James Boutte Jr. (Houston Christian)
A mixture of winding hills and treacherous obstacles, Brenham's Hillacious Invite has long been a dreaded event for those unfortunate enough to see it on their schedule. More of a crossover between cross country and the steeplechase, runners not only have to navigate its steep hills but also hurdle hay bales placed at various points throughout the course.
Despite the brutal nature of this course, it remains an exciting meet with outstanding performances that have seen it maintain its place as one of the best measures of true grit in Texas. So, let's take a look at five standout performances from this year's Hillacious Invite.
The top ten ranked Bridgeland boys waited much longer than most to make their debut this season, choosing an incredibly difficult course to start the year. Coach Kevin Waters has long had the boys teams run difficult courses to prepare them for the championship season and this year looks to be no different. However, despite the late start and difficult nature of the course, the Bridgeland boys were no short of dominant to start their year.
Bridgeland ran away with the meet, scoring just 33 points to start the year. As expected, the Bears were led by star junior Benjamin Montgomery who ran away with the race from the start. Outside of Montgomery, Bridgeland's depth shined as even without Hayden Price, their second and seventh runners finished just 33 seconds apart. With Montgomery's state champion potential and an outstanding cast of tight-knit depth, it's no wonder why the Bears appear to be the contender for the podium in November that many picked them to be.
As a two-time UIL State Championship qualifier, Laney Nash has long been a known commodity within the Texas running scene. Coming off a top-thirty finish at last year's state meet, Nash came into the year looking to build on this performance. Based on how she's started the season, it'd be safe to say she's built on this performance and then some as she's won two of her first three meets to start the year including an outstanding performance this last Saturday.
Nash ran away with the race at Brenham from the jump, establishing a strong pace and expertly separating herself from the rest of the pack on a course that's extremely difficult to negative split. As the race went on, it became clear that Nash was the class of the field as she won the race by twenty-eight seconds in a time of 18:59. It's no doubt that Nash has started the season strong and if she can continue to produce at this high level, she'll surely be back in Round Rock for the third time this November.
Benjamin Montgomery has been nothing short of amazing to start his young career. Whether it be running 9:00 in the 3200m at the state meet as a sophomore, or running 14:53 in the 5000m at Texas Distance Festival, Montgomery has had one of the best starts to a career that we've seen in a long time. That being said, with early success comes high expectations, especially when you accomplish so much so young. However, despite the high expectations, Montgomery continued to impress with an incredible performance last Saturday.
To say Montgomery was dominant on Saturday would've been a vast understatement as he quickly showed why he's been as successful as he's been. Montgomery took the lead from the jump and never came close to relinquishing it as he went on to win the race by twenty-eight seconds in a time of 15:56 over a 3.2-mile course. If Montgomery continues his trend of being impressive week in and week out, we could be looking at a formidable contender for the individual state title in Round Rock.
Continuing the trend of outstanding performances by the Bridgeland Bears are the Bridgeland girls. The Bridgeland girls have been a consistent force at the state meet since their inception in 2017, consistently producing solid teams led by great individual talents. Despite losing top talent and now Tennessee Volunteer Emily Ellis, the Bridgeland girls look more than able to continue the trend of state-qualifying Bears teams this November.
This new Bears team is led by outstanding junior Lily Fawcett who's qualified for the state meet in every year of her career thus far. Fawcett led the way for the Bears as much like the boys team, they ran away with the team title producing another impressive score of just 51 points. Bridgeland showed great depth and ability to run together which will undoubtedly be key to their success this year as they hope to continue the trend of state-qualifying Bears teams later this year.
James Boutte Jr. has long been a force within the middle-distance scene in the state of Texas as he's continually improved and impressed each year of his career on the track. That being said, range is one of the most important and desirable qualities for a distance runner to have and Boutte Jr. has continually developed it throughout his career. However, last Saturday marked a huge signal for another area of improvement for Boutte Jr. as he had an impressive race over a very difficult course.
Boutte Jr. started the race strong behind Benjamin Montgomery and held onto his position for the entire race. For someone with a 1:53 800m personal best, Boutte Jr. showcased an impressive ability to remain consistent and focused over such a long and difficult course. While Boutte Jr. may not have secured the victory, his performance adds yet another quality to an already impressive skillset which we'll undoubtedly see continue to perform over his senior year.