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In 2023, the Waxahachie boys had arrived at the level of running they aspired and at the same time worked to get to. They were running as one of the top teams in 6A, and in all of Texas for that matter.
Waxahachie was able to produce good team averages and on a good day could do that and dip under 60-seconds for their 1-5 split.
The Indians were young and fast, just the way coach Edward De La Cruz had pictured their development to go.
However, there was one hiccup in their season's story and that was their fifth place finish at the Region 2-6A Championships. As we all know, only the top four finishing teams advance to the state meet and Waxahachie, who didn't have their best day was on the outside looking in.
We are now going on week five into the 2024 cross country season and Waxahachie is currently ranked No. 8 in 6A. After last year's disappointing finish, six of the seven runners from 2023 return, including their No. 1 runner and senior Graham Scott and junior Lucas Whitt who was able to individually qualify for the state meet last season.
This weekend will be the team's second run of the season. Their first was four weeks ago at their own meet, the Waxahachie Woodhouse Invitational. That's where they finished second overall to 10th ranked Coppell.
At Southlake, they'll face several top ranked Texas teams as well as national powerhouse programs from Arkansas, California, and Oklahoma.
Heading into this weekend, Waxahachie seems to have a calm and cautious approach to everyday. Despite how quiet this team runs and goes about their business, there is still a confident aura about this team.
The Indians opened up with a 15:57 team average with a 51-second gap just over a month ago. This weekend, they'll attempt to improve on that first performance and mix it up with the big boys.
There are a lot of sub 16-minute and sub 60-second boys teams in Texas; don't forget that Waxahachie is one of them.