50, running at a solid 6:03 clip in the tough conditions.
Girls 5k CC Varsity Pl Athlete Time 1 Madison PETERS Pearland [11] 17:52.3 2 Kristen MCHUGH Klein [12] 18:50.0 3 Staucie LEES Conroe Grand Oaks [SO] 19:15.3 1 4 Kaitlyn GALE LC Clear Falls [11] 19:15.4 5 Laney NASH Tomball (11) 19:31.3 6 Kylie HIMES Grapevine [12] 19:41.1 7 Hailey CASTILLO LC Clear Falls [10] 19:44.9 8 Kirsten THOMAS Katy Cinco Ranch [9] 19:48.9 9 Madison MORGAN Episcopal (Bellaire) [10] 20:06.5 10 Madeline REAGAN Davenport [11] 20:11.7
In the team race, we saw a two team battle just as we did in the boy's race. It was the Grapevine Mustangs once again, but this time, their challenge was from Clear Falls out of League City ISD.
Grapevine was led by senior Kylie Himes, who has been running extremely well this year. Himes finished sixth overall with a 19:41. She was joined by sophomore Katelyn McCown (14th) and junior Alexandria Navarro (20th) who both finished in the top-20 individual positions.
However, they would only manage a runner-up finish as it was the youthful squad of Clear Falls who put in the best team performance of the day. Junior Kaitlyn Gale finished fourth (19:15) and sophomore Hailey Castillo (19:44) both ran sub 10 and finished in the top-10. Madison Hill, a junior was the only other Knights scoring runner and in the top seven for Clear Falls, all of the other girls were either in the freshman or sophomore classes.