Region 1-4A
Girls Team Race Preview:
The UIL 4A girls team race is perhaps the best that will develop during the regional round and the teams in Lubbock will have a lot to say about it before it's all over.
Cross town Rivals Randall and Canyon will go head-to-head for the second straight time. Randall won the district with a very good 12:01 average and 0.27 second split; they had three girls go sub twelve-minutes.
Canyon ran without the defending reigning individual state champion Avery Brown, but is still running at a 12:11 clip.
From the same district comes Dumas who ran a 12:36 team average and a 0.58 split.
The CCCAT agrees with us as they have four Region 1-4A teams ranked in their top-ten poll; No. 2 Randall, No. 4 Canyon, No. 7 Dumas, and No 8 Sanger.
Favorites: Randall, Canyon, Dumas, Sanger, Andrews
Sleepers: Decatur, Burkburnett
Girls Individual Race Preview
Will Avery Brown compete? She is an important variable in this race in both the team and individual facet.
With or without Brown, Addyson Bristow has proven to be an all-state candidate. She ran 11:00 to win the district meet by 0.49 seconds. The Randall trio of Brooke French, Nayomi Granados, and Aspen Turman are young and dangerous.
Favorites: Addyson Bristow, Brooke French, Nayomi Granados, Aspen Turman, Kate Shepherd, Mia Lujan
Sleepers: Maggie Neal, Angelina Saied, Reagan Nicks, Giselle Martinez
Boys Team Race Preview
Canyon, one of the overall best team in Texas will be in this race. You'd think that would give them an easy go at it, but this is Region 1 and the only thing that guarantees is that it'll be harder than it should be.
The Canyon boys won last year's state title and didn't lose much for this season. They have three evident leaders in Alexander Niemiec, Lathan Lewter, and Ryan Fernandez. These are all sub sixteen-minute runners and should go 1, 2, 3. That's just one positive note on this squad. The other is that their four through seven runners can all run within 15-20 seconds of one another.
Despite the good things to like about Canyon, don't expect the rest of the region to bow down. Five of the top ranked 4A boys teams are in Region 1-4A. Canyon is No. 1, but No. 2 San Elizario, No. 4 Dumas, No. 5 Andrews, and No. 6 Sanger are all aware that only four of them will be able to qualify for Round Rock.
San Elizario is synonymous with Texas cross country state titles, Dumas and Andrews have been good for the last several years and this year they both have four boys who run tight.
The reason this region can easily crush state meet dreams is because these teams know how to run the right way. Outside of the five ranked teams there are four more really good squads who can get to the state meet and possibly podium if they do.
Borger has their top three boys who can run within 10 seconds of one another, Randall has a low stick number one and then four boys with in 20 seconds, Perryton has their top five splitting 0.40 seconds, and Hereford has their number two through five splitting 0.36 seconds.
There is very little room for error no matter who you are; one team with an error or and/or another team with a really good day can throw everything you think you know out of whack.
Favorites: Canyon, San Elizario, Dumas, Andrews, Sanger
Sleepers: Borger, Randall, Perryton, Hereford
Boys Individual Race Preview
This should look like a Canyon tempo run at the front of the pack. Niemiec, Lewter, and Fernandez can fly. However the chase pack should be - - packed. San Eli's duo of Julian Guerra and Angel Maese could push the next group.
Favorites: Alexander Niemiec, Lathan Lewter, Ryan Fernandez, Julian Guerra, Angel Maese
Sleepers: Santiago Buendia, Noah Williams, Brian Corona, Riley Roman, Sam Musgrave