Judah Alexander-Macias (5201) was runner-up at last year's Texas Homeschool XC state meet
Photo Credit: Stuart Kantor/MileSplit TX
- - -
The Texas Homeschool cross country state championships are tomorrow in Tomball, Texas. Individual and team titles in both middle school and high school are up for grabs.
View the seed times for tomorrow's meet and our meet preview for the varsity races.
HOMESCHOOL STATE MEET SEED TIMES |
|---|
Varsity Races |
JV Races |
Middle School Division Races |
Girls
The previous two state champions both graduated last year. With 2020 champion Krianne McBride and 2021 champion Joy Gill both in college as freshmen a new state champion will be crowned. We are here to speculate who it will be.
Gill won by nearly a minute last season when she blazed a 17:56. Texas Independent Homeschool runner Isabella Edwards is the top returner from 2021 when she was runner-up in 18:49. Now in her senior season, Edwards figures to be next in line for the state championship.
There will be plenty of returners like Jordan Wallace (THESA Riders), Clare Dasso (San Antonio Home School Spartans), Sarah Slimpin (San Antonio Home School Spartans), Lindy Stevens (Tyler Home Education Athletics of Tyler), Gabbi Smith (San Antonio FEAST), and Loghan Gonzales (San Antonio FEAST) who were all top-10 finishers last year.
With that said, it is still unclear who the favorite should be and who will win this year's race. Edwards should be penciled in as the favorite, however we haven't seen her race often this season. Earlier this year, Edwards ran 18:44 at the FEAST Patriot XC Invitational. That's faster than her performance at last year's state meet.
Gonzales who was 10th last year at the state meet, was right behind Edwards at the FEAST meet . . . literally. She ran 18:45, right on Edwards' trail and could be considered a favorite for the Homeschool individual title.
The Spartans won last year's title with only 21 points. Their total was more than half that than second place HEAT. They figure to be in the position to again win the state title, but they should get a challenge from FEAST.
Boys
With Tyler HEAT's Henry Hasz' graduation, that leaves the top spot open for grabs. The grabbing figures to come down to three athletes who have separated themselves from day one.
Last year's runner-up Judah Alexander-Macias (Leander Texas Home School) has not only shaped himself into one of the best homeschool runners, but also in the entire state.
Macias has four races on his resume for this season; he opened up the year with a 15:39 and then a 15:07 before settling into the season for more training. He then ran 16:01 on a tough course at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree and followed that up with a 15:17.
Farrin Mangelson (San Antonio FEAST) finished third last year at the state meet. He has been finding his groove in the last couple of meets going under 16:00 in three consecutive races.
The third key racer in tomorrow's meet will be Houston Homeschool senior Luke Brooker. He has a 15:42 PR that will put him firmly in the lead pack of tomorrow's race.
The key to look out for is if Mangelson and Brooker will go out with the early fast pace Macias has been consistent with running at. If not, will they allow him to run too far away or will they be able to keep him near and close before the race is over.
FEAST won the team title last year by only scoring 36 total points. Peter Kumaus, should give Mangelson help on the front end of the race to keep scoring low. We'll see is Elias Flores, Jake Stallman, and Joshua Garza can close the door on the scoring and bring another title.
Home School Athletic Association was second last year and might be close to closing the gap for the title this year. Keep an eye on Austin Champions as they could be close to matching FEAST man to man.