Macy Wingard crossed the finish line first at the 2023 UIL 6A state meet
Over the next couple of weeks, we will bring you our preseason thoughts on the top 10 girls in the UIL 6A classification. These will be girls we expect to lead the season individually, especially in the early goings.
With the graduation of perhaps the best distance class the state of Texas has ever ever seen when it comes to accomplishments and performances, the top spots are open for new state leaders.
Macy Wingard is only a junior this year, but her resume is full of performances that already establish her as one of the state's best.
In 2022, only as a freshman, the Denton Braswell harrier hit the scene early running 18:07 to a meet win in mid-August at the Plano ISD Invitational and backing that up a week later with another win at the Cowtown Challenge with a time of 18:11. The first week in September at the Marcus Coach T Invitational is when she took her first loss when she produced a runner-up finish, but it took a 17:08 from a senior to beat her. Wingard turned in turned in a 17:15 performance of her own; that was the first of six straight sub-18-minute 5K races.
She ended the season with a 10th place finish at state, which was her slowest race of the year. The Braswell Bengal would bounce back and qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) where she placed 43rd overall.
Photo by Roderick Pernetter/MileSplit TX
On the track that year, Wingard produced a 7:01.54 in the steeplechase at Texas Relays, which at the time was the No. 5 all-time Texas performance. Despite not qualifying for the state track meet, she ran season bests of 2:22, 4:57, and 10:37.
The upcoming 2024 cross country season will see Wingard as the top runner in 6A and the second best in the state thanks to a fantastic freshman season that led to an even better sophomore year.
She won the 2023 UIL 6A cross country state championship by turning in a 16:57 personal best in Round Rock; she also improved her finish at NXN to 18th place and running six-seconds faster than in 2022. That was the last race of the season for Wingard and the slowest at 17:59. Prior to that, she had run 17:25 or faster all season long.
The cross country state meet win isn't the only reason for intrigue around Wingard this cross season. The track season last spring was even more successful and much faster the second time around.
She qualified for state in the 1,600m and 3,200m and medaled in both. Wingard's success was cemented as the state runner-up in both events with PRs in Austin - 4:50.52 and 10:17.71; she added a 2:16 best in the 800m.
This fall, Wingard will try to defend her UIL 6A Cross Country state championship and she will have solid chances to do so. Only two Texas girls are still in high school who have beat Wingard in a championship event (Elizabeth Leachman and Alexandra Fox).
