Meet Preview: UIL Region 2 Championships

William Grundy

Region 2-2A

Girls

Muenster sophomore Emma Walterscheid finished ninth last year in her first season of high school cross country. Now, she will waltz into the regional meet as the leading performer so far this season. Her 12:05 from the Gerald Richey XC Invite & Region II Preview shows she is still rolling.

Muenster teammates Emma Krebs and Macy Bayer also have brisk times of 12:15 and 12:18 this season. Adding to next week's intriguing regional match up aresub 12:30 girls Bailey Neal (Como-Pickton) with her 12:19 and Bayler Smith (Nocona) with her 12:25.

De Leon, Hamilton, Haskell, Hico were all at the state meet last year representing Region 2 and they look excellent again this year. However, It's Muenster with their strong front end along with their 12:41 team average that has them ranked No. 3 in the state.

Joining the ranks in the top-10 are No. 8 Hamilton and No. 10 Santo. Santo has a 13:06 team average, but Hico and Hamilton are both averaging in the low 13:20s that will make for an exciting team race.

Boys

Region 2 is so vast that it has 11 boys who have run under 17 minutes this season. It's not only deep, but it's also top heavy with four boys who have run under 16:15. Cuyler Pearcy (Hamilton) has a 16:14 this season, Miguel Arce (Wolfe City) has a 16:05, and Taylor Weiland (Chico) is knocking on the sub 16:00 club.

What's more important is that last year's state meet runner-up Caden Thurman is also back and is hotter than ever. He has run 14:57, one of the top times in the state and looks primed to take the next step and win a state title.

The boys team competition could be even more dynamic than the boys individual race. Poolville and Hamilton finished 1-2 at the state meet last year and both look to climb back onto the podium this year.

Hamilton ranks No. 1 in the CCCAT coaches postseason poll. Joining them is Poolville ranked No. 4, Wolfe City No. 6. This is looking to have the makings of an epic race for the qualifying spots.