Over the last week, some of the state's top teams gave us their first look at their lineups heading into this season. Most recently, Bridgeland gave us a look at their lineup heading into 2024 and they looked more than impressive.
The Bridgeland Midnight Deuce isn't your normal time trial, it has a big meet feel, and coach Kevin Waters goes all out to provide a great atmosphere. For starters, the race is run in the middle of the night at exactly 12:00 am and the starting gun is replaced with a bell tower's ring. Additionally, the track is completely dark for the first 800m aside from lights that line the inside of the track. While this setup is far from normal considering it's only a team time trial, it creates an enjoyable atmosphere in what would otherwise be a forgotten early-season workout.
We've already covered this year's Bridgeland team extensively in our preseason rankings where they came in at No. 3. The Bears also hold the No. 2 individual rankings spot with Benjamin Montgomery and the No. 10 spot with new addition Griffen Saacke. We know Montgomery is going to contend for the state title this fall after winning the 3200m in May, and Saacke should provide valuable support as he finished eighth in that same 3200m to go along with finishing 25th in Round Rock last year.
The Bears also have several strong support pieces heading into this season with guys like Kyle Pawlak, Maddox McCallister, and Nazim Benguedda having strong sophomore campaigns.
Heading into the Midnight Deuce, there was a lot of hype surrounding what Bridgeland could do as this year feels like it could be their best chance to win a state title. Two interesting things heading into this time trial are the fact that Bridgeland generally has a longer base-building phase of their training and we don't normally see them run on fast courses early in the year if at all. Given these factors, it'd be reasonable to see their results from this weekend as a baseline to work from.
When the clock hit midnight the Bears got out hard with Montgomery taking to the front and coming through the first 400m in 67 seconds. He went through 800m at 2:16 and finished the first 1600m at around 4:35. As the race went on Montgomery remained smooth and even split his way to a 9:10.10 to start the year.
As expected Griffen Saacke came in behind Montgomery, Saacke led the second group through 400m in 68 seconds and came through 800m around the 2:20 mark. As the race went on Saacke gradually separated himself from the second pack and came home to finish in 9:29.73, looking incredibly smooth the entire race.
Behind Saacke, Bridgeland got the chance to showcase their depth which is going to be key for them this year with the top three teams all having great low sticks. Kyle Pawlak led them home in third place with a time of 9:35.98 which was nearly a personal best for him.
Fellow juniors Nazim Benguedda and Maddox McCallister finished close behind with Benguedda clocking 9:36.74, a six-second personal best, while McCallister clocked a 9:37.82 which was only one second off his personal best. Layton Carlisle had an amazing race and came home sixth with a three-second personal best in the form of a 9:40.27 to round out this junior quartet.
As for the number seven spot, sophomore Dean Rosales narrowly beat out Tyler Weston to close Bridgeland out with eight guys under 10:00 to start the year. Rios ran 9:50.48 while Weston clocked 9:50.86 in a sprint finish.
Bridgeland's top-fourteen finishers and their improvements from last year's time trial:
Benjamin Montgomery: 9:28 to 9:10.10 (18-Second Improvement)
Griffen Saacke: 9:29.72 (New Addition)
Kyle Pawlak: 9:55 to 9:35.98 (20-Second Improvement)
Nazim Benguedda: 9:56 to 9:36.74 (20-Second Improvement)
Maddox McCallister: 9:56 to 9:37.82 (19-Second Improvement)
Layton Carlisle: 10:34 to 9:40.27 (54-Second Improvement)
Dean Rosales: 10:44 to 9:50.48 (54-Second Improvement)
Tyler Weston: 10:30 to 9:50.86 (40-Second Improvement)
William Montgomery: 10:02.24 (New)
Braden Greenaway: 11:26 to 10:03.57 (83-Second Improvement)
Ilyes Benguedda: 10:10.79 (Freshman)
Patricio Torres: 13:30 to 10:13.80 (197-Second Improvement)
Brett Sturgis: 11:55 to 10:34.00 (76-Second Improvement)
These results are impressive independently but when you take into consideration the sizable improvements that have been made it makes Bridgeland even more intriguing.
One interestingly important thing to note is that Griffen Saacke matched Benjamin Montgomery's time from last year's time trial. Knowing this, if Saacke can continue his evolution into what we expect him to be, Bridgeland could be in an incredible spot with their two low sticks.
Another surprising thing that we didn't necessarily expect to see in this outing was how close Bridgeland's depth was able to run in comparison to Montgomery and Saacke. Their 1-7 split comes out to 40 seconds, with their 3rd and 6th runners finishing under five seconds apart. This is big for two reasons, the first is that this shows they can run close together in the portion of the field where championships are won and lost. The second is that this shows the Bears have made an effort to close the gap between their low sticks and their depth which is going to be where the state title is won this fall.
Two names to watch in Bridgeland's depth group are Nazim Benguedda and Layton Carlisle. Benguedda had a great spring season and looked incredibly smooth throughout this race. He never appeared to be struggling and at times looked like he could've pushed the pace even more.
Carlisle on the other hand showcased a monster improvement from last year's effort. What stuck out about his effort in particular was his ability to hold onto the pack at times when most others wouldn't be able to. With roughly 1k to go, he looked to slowly be falling off the pack, however, he kept himself attached and was rewarded with a huge improvement.
This was truly an impressive effort from the Bears and surprised many of us even though they already came into the season ranked No. 3. This team looks dangerous and if they can stay healthy they look to have a legitimate shot to take the fight to the top two and battle for the state title this fall.