Oct 07, 2022

Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas CCCAT Poll No. 3

The voting and the calculating are compete for the third CCCAT regular season coaches poll of the 2022 cross country season. You can view the poll HERE.

There was some movement in each classification poll and here you can review the movement as well as our reaction to the current poll.

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1A Poll

The girls poll has a new team at the No. 1 position. McMullen County leap frogged both Roby and Jayton who were No. 1 and No. 2 in the previous poll. New No.2 team Springlake Earth has been so impressive that they weren't even in the top 10 last week and have jumped over everybody. They are proving that there are more girls on the team besides two-time state champ Taytum Goodman.

Sands, Eula Spur, Borden County, and Priddy all drop out of the top 10 to be replaced by aforementioned No. 2 Springlake Earth, No.4 Nazareth, No. 8 Marfa, No. 9 Claude, and No. 10 O'Donnell.

The Saltillo boys have finally reached the top spot. They were No. 2 in the second poll of the season and have ascended to the poll's pole position. Slidell follows them as they move up from three to the two spot. Jayton, who has been running well this season and rose to No. 1 in the previous poll falls back to No. 3.

Only Texline and Blum exit the top 10 this week and they were replaced by No. 8 Irion County and No. 10 Comstock.

2A Poll

The 2021 runner-ups, Christoval girls are once again the No. 1 team in the state and heading into the district championships they look to be in prime time shape for another run at the state title.

Christoval isn't the only podium team from last season who is looking good at the right time of the year. Third place finishers Gruver from last year is currently No. 2 and climbed up from No. 4 in the previous poll.

As far as moves, Farwell moves up to No. 3, Hamilton moves up to No. 8, and Fall City remains at No. 10. Muenster and Roscoe fall out of the top 10 with defending state champs Wellington entering this week's poll at No. 5 and Shiner enters at No. 6 with

On the boys side, Plains hold strong at No. 1 with Hamilton and Poolville swapping positions at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. The top 10 see eight teams shuffling this week with No. 8 Sundown and No. 10 Hawley entering this week's poll at the expense of Groveton and New Summerfield.

3A Poll

Everyone knows the old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

That's applies to much of the second and third polls released by the CCCAT. The top seven positions didn't change one bit from poll two to poll three. Holliday, Whitesboro, and Poth continue to sit in the top three spots. Not only are the top seven the same, but the top 10 teams haven't changed.

The only movement was at the eight and nine poll positions with McGregor swapping spots with Jim Ned.

On the boys side, the second and third place team finishers from last year's state meet, Eustace and Lytle are again the top two teams in the third poll. However, formerly No. 3 Crane drops out of the poll as do the Holliday boys. Moving into the top 10 are No. 5 Presidio and No. 6 Commerce who join some of the teams having outstanding seasons.

4A Poll

The Celina girls have been holding strong all season long and haven't shown signs of slowing down. Their attempt to defend their state title appears to be a high motivating factor. They are again the top ranked team in 4A heading into the championship season.

Also holding strong is No. 2 Canyon Randall, No. 3 Canyon, and No. 4 Fredericksburg. The only change in the top eight is Sanger and Salado changing at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. Panhandle team Dumas moves up to No. 9 with Bandera at No.10.

The Canyon boys continue to hold onto the top spot with Big Springs and Giddings swapping at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Huffman Hargrave jumps up from No. 10 to No. 7 and No. 10 Dumas entering this week's poll replacing Kennedale.

This is nothing new, but Region 1-4A will be heavily involved in deciding who makes the podium and who doesn't at the state meet in 4A.

5A Poll

There was no movement in the 5A girls top five. Defending champions Lovejoy continue to run well and College Station looks like they're motivated for a podium finish. CStat recently had a solid finish at the Nike South Invitational behind the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked UIL 6A teams and ahead of a Oklahoma state runner-up and other 6A ranked squads.

Comal Canyon and Aledo are the only teams not to return to this week's poll. They were replaced by No. 7 Smithson Valley and No. 8 San Antonio Alamo Heights.

The ability of the teams to remain in their spots is a set up for the outstanding upcoming regional and state meet clashes. With Boerne Champion, Georgetown, Smithson Valley, Alamo Heights, Brackenridge all in the polls this week along with Canyon's recent appearance in the poll shows how good the Region 4-5A race could be if they all make it that far.

The Lovejoy boys make it two consecutive polls with both programs being ranked No. 1 in the state. Back-to-back state champs Grapevine climb to the No. 2 position from the four spot. They timely added the 13th place finisher from last year's state meet with senior Alberto Rayon.

The College Station boys drop out of the poll to be replaced by No. 9 Alamo Heights. The addition of Alamo Heights with Canyon, Georgetown East View, Sharyland, McAllen, and Georgetown make six Region 4-5A teams in the top 10. Like the Region 4-5A girls, this is an indication how important that race will be in deciding who will make it to the state meet and if a possible podium team can survive.

6A Poll

Eight of the 10 teams from the second poll remain in this week's third poll. That is evidence most of the top teams heading to the championship season have been identified. What hasn't been clearly identified is the third best team in the state.

Klein holds onto their No. 3 ranking, but the heat behind them is starting to kick in as the season continues to push towards the most important part of the season.

Highland Park continues to map their way to the top of 6A following their realignment into the highest classification. They have risen to the No. 4 ranking following their win at the Jesuit XC Classic. The Lady Scots ran a 18:51 team average with a 1:03 split last weekend. Austin Vandegrift, Kingwood, and Prosper continue to run well and hold fast to top 10 rankings as does The Woodlands.

El Paso Franklin and Northwest Eaton were replaced in the top 10 by No. 9 Dripping Springs and No. 10 Clear Falls following two impressive weeks of running.

Flower Mound and Southlake Carroll continue to appear to be the cream of the 6A classification and headed towards some key matchups in Lubbock and Round Rock.

On the boys side of things, Carroll is again the No. 1 team in 6A. They appear to be unstoppable as they press towards a fourth straight 6A state title. However, things get very interesting right behind them. After a solid run at Nike South, The Woodlands moved past Coppell for the No. 2 ranking. They used a 15:45 team average to win in Bear Branch Park over No. 4 Atascocita and No. 5 Vandegrift. The Highlanders also had a 37 second compression to assist in their win.

Coppell appears to have their lineup shuffled or position changes from meet to meet, but they continue to run well and produce. Their standings haven't been affected too much.

El Paso Franklin is the only team not to stay in the top 10. We noted the talent by Cypress Bridgeland despite them not making the top 10 in the last poll. After continuing to run well, they have made their arrival in the CCCAT top 10 at the No. 9 spot. They are one of the most dangerous teams in the state following their third place finish at Nike South behind No. 2 The Woodlands and No. 4 Atascocita and ahead of No. 5 Vandegrift.

The poll shows how strong Region 1-6A will again be with Carroll, Coppell, Prosper, El Paso Franklin, Eastwood, Flower Mound, and Heberon. However, it also shows how important of a meet Region 2-6A will be. With The Woodlands, Bridgeland, Wylie, and other teams who will be vying for the state meet who could all have legitimate podium aspirations.