Matthias Peterson is the leading runner for Northwest Nelson
Coming in at the number seven spot in this year's preseason team rankings is our first new entrant into the field. Over the last year, Northwest Nelson has proven to be one of the best teams in the state on paper as they regularly show up near the top of team score rankings.
Despite this, they failed to make the state meet last year, even with two individual qualifiers. This is a huge reason why their ranking in this particular view doesn't match where they are on paper. Being fast on paper is one thing, but being able to capitalize on that potential is another, and something far more important.
However, this year's Northwest Nelson team feels like one that's going to atone for last year's mistakes and push their way up the field in Round Rock.
They have another year of high-level experience under their belts, and they return much of last year's talent. So, let's dive into what makes this year's Northwest Nelson team different and see why they look poised to make a run at the state meet.
In Texas, every top team needs a top individual talent if they want any chance of competing at the highest level. Whether it be Caden Leonard, Hudson Haley, or Benjamin Montgomery, any team that has a shot at winning the state title has that guy who's going to score in the top three.
And like these teams, Northwest Nelson has their own low stick in the form of returning senior and elite all-around distance talent Matthias Peterson.
Since his sophomore year, Peterson has emerged as one of the state's most well-rounded distance talents. His ascension started during his sophomore cross-country campaign where he closed out his season by running his current personal best of 15:03.10 which earned him the victory at the Teams South Regional Championship. Throughout that season, he also broke the 16:00 barrier three other times. Naturally, this set him up well to have a monster track season and that's exactly what he'd go on to do.
He had an amazingly consistent season over 3200m where he ran 9:26 on three separate occasions and finished with a seasonal best of 9:26.04. Peterson also mirrored this consistency in the 1600m where he regularly ran right at the 4:20 mark and finished with a seasonal best of 4:19.47 which made him one of the top sophomores in the state that year.
Last cross-country season, the goal for Peterson would've been to replicate his consistency from the previous year, but at a faster pace and that's what he did. He routinely ran in the 15:10s and 15:20s and finished sixth at the UIL 1A-6A Region 1 Championship in a time of 15:21.60 which earned him a spot at the state meet.
The state meet was disappointing for Peterson as he'd only finish 102nd. However, he bounced back at the NXR South Regional Championships where he'd finish 16th in a time of 15:18.30 and would take some nice momentum into the spring.
In the spring, Peterson wasn't as consistent as the previous year but he more than made up for it with how fast he was able to run. He set new personal bests of 4:14.00 over 1600m and 8:55.56 over 3200m, the ladder being one of the best times in the state.
Coming into the fall, Peterson has all the momentum in the world, and look for him to have an even bigger year than last, due in large part to what he showed us on the track.
Jason Wade figures to be the NW Nelson No. 2 runner again
As mentioned above, Northwest Nelson has not one but two returning qualifiers from last year's state meet. The second of these is senior Jason Wade who comes off a junior season which saw him make sizable improvements across the fall and the spring.
Wade has always been a solid contributor for this Northwest Nelson squad, but he came out of the gates hot in 2023 and used this momentum to run his way to his first state qualification.
He had a great race at the loaded Lovejoy XC Fall Festival where he ran 15:33.70 to finish 21st and backed it up by setting a personal best of 15:22.30 at the UIL 6A-District 4 championship soon after.
Arguably his best performance of the season came at the regional meet where he ran himself into an individual qualifying spot by running 15:47.30 to finish 17th overall. Much like Peterson, the state meet turned out to be disappointing, but Wade would bounce back at NXR to run 15:56.30.
This performance gave him some momentum heading into the spring and he'd go on to capitalize on this. Wade would come away from the spring with new personal bests of 4:19.85 over 1600m and 9:20.35 over 3200m. These times demonstrate a continued evolution for Wade, and I think that if he and Peterson can continue to build on their momentum they can be one of the better 1-2 punches in the state this year.
Outside of their top two, Northwest Nelson also brings a solid 3-4 punch in the form of juniors Liam Bengtsson and Jackson Bellm. Bengtsson dipped under the 16:00 mark for the first time last year by running 15:59.01 at the Southlake #2 XC Invite. He also had a great track season which saw him run 1:57.18 over 800m and qualify for the regional meet which is never an easy job.
Bellm also had a solid season last fall which saw him narrowly miss out on breaking the 16:00 barrier. He ran 16:02.32 at the Southlake #2 XC Invite and also had a solid track season to back it up. Bellm ran 4:25.21 over 1600m and 9:41.49 over 3200m, times that a lot of teams would do a lot to have their projected #4 guy running heading into the fall.
Rounding out the top five for Northwest Nelson is Chase Hope who holds a personal best of 16:20.00. While the fifth runner can often be forgotten, Hope will play a valuable role in displacing the teams behind Northwest Nelson in what's sure to be another tough fight to qualify out of Region 1.
This year's Northwest Nelson squad is such an interesting squad to look at for a few reasons. They have all the talent in the world and should make the state meet fairly easily, but their inability to capitalize with a similar team last year is worrying.
All of their guys had consistent seasons and were able to run fast all year, but they couldn't put it together at regionals where they finished sixth. While the margins were incredibly fine, that region is very unforgiving so they'll have to make sure they can treat it like they do any other meet and they should be fine.
Ranking them at No. 7 after not making the state meet last year is a bit nerve-racking, however, this team looks too good on paper to pass up. It'd be one thing if they had a wildly inconsistent season last year, but their guys were consistent and just didn't have a good day on the most important day.
I have faith that they'll get over that hump this year and qualify for the state meet as they've got momentum and confidence heading into the fall. Their paths are also directed by Coach Greenier and Coach Benton, each who have won UIL cross country state titles at other schools.
I think this year's Northwest Nelson team will atone for last year's mistakes, and use all the talent and momentum they have to make it out of Region 1 and compete at the state meet. For now, I'll accept the risk of putting them at No. 7, but this team has a lot to be excited about and they should get over that regional meet hump this year.