Region 1-1A

Girls 

Let's do this off the bat and acknowledge the top runner in the region, who is also the top 1A runner in the state in all of her glory. Springlake Earth junior Taytum Goodman is the two-time UIL 1A individual cross country state champ and has as many Region 1 titles to go with them.

Goodman has the best time entering the regional championships with her 11:42 that she ran on the Mae Simmons Park course, but also has a 18:47 SB in the 5K.

Aside from Goodman, other girls to keep an eye on will be Taylor Ritter (Groom), Taysen Swired and Makayla Chaney from (White Deer), Hayley Connell (Sands), Melody Rampley (Silverton), and Aabriella Villanueva (Springlake Earth). All of these girls have run 13:57 and under and could be chasing the runner-up position.

Also with 13:59 and 14:00 runs this year are Bucki Smith (Spur), Kelsi Vaughn (White Deer), and Kelsie Gunter (Nazareth).

Team wise White Deer has the best team average of the year in the region with Groom and Sands closely trailing. However, the region has several top-10 ranked teams from the CCCAT's most recent poll. Springlake Earth is ranked No. 2 in the state. You also have No. 4 Nazareth, No. 5 Jayton, (who was once ranked No. 1), No. 9 Claude, and No. 10 O'Donnell. As you can see, Region 1 isn't just a juggernaut in 4A, 5A, and 6A! 

Boys 

With the UIL 1A individual state title up for grabs, the Region 1A boys could produce a good finale. So far, Grif Reel (Jayton) has the fastest time in the region of 17:08 that he ran at the Garmin MileSplit TX XC Invitational.

Reel could have a solid race on his hands with Brance Ferguson (Happy) who enters with a 17:36 SB as the only other sub 18 minute runner so far this year.

Not too far behind and figuring to join the pack leaders in Lubbock could be Wiley Gaskins (Sands), Robert Lowery (Jayton), and Julian Barton (Follett).

The boys team race will be just as good as the girls should be. We expect the team championship to come down to Jayton and Sands. Both teams have been ranked in the CCCAT Top-10 and Jayton has been ranked No. 1 in the state at some point of the season. Currently, they rank No. 3 and No. 6.

As far as the other two qualifying positions, it could be anyone, but three teams look to be on the fast track. Texline, Happy, and Lenorah Grady are the only other teams who enter with team averages under 20 minutes. Texline has a 19:41 team average and Happy has a 19:48. That gives them the fast track to the open slots, but Lenorah Grady isn't too far behind with their 19:57 average and they have the fastest No. 4 and No. 5 runners with the exception of Jayton. Look for this to be one of those race you have to wait for the final results from the timers and sweat it out until the final word comes down.