These are just our projections for the Texas girls and the start of the 2023 cross country season. There is no doubt the order will probably change by the end of the year and that some other girls can run their way into the top 10 individual performers.
The 2023 track and field season saw an unreal amount of girls absolutely go bonkers in the 3200m. A total of 44 girls ran under 11:00 across the state last year and 32 of them return for the 2022 cross country season.
That led us to extrapolate the 2022 cross country season 5,000m numbers and cross reference them with the track 3200m stats
From there we have selected these ten girls as the ones to watch in cross country as the first major weekend gets underway tomorrow.
View the list and our justification for selecting these girls.
No. 1 San Juanita Leal (Edinburg North)
Edinburg North senior Leal gets the nod at the top of this list because of her track season. It was mainly hard earned for her UIL 6A state 3200m win. Like the other girls in the field, she had to run the 3200m twice. The first time they only made it halfway through before having to start all over. She ran 10:19, only 3 second slower than he 10:16 previous best, which earlier in the year won her the Texas Relays.
She also ran PRs of 2:13 in the 800m and then 4:47 to win the state meet 1600m. Leal went undefeated the entire season over all three events, with the exception for her second place finish to Samantha Humphries in the 1600m, at the Texas Distance Festival.
The only question about Leal was could she beat the DFW girls and she showed she can.
Now, she'll have to do it on grass. She was unbeaten last fall until the state meet and then was runner-up at NXR South to Isabel Conde De Frankenberg. Her last cross country race resulted in a 51st place finish at Nike Cross Nationals. That was the type of experience she needed. Let's see how the track season transfers to grass this fall.
No. 2. Nicole Humphries (Flower Mound)
Not only does she look like her sister, but she also runs like her. Nicole has PRs unlike many other girls can boast boast about. She lowered all of them last year by going for eye popping 2:06, 4:44, 10:11, and 17:07. Despite the two next two girls on this list having that same capability, trust me there have not been many in the history of Texas running to do so.
Humphries had a great cross country championship season. She won the UIL 6A state cross country meet and then qualified for both Nike Cross Nationals placing 13th and the Champs National Cross Country Championships finishing 21st (only Frankenberg also qualified for both national meets).
No. 3. Samantha Humphries (Flower Mound)
What can't Humphries do? She is proven at about every distance race and continues to excel.
Last fall, she ran a 16:03 in three miles to place third at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, was the UIL 6A runner-up, and helped lead Flower Mound to the state team title and to NXN and placed 11th overall in Portland.
On the track, Humphries went another year running at least 2:10, 4:45, and under 10:30 with her 4:40 and 10:12 PRs.
No. 4 Isabel Conde De Frankenberg (Cedar Park)
Frankenberg is the most decorated athlete in Texas. She ran 16:56 last year at FEAST and the added eleven sub 17:49 true 5K races throughout the remainder of the season.
At the end of cross country, the Cedar Park star had finished second at the UIL 5A state meet, won at NXR South, was second at the Champs South Regional, and then finished the national meets with a sixth place finish at Nike Cross Nationals and was 13th at the Champs National Cross Country Championships.
The track season didn't really get to take off for Frankenberg due to injury. She has since made a comeback due to a healthy recovery by running in the Pan American U20 Championships for Argentina. That should bode for a good health report heading into cross.
If anyone has proven they can win against everyone in Texas, it's Frankenberg.
No. 5 Elizabeth Leachman (Boerne Champion)
I'm willing to bet very few knew who this young Charger runner was until the track season.
She ran a 18:16 at FEAST for her first high school race and didn't get close to that on a true 5K courses all year long. The advantage of running at Boerne Champion is that you're more than likely going to end up running at the state meet, which she did and came through big time with a 20th overall placement.
Leachman found her running groove during the track season; she ran sub 11-minutes in the 3200m early and even went 10:31 in the indoor 2 mile. She would go on to dazzle at track with a 4:47 run to win the UIL 5A 1600m state title and a 10:17 3200m PR.
In mid June, she produced a 9:57 two mile at the Nike Outdoor Nationals. That's the freshman class record and makes her the third fastest Texas girl of all-time.
Only seniors are listed above Leachman on this list and that's due to her inexperience and unproven running on grass. However, when you're fast, sometimes not even the lack of experience can hold you back. She has the ability to be No. 1 by the end of the season.
No. 6 Alexandra Fox (Flower Mound)
Fox perhaps has the most interesting ride through her first two seasons of high school running as anyone. She has third place finishes from both the state track meet (3rd 3200m as a freshman) and the cross country state meet (3rd as a sophomore). She did all of that while not even being the fastest runner on her team in either season.
The Flower Mound junior begins the year following the UIL 6A state meet when only the Humphries twins managed to beat her. In the track season Fox ran a 4:50 mile PR and a 10:18 for a 3200m PR.
This is the last year for Fox to have proven individual state champions as training partners, but it could also be the year for her to win her own individual title. Widely viewed as the third best, she's had a luxury not many have ever been afforded. Nevertheless, don't be shocked to see her take advantage of the situation and make a push for the top.
No. 7 Madison Peters (Pearland)
Peters' challenges and mishaps have been chronicled. They've kept her from attaining goals in the early goings of her career, but last year things appear to have been figured out.
She won the 2022 Southlake Carroll XC Invite with a TX No. 2 17:00 and went sub 18-minutes three other times. Peters didn't lose until the state meet showing her propensity to excel on grass when she won the Nike South Invitational. She went on to place ninth at the UIL 6A state meet for her first state medal
On the track she ran a 4:56 PR in the 1600m along with five sub 11-minute 3200m races including a 10:36 PR and sixth place finish at the Texas Relays.
Peters could open up faster with a win again in Southlake and possibly with a sub 17:00 run, outperforming this No. 7 ranking to start the season.
No. 8 Alexandra Walsh (Carroll)
I believe we were cheated out of seeing how good Walsh was going to be at the end of last fall. She suffered an injury right before the championship season and that was too late in the season for her to overcome.
Prior to that, she was running like the best in Texas. She ran a 17:05 at the 2022 Southlake Carroll XC Invite, followed up by a 17:35 at the Marcus Coach T Invitational, and then finished fourth at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic with a 16:03 three mile run.
Walsh recovered to run five sub 11 races at 3200m including a 10:36 SB. She also ran 17:05 in the 5K at TDF. She ran 10:45 last week in a 3200m time trial on the track.
No. 9 Macy Wingard (Denton Braswell)
Wingard had a very good track season; she just happens to compete in Region 1-6A making it hard for a freshman or anyone. She did run PRs of 4:57 and 10:37 at the Region 1-6A track meet showing she can show up at the most important times.
We already knew her ability from the cross country season as she hit the scene hard very early. She ran a 17:15 early in the season at the Marcus Coach T Invitational where she beat several girls who are ahead of her on this list. Wingard placed 10th at the UIL 6A state meet and was seventh at the the NXR South to qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals where she finished with an impressive 43rd place.
No. 10 Margaret Thompson (Hockaday)
There were a lot of girls in the hunt for the tenth and final position on this list and they were all deserving. However, the Hockaday senior gets the nod due to her 2022 cross country season pre-injury.
Thompson is the tenth fastest returner from last year with her 17:29 performance at the 2022 Southlake Carroll XC Invite where she placed fourth overall against a lot of Region 1-6A and Region 1-5A girls. Thompson also ran 17:56 a week earlier at the 2022 Waxahachie Woodhouse Invitational giving her two sub 18-minute runs before many girls started their season.
The injury derailed her senior year, but she was able to regain some health for the track season and although not as fast as everyone, she did go 10:53 at the Texas Relays where she finished 11th after winning the steeplechase just a day prior.
Thompson opened up her 2023 cross country season with a 17:40 last weekend, over 15 seconds faster than she ran last year on the same course.