Region 4-3A
Girls
There is a youth uprising in the region 4-3A. Poth has freshmen Brooklyn Albert and Rylee Ellis entering with sub 12:00 runs with Randolph sophomore Sophia Bendet.
Add them with returners who competed at state last year like Kate Simons (Vanderbilt Industrial), Olivia Etzler (Halletsville), and more turning the race for state into an interesting one.
Poth, Lytle, Yoakum, and Vanderbilt Industrial all qualified for state last year. This year's 3A team race will feature No. 2 ranked Poth and No. 4 Lytle. Poth has a 12:30 team average and Lytle has a 12:37, but their 54 second split makes them so dangerous.
After finishing third last year, Poth adds their freshmen to bolster the lineup and replace the senior they lost to graduation. Lytle didn't lose any runners to graduation, so they should rely on experience.
Randolph has a 12:39 team average and with a sub 12-minute runner they should be able to earn a qualifying berth.
Boys
There are some returning runners who qualified for the state meet individually last year like Anthony Sandoval (Hondo) and Miguel Silva-Hernandez (Luling). Sandoval enters the regional meet with the top time of 15:31 and Hernandez with a 15:34.
Add Isai Moran (San Antonio Great Hearts Northern Oaks) and Anthony Meyer (San Antonio Cole) and you have a quartet of boys who have run under 16:00 this season.
It's Benjamin Alcott (San Antonio Great Hearts Northern Oaks) who is the top returning finisher from the 2021 state meet and the front pack should provide a great race.
While Lytle finished third last year and took the state meet bronze trophy home, they enter the regional meet ranked No. 1 in the state. Their 16:28 team average and their 25 second split is worth dreaming about.
SA Great Hearts Northern Oaks also enters with a state ranking. They're the No. 9 team in the state and should be able to get back to Round Rock. Their 17:00 average could have teams settling to contend for the third and fourth qualifying spots.
Brownsville Frontier Prep finished fourth at the state meet last year and they didn't graduate any of their top seven runners. They were ranked at moments of the season, so they do have good chances at returning to state.