Preseason Rankings: Dallas Metro Boys

William Grundy

DFW Metro Boys Second Team


14. Joaquin De La Cruz (Jr.) McKinney Boyd

In his freshman year, De La Cruz ran at his first high school cross country race at the Plano ISD Invitational and finished with a 19:09 5K; he eventually and lowered his time as low as a 17:44.

Returning for his sophomore year, the season again began in August at the Plano ISD Invitational. The second time around he ran over two minutes faster for a 17:02.

That was an early sign of how his year-to-year development would go. Two weeks later, De La Cruz ran 15:59 at the Marcus Coach T Invitational and kept moving on down. He PRed on the season with a 15:51 and placed 26th in 16:18 at the Region 1-6A Championships.

The improvement on the track was just as impressive as the during cross country season. De La Cruz went 2:01, 4:19, and 9:20 and all were PRs. A strong performance in the mile at the RunningLane Track Championships was a good indicator to go along with his development of what could be in store for this upcoming cross season.


13. Caden Biltz (Sr.) Wylie

The Wylie program has been on fire the last five or six years. Competing in the ever-so-tough DFW area, they've been able to keep getting better and turning out top runners and division 1 recruits.

Biltz is the latest to develop into a stud. Junior year saw him start the season off with a 15:31 in the 5K on the same Southlake Carroll cours where he ran 16:20 the year prior. He ran subv 16-minutes all season long until the UIL 6A state meet where he placed 47th.

Look forward to Biltz' improvement to continue based on his track season. He ran 4:20 and 9:15 PRs and just missed qualifying for the UIL state track meet in the 3200m when he finished third.


12. Max Miller (Sr.) Prosper

Miller is another guy on this list who had serious year-to-year improvements last season. In his sophomore season, he started the year off at Southlake and the Marcus Coach T Inv. He ran 17:03 and 17:44 at those events and came back as a junior to run 15:45 and 15:57. Miller would run a 15:35 PR and eventually place 67th at the state cross country meet.

During the track season, the PRs continued to show his development. Miller went for new bests of 4:20 and 9:26 to create intrigue around his upcoming senior year.


11. Matthias Peterson (Jr.) Northwest Nelson

Peterson was a 17-mid to low runner at 5K throughout his freshman year. As a junior, he initiated his season with a 15:56 and 15:50. He would get as low a 15:23. The cross season ended promising with him running 15:03 on a short course at NXR South, but he took the victory in the Boys Open 1 race. 

Last spring, Peterson ran personal best runs from the 800m (2:01), 1600m (4:19), and the 3200m (9:26). Peterson was in contention at the Region 1-6A 3200m race for much of the event before falling off the pace and running another 9:26. He ran 15:11 at the Texas Distance Festival 5K to add intrigue to his upcoming cross country season.

10. Caden Gary (Jr.) Lucas Lovejoy

Gary had 18, 19, and 20-minute 5K races his freshman year at Lovejoy. Those days were far in his rear view mirror with his performances last season as a sophomore when he was going 15s and 16s. He had improved to running a 15:35 PR at Chile Pepper and a 15:57 had himr district runner-up. He would assist in getting Lovejoy another step up on the awards podium to a runner-up finish at state with his 65th overall placement. 

The track season saw more development as the sophomore went 1:59, 4:17, and 9:33, all for personal bests. He was the Region 2-5A champion in the 1600m and finished fourth overall at the state track meet.

More growth from Gary could see him pressing the state leaders as well as hunting for a UIL 5A state championship.


9. Ellis Eserman (Sr.) Denton Guyer

Denton Guyer's top distance guy was Eserman. We don't see where he finished the season and even ran beyond lat September, but when he did run early on, the guy was on point. He began with a 15:44 at Plano in August and then ran a 15:42 PR mid September at the McKinney Boyd Bronco Stampede. Two more top finishes and 15-high races followed through September and that was it for his season.

He returned during the track season and ran personal best of 4:25 in the 1600m and 9:15 in the 3200m. While never running under 10:00 prior to the 2022 track season for the 3200m, Eserman's slowest run was 9:49 the entire year when he had eight runs under 10-flat.

The senior could have a huge season in 2023.


8. William Carlson (Jr.) Lucas Lovejoy

Carlson is one of the outstanding runners in the Lovejoy boys class of 2025. Upon their arrival to Lovejoy, they were figured to be the ones to get the program back to the top spot and they nearly pulled it off as sophomores. Real life Leopards are opportunistic hunters, and this year, I expect the Lovejoy Leopards to create opportunities for them to strike on the cross country courses.

Carlson had a really good freshman season and last year he really turned things up a lot. As a sophomore, he ran five sub 16-minute races including a 15:30 PR at the Arkansas Chile Pepper Festival. He was 15th overall at the UIL 5A state meet and then placed 24th in the NXR South Elite Boys race.

On the track, he ran 4:19 in the 1600m at the Texas Distance Festival for a PR and lowered his 9:43 PR from freshman year to 9:20 in the 3200m with four runs under his previous personal best.

The 2023 season could be a very good one for Lovejoy and they'll need Carlson to help push the issue.