Griffin Cords finished first in the boys 2-mile at Southlake Carroll
The final track time trial of the early cross country season hosted by Southlake has commenced. The thought of learning as much as we could from two mile races on the track might have given us some insight we hoped.
Again, not that running around the track in August means much, it's fun to prognosticate and suggest things based on the results. The anticipation is more so when it involves teams like Southlake Carroll, Flower Mound, and the other DFW area teams.
So, while transferring the results from track to the grass are not absolute forecasts, here is what happened today.
Girls Recap
Ava Cole (Flower Mound) is a state champion and is looking to win another team title this fall with her top ranked Jag teammates. The senior should be the No. 2 runner, but the leader until her classmate Alexandra Fox gets into action.
Last week, Cole opened up her season with a two-mile race at the Byron Nelson Cross Country Invitational with a win. Her time was 11:14, which is a solid early season run on grass. We wondered if she would be able to show her speed/fitness with a solid run on the track.
She did exactly that and it bodes well Flower Mound. With a winning time of 10:50.31, it was not only a win, but a personal best for Cole lowering her previous best from 10:56 from the fall.
Cole's route to the win didn't start off with an aggressive pace; her first lap was only 1:17.10 giving her the 16th position. Cole's championship pedigree displayed patience as she continued to move up until she was leading. She came through the the 1600m at 5:22 and maintained the lead thanks to a 5:28 final four laps.
Ava Cole (1249) finishes first at the Southlake Carroll 2-mile
Savanah Moya (New Braunfels) finished second and although 14 seconds back, this was a good sign for Moya. While not eclipsing her 10:59 PR, the sophomore speedster showed good fitness after coming off a busy summer track season where she ran 2:13 and 4:36 (1500m). Moya was another patient starter; her 1:17 first lap had her in 17th place, but she moved up every lap en route to her runner-up finish.
Abigail Stucker (Keller Timber Creek) was the third place finisher behind Cole and Moya. Once she found her rhythmm, she was able to rattle off nearly consistent paced laps. Her time of 11:07 is a personal best and although on the track, it is faster than her 11:16 on the grass last week at Byron Nelson.
Southlake Carroll Girls
The big puzzle piece we were looking at was how the CCCAT No. 2 ranked Southlake Carroll team would look.
The results weren't what some might have thought and show that while the season is here, it is still just late August and Carroll is still getting the pieces together for real running.
The best finish from Carroll came from sophomore Abigail Perez. Perez went for a 11:09 PR thanks to a fast 1:15 first lap split. She came through the first 1600m in 5:25 and paired with a 5:34 second half of the race.
It was junior Luna Gutierrez who was the second Dragon to cross the finish line. She was 22-seconds behind Perez' finish in 11:31.
Depending how you look at it, with Perez and Gutierrez going 1-2 for Carroll, that could be a good sign. The flip side of the coin could be a little more pessimistic as that top two predicted runners for Carroll this season in Elizabeth Smits and Sarayu Veluri weren't 1-2.
Smits was the team's third finisher with a time of 11:31 and Veluri was fourth in 11:33. The two went out fast and carried the pace as leaders through the first half-mile with laps of 1:13 and 1:24. They would settle into a rhythm on laps three and four with 1600m splits of 5:27 and 5:31.
The bright side of things for Carroll is this race means nothing. Even if they crushed it, it would all be forgotten when November and December roll around.
On the positive side of things, the compression from the the top five was a good sign as they were still able to execute finishing in a pack.
After Perez' 11:09, the No. 2- 5 runners were all within four seconds of one another. The 1-5 split was approximately 27-seconds. Just a guestimation, on grass this would result in about a 18 high team average.
We'll see what their follow up performance is like in two weeks at the Southlake #1 Inv.
Boys Recap
While the race wasn't quite as fast as last year, the first three finishers in the boys race were still pretty impressive for August.
Griffin Cords (Carroll), Cooper Lutkenhaus (Justin Northwest), and Zachary Brumfield (Wylie) finished 1-2-3 with Cords running 9:20, Lutkenhaus going for a 9:26 PR, as well as Brumfield dropping a PR at 9:26.59.
Cords was one of the early leaders at the front of a huge pack going through the first lap in 1:05.10. He continued to lead coming through the halfway point in the front a 4:35.11 after dropping a 1:08.05 fourth lap; his second fastest behind the first lap.
The senior Carroll Dragon would not look back and finished with a steady 4:45 back half.
Lutkenhaus continues to develop his running portfolio. The rising sophomore has already added a 4:14 1600m race to his resume and now a 9:26 continues to show his talent level is through the roof. He used his speed to run a sub 60 second final lap.
As a freshman, the Northwest HS star ran 22.1 in the 200m, 47.3 in the 400m, and his 1:47.58 freshman class national record and Texas state record. His longer distance capabilities continue to evolve with his development. Last week, he ran 9:56 on a two-mile grass course at the Byron Nelson XC Inv.
Cooper Lutkenhaus (1333) and Zachary Brumfield (1442) run personal bests at Southlake Carroll 2-mile
Brumfield, the Wylie junior is another runner who continues to progress. His 9:26 Saturday was only his first eight-lapper on the track. On April 16th, he ran 10:08 on grass at the Rock Hill Twilight.
The cross country season will be a huge piece for Brumfield who ran 15:41 5K personal best, but focused on the 800m last track season and dropping several 1:54 runs. With Lutkenhaus, he dropped the hammer on the last lap to run under 60-seconds.
Southlake Carroll Boys
Without projected No. 1 runner Caden Leonard and No. 2 runner Blake Bullard not competing, the supporting cast is what was on display this weekend.
The reason this group is important is because of the dominance Southlake Carroll has had on the Texas cross country scene over the past four years.
Carroll and The Woodlands had begun to re-write the standard for winning in 6A. The team average and compression to win continues to develop and the streak of average and split is an impressive requirement.
It is looking like a sub 15:55 and sub 50-seconds might get you close to the podium and it just might not.
Carroll's recent titles has the competition pushing to reach the formula and the pressure is on.
Carroll is a program that continues to reload every year. The development is real, but coming off their fourth consecutive win and a third place finish at NXN, there is very little room (less than ever) for any weakness.
We knew Cords was going to be a major piece and his ability to run 9:20 wasn't a surprise. He figured to be a top three piece this seasons.
Alex Severson is another who figures to be a scoring runner for Carroll, but it is the five through seven spots who possibly need to be able to run under 15: 40 this season.
Severson ran 9:27 on Saturday morning. While he only ran 9:27, it was more of a solid race than the final time reflects. He was right with Cords stride for stride for the majority of the race. A final 800m of 2:28 that was the difference from him finishing with Cords.
What provides encouragement for Carroll to stay on top in Texas and possibly push for another top five NXN finish are the next four finishers on Saturday.
Freshman Kai Gutierrez might be called upon to step up and compete despite not having neither varsity level nor national level experience. Gutierrez ran 9:35, eight seconds behind Severson.
Michael Fuller, Hudson Lowry, and Grant Norgart finished fairly tight. The trio along with Gutierrez within eight seconds of one another and had a 23-second compression from 1-6.
That depth and pack would need to together through 5,000m of grass and alternative terrain, but this was a really good performance and the development process for this squad is worth the interest in this team.
Wylie Boys
Wylie has been a very good program and the results from Saturday look encouraging for the upcoming season.
This is another program who has developed and graduated top talent who many are on D-1 collegiate programs.
Brumfield showed they have a legit all-state contender, but there was more from this squad that will make Region 2-6 even more difficult for four teams to advance to state.
Senior Austin Jackson was Wylie's only other runner to dip under 10-minutes, but juniors Landon Cooper (10:00), Thorne Owen (10:02), and Hudson Donnell (10:05) were just over that mark.
That group ran within nine-seconds of one another and 45 seconds within Brumfield.
If this group can continue to develop and get faster while staying close, their top five look to possibly be impactful and can make a push for the state meet.
Prosper Walnut Grove Boys
While Region 2-5A is tough with teams like Lovejoy, Frisco Wakeland, Frisco Reedy, Melissa, Kingwood Park, and more, Prosper Walnut Grove might not be figured to be a challenger out of the region.
However, their results on Saturday might show that she should be.
Sophomore Andrew Miles ran 10:03 for a personal best, but he was joined by Gabe Logan (10:06) and Jaxson Hart (10:10) who were all in close proximity with him.
Teammates Christopher Riley Case (10:26) and Sebastian Seifert (10:32) weren't too far behind.
While the times aren't astronomical, for August they are promising for a new school. They could be the works of what progress could turn into a challenging team down the road.