For any athlete that has hopes of competing in Round Rock in November, they first must make it through the Region 3 Course. Kate Barr Ross Park is test for any runner that puts their foot on the line.
Today we are going to be breaking down each race and highlighting some performers from the region who could have impacts this weekend in Round Rock.
The teams and athletes mentioned below have earned a chance to compete at Old Settlers Park. Having being tested on this hard course will set these athletes for success at the UIL State Championship.
6A Girls
New Texas A&M signee Madison Peters does what she always does and won the 6A division in a course record 17:23. She was then followed by Rowan Saacke running sub 18 (17:57). Look out for these two ladies as they have a shot of being in the top 10 at State.
Rounding out the podium was Julia Shimel leading Kingwood girls to another team win. In regards to the team battle, the (CCCAT) No. 5 ranked Kingwood squad ran to the victory over the Atascocita girls by 16 points. This was a closer race than what people thought it was going to be with Atascocita's great performance.
I believe the Atascocita girls could land a top 8 spot at the state meet with this kind of performance. Grabbing the last two state qualifying spots were LC Clear Falls and the Katy girls. These teams finished with 134 and 140 team scores respectively.
6A Boys
The 6A boys race this year was exciting due to how close the podium finishers were. Only a twelve-second difference was the gap between first and third.
The individual regiona champ this year was Matthew Montgomery (UNT commit) with a blistering 15:11. Coming in right behind him was University of Missouri commit Sam Golla who also led Clear Lake to a 2nd place finish.
Rounding out the podium was Parker Wood coming in at 15:23 (two seconds off a PR) on this tough regional course. Taking the team win in 78 points are the No. 5 ranked Katy Tompkins boys. On the right day at state, these guys could be looking at a podium finish in Round Rock.
In a close battle, Katy took second place over Clear Lake by 14 points.
Being the biggest surprise arguably across the state, the Deer Park boys took the last state qualifying spot by 8 points. Most didn't even have them in the top seven going into the meet
On a wet and muddy regional course, it was Delaney Ulrich taking the regionals win in 18:47. She stepped it up from last year jumping from tenth to become regional champ.
Ulrich was followed by Sophomore Morgan Campbell with a 19:47. The third, fouth, and fifth place finishers were all from No. 4 ranked Georgetown High Girls. Dennie Decker, Ava Sieckmann, and Melia Flowers solidified their team win by having three in the top five.
Georgetown was followed up behind by No. 3 ranked College Station girls finishing with 67 points. These two teams should be followed at the state meet possibly getting on the podium.
Rounding out the state qualifier spots were the No. 8 ranked A&M Consolidated girls and the Friendswood Girls finishing third and fourth respectively.
The 5A boys race was an exhilarating race on the individual side and the team side. Seniors Nolan House (Georgetown), University Of Houston signee Zade Kayyali, and Sophomore Aiden Fitzgerald were all together until the 3-mile mark.
At that point, Nolan took the lead and didn't look back. Kayyali and Fitzgerald were together until the finish shoot where Kayyali barely outkicked his teammate. They all ran under 16 in muddy conditions, Nolan (15:43), Zade (15:52) and Aiden (15:56).
Georgetown dominantly won the team race, scoring 65 points. This could easily be a podium team in Round Rock if they can add one more consistent race to this season's tally. Following Georgetown it was a very close race within the 2-5 team race. Friendswood ended up getting 2nd, proving doubters wrong. Richmond Foster ended up on the podium having a great team outing. In a crazy finish, 4th and 5th place positions were separated by 1 point. It turned out to be between College Station and Barbers Hill. Ultimately after all of the recalculating the College Station boys ended up snagging the last state spot.
After the mile, Sophomore Cade Harris took the race over and took the win in a 12:06 2 mile. She improved on her freshman year time by 1 minute & 17 seconds. Placement wise she dropped 28 places.
Surprisingly the second place finisher was Junior Adison Richard running a 12:06. The reason this performance was shocking is she wasn't ranked in the top 10 before the Regional meet. However, she made a case for her not to be overlooked heading into Round Rock.
Rounding out the podium Vania Martinez of Gatesville ran a 12:22 to lock up the bronze. The Salado Girls easily took the team win having three runners in the top 10. The battle for silver was close between the Huffman Hargrave Girls and Bullard Girls. Huffman barely grazed by 5 points to get silver. With the podium being taken that left Burnet having an amazing day to claim the state qualifying spot.
Junior Luke Anderson led from the gun and didn't look back. While he had a chase pack behind him, they couldn't reel him back in ultimately ending with him getting gold. Anderson crossed the line going sub-16 with a (15:59). That left a tight battle for 2nd between Victor Aviles and Connor Graves who were chasing Anderson. Aviles crossed the line outkicking Graves for a second place finish.
The Salado Boys followed suit with the girls by taking the team title. However, a difference here is that it was a tighter race only besting Giddings by 18 points. The Hudson Boys ended up with a bronze, making state for the first time in years.
Hudson has been a deep team for several years only missing state due to different circumstances. When the boys got the results after the race, they had the biggest smiles on their faces (and rightfully so). The Huffman Hargrave boys barely clinched the last remaining state spot with another close battle between fourth and fifth.
3A Girls
Senior Makayla Stephen continued her post-season success from last track season by taking the win in Huntsville. She made big improvements in placements moving from 20th to the regional champion.
Stephen was followed by sophomore Brynleigh McFarlin for reserve champion. Only a couple of seconds behind her was freshman Jessika Valdez. These girls are going to have a foothold in 3A for the foreseeable future.
The team battle between East Bernard and McGregor was close but ultimately East Bernard won by a minimal 3 points. The Lorena Girls locked up the bronze with Eustace following for the last state spot in 3A girls.
3A Boys
The 3A Boys race was led by Seniors Chris Kopecky, Carlos Jose Cortez, and Benjamin Castro. They were all in a tight pack until the Kopecky broke away and Cortez followed. In a kickers finish Kopecky barely outkicked Cortez by 3 seconds.
Rounding out the top 3, Castro had a large improvement over last year's regional race. He shaved off 1 minute and 31 seconds.
To no surprise, the Eustace boys took home the team win and look to compete for a team title in Round Rock. They were followed by East Bernard grabbing silver. Rounding out the state qualifying spots were Clifton in 3rd and Troy in 4th.
2A Girls
It was Senior Emily Pharris' race to win, coming through the finish line in 12:25 for 2 miles. In a close kick race for second she was followed in by Cassity Turner then by 1 second Yarida De Leon crossed the line for 3rd.
All three girls should make their presence felt at the state meet and could eventually end up on the podium.
The Cross Roads girls took the team region win scoring 109 points. The next four teams after the region champs were very close together. Shelbyville ended up getting silver with 135 points. There were only three points that separated third through the fifth place team finishes. That left Groveton getting bronze in 140 points, and Union Grove girls snagging the last team spot with 143 points.
2A Boys
Junior Marco Cunningham dominated the 2A field running a 15:51 mostly by himself. He was then followed by Tenaha's first runner Misael Hernandez who landed 2nd overall with a 16:37 finish.
Rounding out the top three was junior Dakota Hinkle in a kick-to-the finish.
There were no surprises in the team standings as the Tenaha boys reigned supreme totaling a low 43 points. These boys should be a team to watch having championship aspirations after just missing out last season by seven points for their runner-up state meet placement.
New Summerfield ended up in second overall spot with a 134 team score. Wrapping up the final two state spots were Waco Meyer and Chireno, scoring 167 and 179 team scores respectively.