The lovejoy girls compete at the 2023 Southlake Inv. #1
Girls Team Preview
The Bentonville (AR) girls are a formidable group of girls. They won the MileSplit TX XC Inv. for the second consecutive season last weekend. This program is accustomed to winning back-to-back; they've won five straight Arkansas 6A team state championships and although they're ushering a group of younger runners, they have a group of experienced vets on the squad.
They're led by the defending Arkansas individual state champ Haley Loewe who began her season last week with a 18:29 last week. That led the squad to a 19:39 team average.
Joining the Arkansans will be the CCCAT UIL 6A No. 5 ranked Northwest Nelson squad. This team is learning how to win and they have the exact type of coaching staff leading them. This is one of only two teams in the state that has two coaches on the staff that have led other programs to UIL state team titles.
A duo of juniors in MJ Novelli and Reyna Heisserer lead the team. Novelli ran 17:55 at the Southlake #1 XC Invite and then a 18:19 5K PR at the Marcus Coach T Invitational. Heisserer went 18:19 and 18:48, respectively at the two meets.
Dallas Highland Park is another ranked UIL 6A team lining up. The No. 7 ranked squad moved up to 6A last year and just missed qualifying to state by one point at the "Region of Doom". Their goal is to be on the inside this season and they're looking good.
Madeline Heckler and Kayla Dickerson have been the squad's two leaders so far this season. Heckler ran 18:50 at Marcus and Dickerson crossed in 19:16 to help the team to a 19:46 team average.
The price of admission would be covered by seeing by the five UIL 5A girls ranked teams that will go at it. The defending back-to-back 5A state champs Lovejoy will not only host the event, but they'll be looking to get their second piece of racing action on the year. The Lady aLeopards opened up as impressively as possible at Southlake by running masterfully and producing a 17:49 team average and a 1:02 split.
Three girls ran sub eighteen-minutes that day with dandy races coming from Sara Morefield (17:14), Camryn Benson (17:40), and Kailey Littlefield (17:48).
However, No. 3 ranked Colleyville Heritage, No. 5 College Station, No. 7 Grapevine, and No. 10 Frisco Liberty will all be looking to get a litmus test against the state champs. San Antonio Alamo Heights was ranked in the first poll and has state meet experience from last year as does Round Rock, who will head north to the DFW to race it out in this fantastic field.
Girls Individual Preview
The girls individual race will be a barn burner as several girls enter the event having already run outstanding times this year.
The Lovejoy leaders will be front pack runners. Morefield, Benson, and Littlefield call all run in the 17 minute range and feed well off of one another. Morefield finished third place at Southlake in her first event of the season.
Only four seconds behind her was Emily Smith (Colleyville Covenant Christian). She ran 17:18 for the 3.06 race and just last weekend won the MileSplit TX XC Inv. with a 18:07 win.
Not far behind Smith in that race was Benson, Littlefield, Mia McGlade (Allen), and MJ Novelli (Northwest Nelson).
Keller ISD has several girls who are rolling and could have big weekends. Vivien Boehmer and Clare Boneau from Keller and Megan Calhoun (Keller Timber Creek) all run in the low eighteen-minutes.
Pilot Point senior Addison Hite is still flirting with 5,000m before she points her attention to the two mile distance. She and Haley Loewe from Bentonville both ran well at the MileSplit TX XC Inv. last weekend.
Katy Tompkins sophomore Rowan Saacke is a state meet qualifier from last season and is off to great start. She took last weekend off, but is heading up to Myers Park to lace them up this weekend.
Macy Wingard (Denton Braswell) should be the pace setter of this race. She not only medaled at the UIL 6A state meet, but she also individually qualified for NXN.
There are a couple of senior runners to watch who I think will be impactful in this race. Lauren Polk (Rock Hill) is a mid eighteen-minute girl and a big race this weekend could really be the ignition to the rest of the year for her
Delaney Ulrich is the lead runner on the state ranked College Station team. She is another mid eighteen-minute runner who not only has a team race to keep in mind, but she will be running for her individual race.
Finally, Frisco Liberty senior Sydni Wilkins placed eighth at the 2022 UIL 5A cross country state meet, and hasn't run since the Marcus Coach T Invitational where she ran 18:12. Now, two weeks later, and with a race full of starch competition she could really blaze it out this weekend.