UIL Region 1-2A Championships
WATCH Texas UIL State XC Championships
November 3 - 4, 2023 at 8:00 a.m.
2A Girls Individual Preview
In Region 1-2A, it was Farwell junior Isabella Jaime taking the regional title in 12:29. Last year's fifth place finisher looks ready to climb the awards stand this weekend.
Also out of Region 1 is Kiley Barrera (Plains) at 12:46 and Alexis Wade (Farwell) at 12:48 who could both press for the podium.
Cameron Belcher (Windthorst) and Emma Walterscheid (Muenster) went at it again at the Region 2-2A race. These two have had some back and forth runs, but Belcher used patience to hold back from a fast early pace to come back and take the region win in 11:49 with Walterscheid second in 12:10.
The defending state champion Emily Pharris (Shelbyville) captured the 3-2A Championship with a 12:25 run. She was followed by Cassity Turner (Cross Roads) in 12:41 and Yarida De Leon (Chilton).
Emily Bartek and Goldthwaite teammate Payten McGee took the first two spots by dipping under 13-minutes going 12:56 and 12:59.
2A Girls Team Preview
Team wise, it was defending state champions Hamilton taking a solid punch from Muenster at Region 2-2A and still coming out on top by 10 points.
They dropped a 12:29 team average just over Muenster's 12:34. The splits were also impressive and makes them look like podium repeats. Hamilton had a 29 second deviation and Muenster was at 57 seconds.
Also out of Region 2 was Stamford with a good run. They used a 13:05 team average to get the third spot and qualify for state.
Farwell also looked good coming out of Region 1-2A with their 13:15 average.
Two teams who could push for the podium are Goldthwaite and Christoval.
Goldthwaite was eighth last year at state, but won Region 4 with a 13:39 average and last year's fourth place finisher Christoval had an impressive run at Region 1 in 13:30 and with a 38 second split.
2A Boys Individual Preview
If the state meet is anything like Region 1-2A Championships then it will be an exciting race.
Dwight Don Juan (Quanah) edged out Jeremiah Gonzales (Plains) for the Region 1-2A title 16:14.70 < 16:14.90.
At Region 2-2A it was Caden Thurman (Wolfe City) who again won the title while dropping a 15:46 in the rain. . . . again. Thurman wasn't able to grasp the cross country state title last year and that has to be his emphasis this weekend.
It was Marco Cunningham (Waco Meyer) winning the Region 3-1A with a 15:51 run. He won by over 40 seconds and will look to continue his season of major development. Cunningham could pose a serious challenge to Thurman.
Ganado senior Alan Baez Corpus won Region 4-1A. The top returner from last year's state meet at third place went 17:00 for the win. That could have just been him ramping things up the state meet.
2A Boys Team Preview
Defending state champions Plains ran exquisitely at the Region 1-2A championships. They went for a 17:10 team average and a 1:28 split, which is lower from the state meet last year.
Sunray was second in Region 1 with 18:40 with a 1:11 split. Their top three runners finished back-to-back-to-back. If they get a boost from the five spot, they could push for a podium finish.
Wolfe City won Region 2-2A with a 17:32 team average and a 2:31 split. They were sixth last year at the state meet and that is without Thurman finishing. Look for them to climb this weekend.
Last year's runner-up team finisher Tenaha scorched the Region 3 course by blasting a 17:30 team average and a 1:31 split.
Is Port Aransas back? They didn't have the meet they're used to last year, but they were in complete control of the Region 4-2A Championships with their win and 18:43 team average. Look for Coach Reaves to get the most out of them this weekend.
