Region 4-2A
Girls
The 2A girls race features several girls who were some of the top 2A runners in the state last year.
Senior Eleana Campos (Freer) was the eighth place finisher in Round Rock last year while Lindsey Gooch (Iola), Sarah Laurence (Thrall), Jackie Earley (Johnson City LBJ,) and Mia Picazo (Santa Maria) were all top 30 finalists last season.
Freer enters with the top time heading the region with a 11:27 with Picazo at 11:49, Earley in 12:33, and Salazar in 12:34 to make four girls under 12:40.
With 10 other girls under 13-minutes and several with state meet experience, this should be a dandy of a race.
The Goldthwaite girls are the No. 4 ranked team in the state and should earn a trip back to state this year. They are led by freshman Emily Bartek who gives the squad and instant jolt and improves them from last years capabilities.
Goldthwaite can run a much faster team average than last year at around 13:23 and with an improved 60 second split.
The major challenge should come from Johnson City LBJ who can run around a 13:31 average and Agua Dulce that can run around 13:35. Agua Dulce is intriguing as they can run as tight as nearly 30 second from one through five.
Stockdale, Mason, and Shiner should definitely not be overlooked. Stockdale has the ability to run a 13:42 team average. Mason and Shiner, who were both state meet qualifiers last year, each squad returns a lot of their lineups.
Mason has the ability to run around 13:55 for an average and with a 41 second split. At the state meet last year, they went 13:38 with a 1:07 split and didn't lose anyone to graduation As for Shiner, they graduated two girls, but only one scorer from the 2021 state meet where they ran a 13:18 team average and a 37 second split. They finished sixth overall at the state meet.
Boys
After seeing the effects his younger sister is having on her team, Connor Bartek will have to up his game. Not that he needed more motivation, but improving on his runner-up finish last year at regionals and third place at state should be high on the competitor's agenda.
Bartek ran a fast 14:49 at the UIL 2A District 29 meet; it's unclear the accuracy of the marking of the course, but what is clear is that Bartek has been blazing all season long.
There are a couple of other boys in the race this weekend who were at the state meet last year. Alan Baez Corpus (Ganado) only has a 17:00 SB this year, but he was fifth at state last year when he ran a 16:44 and should have an impact at regionals.
Also returning from good state meet runs last year are William Carlough (Port Aransas) and Jose Vanegas-Martinez (Goldthwaite). They are in good position to have some impact on next week's regional race.
Port Aransas (PA) won the team title back in 2020 and finished fifth last season. They could be looking to bring another trophy back to PA this year and they could start with another region gold trophy.
They are the No. 5 ranked team in the state and have a 18:02 team average when at their best. We'll get to see them take on Goldthwaite who has a 17:21 team average, but a split of 4:26 leaves any team open to top them.
San Saba, Santa Maria, Harper, and San Antonio Stacey are all in range, but they have high deviations from their first to their fifth runners, making this a counting type of race.