Vandegrift and Round Rock runners compete at the Marcus Coach T Inv.
Last weekend, some of the state's more well-known and long standing meets kicked off with good teams and great performances. Early-season races don't always give us the best idea of how competitive certain teams will be when it matters, but they do give us an idea of where teams are strong and where they can improve.
August racing is a time to knock off the rust, that's no secret. But if someone looks good in August, they quickly put the rest of the state on notice. So, let's take a look at some results from last weekend's meets and see who stood out and put the rest of the state on notice.
Austin Vandegrift Shine at Marcus Coach T Invite
Last weekend Austin Vandegrift made their first trip out of the Austin area for an early season challenge at the Marcus Coach T Invitational. The Coach T Invite has been one of the more well-known early season meets in the Dallas area as some of the state's better teams are usually in attendance. That was no different this year as several well-known teams attended including Round Rock, Coppell, Lucas Lovejoy, and Flower Mound.
Coming into this meet, Vandegrift appeared to be the class of the field as they're the CCCAT #3 team. But with some other ranked teams in attendance, there was a possibility for the Vipers to be pushed. However, that possibility didn't come to fruition as Vandegrift easily came away with the victory on the team side with just 43 points. The Vipers ran together at the front and were in control of the race from the moment the gun went off.
Senior star Hudson Haley led the team as expected, finishing second in a time of 14:48.00. Haley has had two solid races to start the year and looks to be on course for another title-contending campaign. The most impressive runner for the Vipers this weekend was junior Kai McCullough who finished fourth overall in a time of 14:53.00. I had McCullough pegged as a pivotal factor in Vandegrift's success this fall and he's quickly shown that he's up to the challenge.
Outside of their front-running duo, Collin Goodwin finished tenth in a time of 15:15.00, Christian Cruz-Castro finished eleventh in 15:20.00, and Jackson Stafford rounded out the top five in 15:31.00. Vandegrift finished the weekend with a team average of 15:09 and a 43-second split which places them as the state's top team.
The main thing the Vipers appeared to lack was a definitive 1-2 punch, but Haley and McCullough have quickly proven that assumption wrong. Vandegrift were impressive last weekend and look for them to continue churning out solid performances as the season goes on.
Ruel Newberry Lights Up the Time Sheet
Roughly every few seasons we tend to see a freshman or sophomore breakout and put on some outstanding performances. However, none of them have been more outstanding or faster than Ruel Newberry who set the fastest time in Milesplit history for a freshman over 5000m. While the new Marcus Coach T Invite course is proving to be one of the faster courses in the state, nobody runs 14:46.00 as a freshman ..... except for Ruel Newberry.
Given the fact that he's a freshman, Newberry hadn't raced a ton heading into this weekend and the most we got out of him were back-to-back 2-mile races.
The first of these races was the Plano ISD Invitational which he won easily in a time of 9:43.00. He'd race again the next week over the same distance at the Byron Nelson Cross Country Invitational where he took home another victory, this time in an improved 9:19.96.
Newberry had been impressive heading into this weekend, but his previous performances wouldn't have led you to believe he'd run this fast. Not only did he run fast, he ran at the front with some of the state's best, including last year's silver medalist Hudson Haley and 1600m bronze medalist Joaquin De La Cruz and he beat both of them.
Running 14:46.00 wins you the state title over the last few seasons and that's undoubtedly what Newberry will be aiming for after this performance. Ensuring he peaks at the right time will be vital to his success this year but he's at a program with Coach Trenton Phelps that knows how to nurture elite talent which bodes well for him.
Newberry ran with both the pace and maturity of someone several years older than him and that's extremely impressive. This performance immediately catapults him into the state title conversation and it'll be interesting to see what he can do as he continues to race against the state's best. His performance was quite literally historic and Denton Guyer looks to have yet another generational talent on their hands.
Round Rock Remain Consistent and Live Up to Their Preseason Ranking
One of the teams that was harder to rank heading into this season was Round Rock. The Austin area outfit has been one of Region IV's better teams over the last decade, but the loss of some key pieces made them difficult to rank. However, Round Rock came out of the gates with a solid performance against some of the state's better teams, including one ranked near them in my preseason rankings.
The main question I had for Round Rock coming into this year centered around what this squad was going to look like with the loss of Kebede Kerlin. The loss of Kerlin necessitated someone stepping up to fill that role and that's exactly what happened this weekend.
They came away with second place as a team at the Marcus Coach T Invite and had some standout performers that bode well for their aspirations this year.
The first of these standout performers was sophomore Andrew Esparza who led the team this weekend with a time of 15:35.00 which saw him finish 19th. This is a marked improvement from his previous personal best of 16:18.70 and shows that he's stepped up to lead his team.
The second of Round Rock's two standout performers was freshman Leo Brasil who finished directly behind Esparza in a time of 15:36.00. That's a super impressive time for only your second race as a freshman and Brasil looks like an exciting injection of youth into this Round Rock lineup.
Round Rock come away from this weekend with a 15:46.00 team average and a 33-second split to their name. They once again look like a safe bet to make it out of Region IV and have some exciting youth to go along with it. Round Rock continues to be one of the state's most consistent teams and that's what makes them stand out.
Tompkins Retain Form Despite Massive Losses
Over the last decade, the Katy Tompkins program has developed into one of the state's best with a combination of elite individual talent and outstanding depth. This story was the same in 2023 as the Falcons had two outstanding individuals in Parker Wood and Griffen Saacke to go along with some great depth.
Tompkins ultimately finished 4th at the state meet and they looked set to reload with another podium contending team this year.
Unfortunately for Tompkins, things don't always go according to plan and circumstances can change and they fell victim to that coming into this season. The loss of Parker Wood was expected, however, the loss of 3200m state qualifier Griffen Saacke wasn't. This created an uphill battle that this Tompkins team was going to have to fight heading into this year as the loss of their top two runners plus some critical depth wasn't ideal.
However, the Falcons have quickly proven that they're more than up to the challenge of winning Region III and making it back to Round Rock. They debuted over 5000m at the Seven Lakes Invitational last weekend and they've largely retained their form despite such severe losses. Tompkins finished the weekend with a team average of 16:18.00 to go along with a 44-second split on a course that tends to be harder than it looks.
Sophomore Carter Maloy was the team's top finisher in a time of 16:00.00 which got him seventh overall while senior Diego Reyes was one position behind in 16:03.10. Matthias Pitzel also had a solid race in tenth where he ran 16:07.40 and provided valuable points.
I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't very optimistic about Tompkins heading into this season given the amount of talent they lost.
However, after this weekend they look much better than expected and I think this team has a real shot to win Region III again and make it back to Round Rock with ease. Teams may fade but programs endure and that's exactly what this great Tompkins program has done to start the year.