The reining state champions Plains boys get ready to take the starting line at the 2023 Region 1 Championships
The Lubbock Invitational is always a huge meet. They hold it on the Region 1 Championship course, so of course many want to get their runners a preview and run through on the course.
The Mae Simmons Park course isn't the easiest of courses in the state and it's probably the most challenging regional qualifying course in the state.
The draw is simple and it means many of West Texas' best and the Panhandle's top teams and individuals will duke it out as a mini regional preview.
Here are some teams we'll be on the lookout for:
Girls Team Preview
1A girls
Region 1-1A is always loaded. There are many teams in the smaller divisions in the Texas Panhandle making it very competitive.
My reason for saying that is because the four state meet qualifiers from the Region 1-1A placed second, fourth, sixth, and seventh at the state meet last fall.
Team runners-up Jayton at the state meet took a big hit from graduation as they lost three of their top seven runners. They do have Jace Chisum who was second at state as a sophomore.
The only runner to beat Chisum last year in cross and on the track was Taytum Goodman. Chisum was the runner-up in cross country and the 1600m and 3200m.
Springlake Earth beat Jayton to win the region last year and was fourth at state. They now begin the post Taytum Goodman Era. Working in their favor is they do return five girls from last season.
Nazareth was sixth at the state meet in 2023 and tye return all seven girls. It will be interesting to see what they look like.
Lenorah Grady placed seventh as a team in Round Rock last year. They only return all seven girls as well.
Isabella Jaime
2A girls
Christoval was third at state and the Region 1-2A runner-ups. The majority of their team is back as they return six of seven including Presley Polk who finished ninth at regionals.
Farwell were the region champs last year. They return state meet individual state champ Isabella Jaime. They senior is difficult to beat as she is a multiple state track meet qualifier in the 400m.
Alexis Wade was fourth as a freshman and for more power in the lineup, they return six of seven runners from a state meet fifth place team.
The Panhandle showed they are more than sprinters and hurdlers. Their third place regional finish earned them a trip to state where they were sixth last year and return all seven runners. Riley Segura was 36th at state and Addison McCoid was 40th.
Gruver is always in the hunt. They were fourth in Lubbock in October to get to Round Rock. They were - ninth place at state; led by Jordan Schenk, they return six of seven girls from 2023.
3A Girls
The 3A girls defending champions Holliday will be present in Lubbock. Individual regional champ Kenli Atwood is joined by four other returners including several sophomores who press Holliday into the next era.
Dalhart was the runner-up at Region 1-3A and fourth at state last year missing the podium by one point. They will press to podium this season as they return six girls.
Canadian was fourth at the Region 1-3A championships last year. They will compete this weekend to get their girls another prep session for this year's regionals. All seven of their girls return including five seniors. Konnar McClendon leads the squad.
Canyon Randall girls race at 2023 Region 1-4A Championships
4A Girls
Even though Canyon Randall to the loss to Dumas at last weekend's meet at Borger, they are still the reigning regional and state champions.
We spoke to Coach Rebekah James earlier this week and she talked about the advantage her girls get by racing at the Lubbock ISD Inv. on the Mae Simmons Park course.
The Lady Raiders return six of seven girls including region and state second and third place finishers Brooke French and Nayomi Granados.
Regional runner-up and state meet fourth place finishers Canyon is mixed with experience and youth. Last year's group were mostly freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Now, they're a year older and wisers. They do have some younger girls who will benefit from this meet.
Addyson Bristow was the region and state individual champion last year and she'll be a force for the Eagles. Avery Brown was the 2022 state champ in her sophomore year, but missed racing and fitness most of the year with an injury. However, she is back!
The Dumas girls missed out on the state meet last year after finishing fifth at regionals. Mia Lujan did qualify individually, but she graduated.
Nevertheless, they are back and possibly with vengeance. They knocked off the state champs last weekend at Borger. It's time for the following act; we'll get to see how they look in Lubbock.
5A Girls
Lubbock Monterey was fifth at regionals last year. They did graduate their top girl in that race, but the rest of the lineup is ready to run-it-back!
Look for Reese Pena (Lubbock) to be a factor in the individual race. She was third overall at regionals and her senior year could be the best yet of her career.
6A Girls
Since we mentioned Pena for the 5A girls, we'd be remiss to not include Coppell's and Maya Easterwood.
So far, all she has done is rip two 17-minute runs this season and is near dipping under the barrier altogether.
Boys Team Preview
1A boys
The Jayton boys almost won it all last year. However, they were in the runner-up spot, but only o by five points to Slidell. They return six of their seven runners from 2023, so this will be their chance to get back on top.
O'Donnell was seventh place at state, but only return three boys from that team
Wellman-Union was 12th place team finishers at state last year. They return Cam Arendall who was 12th individually as well as the rest of that entire lineup.
Texline was the 14th place team at state they return all six runners who ran at state coming back.
Plains went on to win regionals and state in 2023a
2A boys
Plains won it all in 2023. They were led by Sawyer Hamilton who finished seventh individually as well as Jeremiah Gonzales who placed eighth individually.
They return a total of five of seven runners from 2023, but a major loss in Jhoan Menjivar will have to replaced for them to stay sharp.
The Big Lake Reagan County boys were third at the regional race last year to qualify for state. Now, they're replacing three seniors to make a run to get back to Round Rock. They had three freshmen and a sophomore last year, so that could be a strong foursome.
Eldorado is another group to look out for. They were fourth at regionals last year. With two senior on the back end of their top seven, they should be in good shape. We'll get to see this weekend.
3A Boys
Jim Ned finished sixth at state last year. Freshman Kenny Pritchard took home all-state honor individually with was sixth overall finish.
Lubbock Roosevelt is enjoying program history level success. They won the region to qualify for state last year and were able to finish eighth. This is their home turf and they only graduated one senior from their top seven, so expect their goal to be improvement on last year's results.
Presidio will travel up from the border near the Big Bend National Park area. They only managed a 12th place finish at state, but were securely in fourth at regionals.
Their top runner, Eddie Flores graduated, but they have the rest of that lineup back.
Holliday were the region runner-ups and finished fourth at state. They'll be in Lubbock to get a run on the before October, but they won't have the regional champ and runner-up Strohman brothers this weekend.
4A Boys
After finishing third at regionals last year, Dumas was ninth at the state meet.
They'll be in Lubbock this weekend, but they're having to replace two of their top runners including No. 1 Brian Corona.
Andrews was fourth behind Dumas at regionals and 15th at state and they're also going to have to insert two runners into the top seven after graduation.
5A Boys
None of the state meet qualifying teams from last year are competing this weekend. However, fifth place finishers Abilene is. They ran extremely well at the Marcus Coach T Inv.
They graduated elite runner Andruw Villa who is at Abilene Christian and Karter Batten, but John Alcantar is on another level this year. He ran 15:29 last week.
6A
The 6A boys race is like the 5A boys, without a state qualifying team.
However, the fifth place team from last year Coppell is going to get a pre-regional run.
They ran a 16:15 team average and a 44-second gap last October. They ran a 15:52 team average last week at the Marcus Coach T Inv.
Let's see how they perform this weekend.