The UIL 4A District 4 was one heck of a meet. District competitors Canyon and Canyon Randall figure to be pushing for the podium in Round Rock, but first they had to tussle together in round one. Now, they get to do it all over again.
Avery Brown and Abree Winfrey helped the Canyon squad get off to a fast start by going 1-2 running 11:00 and 11:18. Re-districting moved Randall down to the 4A classification making Region 4 even stronger than before and it was Randall's Sanchez sisters, Sadie Sanchez and Sierra Sanchez who led them.
All four girls are regional leaders, but their district was so strong that the Dumas duo Sarai Chavez and Mia Lujan are right behind with their 11:46 and 11:50 SB.
The team trio of No. 2 Randall, No. 3 Canyon, and No. 9 Dumas could see three district teams finishing things out at the state meet. Not only were the three squads state qualifiers last year and ranked in the CCCAT top-10, but things are even harder to get to Round Rock with No. 5 ranked Sanger involved as well. They have four girls who returned from last year's third place trophy winning team from the state meet.
It's gonna be good!
Boys
Chris Moreno (San Elizario) and Alexander Niemiec (Canyon) are the top two returners from last year. Moreno was the state meet runner-up and Niemiec finished ninth overall. The two should lead the regional race, but expect a gang of purple hanging around.
Canyon enters the championship season ranked No. 1 in the state and they continue to run well. They finished with a perfect score as they swept the top six spots at their district meet. Just like every other class and gender in Region 1, the 4-1A boys team race is stacked!
CCCAT No. 1 Canyon is definitely the team to beat. They took the third place trophy home last year and the gold one looks to be the one they're eyeing in 2022. The regional meet should show us just how focused they really are.
Big Spring and Sanger were the other two state meet qualifiers from the region last year and they are strong once again this year. Big Spring is the No. 3 ranked team in the state with No. 4 San Elizario, No. 8 Sanger, and No. 9 Dumas expected to bring a huge fight for the four qualifying state meet spots.
