The Atascocita boys cross country team is a legitimate contender to win a Texas UIL 6A cross country state title.
After a controversial finish, they finished fourth last year, just one point off the podium. This year, they are back and determined to get on the podium and possibly end with a state title
In Humble, Texas, just outside of Houston, every year the Atascocita Eagles begin their cross country season with one goal - - to try to win a state championship.
In Texas, that feat is harder than perhaps anywhere else in the country. In the state's largest public school division, the team state championship has only been won by five schools since 1980 (Humble Kingwood, Aldine MacArthur, Corpus Christi King, Southlake Carroll, and The Woodlands).
In the 1990s, Kingwood and MacArthur were the best teams in Texas. The two Houston area schools that are only separated by 15 miles displayed the best running seen by a long shot. In 2005, Corpus Christi King winning the state title was the last year the honor did not go to either Southlake Carroll or The Woodlands.
Only three teams make the podium in the UIL where they are awarded trophies to be recognized as All-State teams. Since 2006, Southlake Carroll and The Woodlands would go on to alternate between first and second with one another in every season, except for two of those years. They have displayed the true meaning of dedication to the sport and dominance over the state.
El Paso Eastwood has become a household name in the sport. In the last five years, they have won two UIL 5A state team championships as well as two 6A third place trophies behind the two perennial powerhouse teams. In 2020, they even ended the streak of 1-2 finishes by Carroll and The Woodlands when they were runner-up finishers, splitting the two.
Throughout Texas, it has been every other team in the state working hard to enter the elite running stratosphere of those teams.
Atascocita's efforts are guided by Coach Todd Symons who was a member of the Kingwood teams that won multiple state championships in the 1990s.
Symons and Atascocita have gradually come closer to finishing in the top-three and ending the year at the state meet and on the podium. In 2019, they finished in sixth place; in 2020 and 2021, they finished in fourth place, one position off of the podium.
Last year, their fourth place finish wasn't without its set of confusing (and what they consider controversial) set of circumstances.
Immediately after the race, the results showed them finishing in third place where they would have made the podium for the first time in school history. They would have become the first team in Texas to beat the top three teams in several years.
However, the results would change. Instead of finishing in third place, final scores would reflect them finishing one point behind Eastwood and off the podium in fourth.
This year, the Eagles have been determined and adamant about redeeming last year's finish. They want to prove they are a good team and have created a podium challenging program for years to come.
They also want to inspire teams across the state to be podium chasers. They want to raise the distance running scene across Texas to become more challenging and create parity amongst more teams.
This weekend, a set of five senior runners will toe the starting line at the UIL 6A state meet for their last shot of earning a podium finish. They'll attempt to amend the shortcomings of previous years and for teammates who have graduated with broken hearts.
Finally, they'll try to join their head coach as one of the few teams to win a state title in Texas UIL cross country history.