At this point of the season, there are now only three meets remaining in the 2023 cross country season. They are the National Championship races of RunningLane, NXN, and Foot Locker.
Yesterday morning at the Foot Locker South Regionals, individual athletes in southern state competed at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On the girl's side, it again was Boerne Champion sophomore Elizabeth Leachman running away with the victory. Her 16:33 win qualified her for the championship race in two weeks, which will take place in San Diego, Ca.
Leachman's margin of victory was the shortest of the season. She crossed the line 27 seconds ahead of Abby Faith Cheeseman from Bell Buckle (TN). The Tennessee junior, formerly of Fort Worth Christian in middle school was the second place finisher in the competition and advanced to another Foot Locker Championships.
Joining Leachman from Texas will be senior Samantha Humphries (Flower Mound). Humphries qualifies for Foot Locker for the first time in her career, joining her sister's 2022 qualification. Humphries placed seventh with a time of 16:57 to qualify.
Also with a strong run was UIL 3A girls state champion Sophia Bendet. The Randolph junior continued to run well this season as she dropped a 17:39 5K personal best to place 19th overall.
Boys
For the first time in several year, there will not be at least one Texas boys representative at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. That doesn't mean the South Regional Championships wasn't without good Texas efforts.
The UIL 3A boys two-time champion Noah Strohman (Holliday) placed 15th in 15:13. The sophomore had a pause in early September to his 2023 season due an to early season injury.
Strohman was able to get back to action at the Region 1-3A Championships when he ran 15:46; he followed that up with 15:31, 15:13, and 15:13 successive runs.
Not finishing in the top twenty places, but still representing well were seniors James Butler (Del Valle) and Renne Cooper (Austin Brentwood Christian Academy). Butler placed 27th with a 15:30 run and Cooper placed 30th in 15:31.