DFW Metro Boys First Team
7. Zach Troutman (Sr.) Southlake Carroll
Troutman was just a 17-low guy his freshman year, but moved up to the varsity level his sophomore year and was Carroll's No. 6 runner last year at the UIL 6A state meet. He started the year off at 15:46 at the Southlake Carroll Inv. and never looked back. A 15:19 PR at the district meet and being the 32nd place overall finisher at the state cross country meet were highlights as were NXR South and NXN experiences.
This year, Troutman will be even more integral to Carroll's success as he is the No. 4 returner from their top seven. That means he will be expected to be a consistent scorer and by this placement on our list we believe he will be a front runner. He was only 55 second behind the team's top runner in Round Rock as the No. 6, but as possibly the No. 3, he will be expected to close the gap.
Why it looks possible is because of Troutman's track season. He improved to 4:23 and 9:15 bests in the 1600m and 3200m. He even PRed at 5,000m at the Texas Distance Festival when he ran 15:07. If Carroll is to live up to the expectations that are beyond statewide this seasons, Troutman will have continue his upward trend.
Last week at the Carroll 1600m time trial, he ran his fastest time ever with a 4:22 to increase the intrigue around him.
6. Neeraj Kulkarni (Sr.) Frisco Lebanon Trail
I can't blame you if you were unaware of who Kulkarni was heading into last year. However, if you don't learn who the Lebanon Trail senior is this season, he may make it undeniably to take notice.
He was one of the many runners with a very impressive year-to-year improvement during the 2022 cross and 2023 track seasons. He started the year off only placing third at the Fossil Ridge Run of the Panther in 16:29 and he won the the McKinney Boyd Bronco Stampede race in 16:14, but it was only the Boys Open race. He was either confident or experimental when he ran in the varsity race at the Lovejoy XC Fall Festival where he ran a 15:48 PR on a challenging Myers Park course; clearly, it was a gamble that paid off. He went on to rattle off four straight sub 16-minute races, was third at Region 2-5A and 17th at the state cross country meet.
Kulkarni tried his hand at national level meets and finished 47th at NXR South and 65th at Champs South Regional and ran 16:04 on another challenging course.
During the track season, he was again impressive. Kulkarni ran a 4:22 PR in the 1600m and went 4:26 for the full mile and he qualified for the UIL 5A state track meet in the 3200m where he placed fifth. He also ran a 9:17 PR at RunningLane Track Championships in Huntsville, Alabama.
Kalkarni can run and should be fun to watch -- get in and be informed early and go along for the ride.
5. Tyler Westrom (Sr.) Argyle
Westrom has been on the talented and rising Argyle teams the past three years. This season should be his personal coming out party, as if last season wasn't already it.
As a junior he ran a 15:30 PR in the 5K and had many top finishes at big invitationals Even though he had arrive, he only managed to finish 30th at the state cross country meet.
Entering the season with 4:29 and 9:44 personal best times, he was clearly on another level last spring. At 1600m, his slowest race of the season was 4:25 and he ran 4:20 and under three times with a 4:17 PR. At 3200m, Westrom ran 9:08 on two separate occasions ranking him 17th in the state.
He could start off fast again this year and possibly keep it rolling.
4. Caden Thurman (Sr.) Wolfe City
Thurman started the 2022 cross country season running very well. He was third at Lovejoy behind only Kevin Sanchez and Wyatt Athey then was runner-up at the Garmin MileSplit TX XC Invitational to one of Arkansas' top distance runners. He then ran a 14:57 PR for 5K at the Chile Pepper Festival in Arkansas. The only stub on his season last year was at the state meet where he was unable to finish the race.
Whatever the issues were, Thurman was able to rectify them. His senior year should be intriguing and fast based on his track season. He ran 2:01, 4:19, and 9:08 PRs and won the UIL 2A state championships in the 1600m and 3200m events.
3. Caden Leonard (So.) Southlake Carroll
Leonard hit the high school scene fast and furious. He opened up at his home meet with a 15:29, ran a 15:08 PR, and didn't run over 15:55 until NXN in December. He was consistently in the top 3 scoring positions for Carroll and ran No. 1 at the state meet to help them secure another team state title.
The track season was even more impressive running from the frosh. His slowest 1600m race ws 4:19 and he PRed at 4:15.02. He qualified for the UIL 6A state meet out of the difficult Region 1-6A championships in the 3200m when he ran a 9:06 PR. He finished ninth at state with a time of 9:11. What makes the upcoming cross season more interesting is his 14:33 run at the Texas Distance Festival for a fourth place finish and school record.
Last weekend, Leonard ran a 4:18 in a 1600m time trial.
2. Jude Alvarez (Sr.) Southlake Carroll
I've had an eye on Alvarez since he was a freshman. He entered Carroll with a very talented class and he is one of a couple still standing and at the top spot entering his senior year.
Doing this for several years and being a fan of running most of my life, it was last track season when I saw Alvarez do one of the most impressive things I've seen. He competed in the Elite Boys 1600m at the Texas Distance festival running a 4:14 PR at the time. Less than an hour later, he was back on the track the Elite Boys 5K and against the uber talented field he ran a 14:52.13 personal best.
On the track, he would go on to run more 4:14s, he ran several 9:11 3200m races, and qualified for the UIL 6A state track meet out of Region 1-6A.
For cross country, he ran a 14:58 PR was ninth at the state cross country meet, and finished 49th at NXN with a 15:49. He will have company doing the heavy lifting for the team this all, but expectations for the Carroll boys are high and the potential is through the roof.
1. Angel Sanchez (Sr.) Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis
Sanchez piggy backed a very good sophomore track season for a superg junior cross country year. He opened up with a 14:55 runner-up finish at the Southlake Carroll XC Invite and followed that up with another sub 15-minute race at the Marcus Coach T Invitational where he finished with at 14:58.
He went on to win throughout the championship season and notched a UIL 4A cross country state title to his resume. To end the season, he was fourth at the Champs South Regional with a blazing time of 14:55 to qualify for the Champs National Cross Country Championships where he ran 15:45 on the very difficult Balboa Park Course in San Diego, California.
Track season was short-lived for Sanchez as he didn't start running until late March due to an injury that postponed his competing. Upon is return, he was able to run 1:56 in the 800m, 4:20 in the 1600m, and then 4:11.26 at Texas Relays for a third place finish. That would be the last healthy race for Sanchez as he ran 11:17 at his district meet in the 3200m before shutting things down.
When healthy and fit, Sanchez isn't just one of Texas' best runner, but he is one of the nation's top distance stars. He has exhibited his capabilities when healthy and should take things a step further this fall.