-Contributions to the article by RunBytesLytze
Quietly a Bell Weather moment for Texas H.S. Girls Cross Country Racing! Beyond the recognition of 3-Texas Girls in the Top 20:
(a) The Flower Mound Girls had, by far, the best score through Runners #1, #2, & #3 [Total Score = 19]. The next best 1 through 3 score were the champions, Kinetic/Saratoga Springs [Total 1-2-3 Score = 36]. With an improvement on their #4 & #5 Performers next season, Flower Mound may be the most complete Girls squad to ever come out of the Lone Star State ... AND ... come next season - Legit contenders for the Crown! The Big Question for Flower Mound - Will Coach Cook fortify his squad by raiding the soccer team's midfielders, and basketball team's shooting guards?
TEAM SCORES PLACE TEAM POINTS SCORERS TIMES 1 Saratoga Springs 86 10+13+16+19+28 (71+117) 0:23 1-5 Split | 18:03 Avg 2 Niwot High School 113 6+20+24+25+38 (51+53) 0:49 1-5 Split | 18:07 Avg 3 Buchanan (CS) 121 9+17+23+33+39 (57+102) 0:40 1-5 Split | 18:12 Avg 4 Lone Peak 124 4+14+22+32+52 (83+119) 1:15 1-5 Split | 18:08 Avg 5 Mt. Prospect (Prospect) 194 30+34+40+44+46 (72+101) 0:19 1-5 Split | 18:29 Avg 6 Flower Mound 199 3+5+12+73+106 (141+146) 2:04 1-5 Split | 18:17 Avg
(b) While Addison Ritzenhein may have gotten the big attention as the #1 Freshman [great time of 17:38.4] and daughter of the legendary Dathan Ritzenhein, folks may not grasp the importance of Texas Frosh Macy Wingard's #2 Freshman [43rd Overall] 18:05.7. She looked really poised and battle ready throughout the event. She's the real deal and I wish good luck to any competitor that looks past her.
Given Isabel Conde de Frankenberg's performance, we just may have seen a Bell Weather signaling that Texas Girls are about to step onto the National XC Stage in a very Texas way ... BIG! Despite the achievement of Natalie Cook, the rest of the nation continues to sleep on Texas Girls Distance Running.
The Team Nationals was faster at the top of the performances. But, the Garmin RunningLane (Garmin RXC3) was the much deeper race. Overall, the day at Garmin RXC3 was faster, despite the conditions. Numbers wises, there were 198 boys at Team Nationals and 283 boys at the Garmin RXC3. The 11 fastest boys came from Team Nationals; 140 Garmin RXC3 athletes were from the gold race in top 250 and 46 Garmin RXC3 athletes in top 100. Team Nationals had 43 boys in top 100 and 88 in top 250 performances.
Of the top 250 girls from the weekend, there were 195 girls at Team Nationals and 268 girls at Garmin RXC3. The 11 fastest girls on the weekend came from Team Nationals with 98 girls in top 250 coming from Garmin RXC3 making it 133 girls in top 250 came from Team Nationals. Also, 69 Team National girls were in top 100, 26 Garmin RXC3 girls were in top 100.
The RXC3 meet ran about six second faster than Team Nationals, despite the conditions. It was also faster in the speed ratings.