2023 Girls 5K Race
Texas A&M Teams You Want To Keep A Lookout For
At last year's Texas A&M Invitational it was Madison Peters from Pearland taking the girls individual win in 17:43 and Benjamin Montgomery (Bridgeland) taking home the boys win with a time of 15:29.
Peters graduated and ironically is currently on the Texas A&M roster as a freshman. So, a new girls winner will be crowned in College Station on Friday morning.
There are several girls who are already having a good season and a win at Texas A&M would be a good step forward heading into the most of the busiest part of the season.
With that said, there isn't a shortage of talented girls who can fly. Massive talents will toe the line and race it out on a legitimate collegiate cross country course.
There are three girls entered who have already run sub 18-minutes this season. Dana Rojas Vasquez (McAllen) began the season with two runs in the 17s with her 17:42 and 17:53 runs.
Joining her are Rowan Saacke (Bridgeland) who just ran 17:55 last week on a hilly Brenham Hillacious course and freshman homeschool athlete Elin Latta South Texas Heat Homeschool). Latta ran a 17:58 in Memphis two weeks ago.
To go along with that trio is a gang of state meet qualifiers from last season.
Yazmin Guerra (PSJA Southwest) is certified and grabbed a medal last season at the UIL 5A state met. Guerra finished in eighth place with a 18:19 and then had a stellar track season going for 2:19, 5:06, and 10:59 PRs.
Sophomore JJ Arellano (Leander Rouse) placed 16th in the same UIL 5A race as a freshman and Brooke Marshall (Montgomery Lake Creek) placed 51st individually.
Last year's UIL 6A state meet finalists in this race are Emma Wade (Vista Ridge) - 31st place, Sophia Nguyen (George Ranch) - 33rd place, and Laney Nash (Tomball) - 34th place. I expect all three girls to be front pack runners early on in the race.
Wade had one of the best high school track seasons in Texas last year when she earned a third place medal in the 1,600m at the state track meet. Her season best runs were 2:12, 4:50, and 10:44.
Elin isn't the only Latta in this weekend's races. Her sisters Addyson, Iris, Reese, and Remy are all competing as well. Iris Latta (South Texas Heat Homeschool) has a Texas top 25 ranking with her 18:11 race at the City Auto MEMPHIS TWILIGHT XC CLASSIC, only finishing behind Elin.
Yesterday, we talked about the teams. We mentioned that there are several private and parochial schools to go along with the UIL and homeschool teams.
Those teams bring some outstanding individual athletes who will be impactful. There are also some 1A-4A UIL teams. These schools compete in their championship meets at two-miles, so we will see if they're in the 5,000m race or the two-mile race. No matter which distance they get in, they have girls who are fast no matter which race they run in.
Sophia Bendet and her Randolph teammate Aubrey Milam have impressive resumes. Bendet is the reigning defending UIL 3A cross country state champion. She ran 11:13 to win last fall and Milam was fourth in 11:44. So far this year, Bendet has already dropped a 10:40 and Milam has gone 11:36.
Brooklyn Albert (Poth) is another one of the best UIL 3A girls; she was 12th at last year's state championship.
Yet, another is outstanding talent in Texas is Micaela Villarreal and when she is healthy and fit, she is without a doubt one of the best. The Antonian senior has a sub 18-minute 5K on her resume in her career and she is the back-to-back TAPPS 6A individual state champion.
Cade Harris (Salado) and Rilyn Grona (Fredericksburg) will lead their teams to another UIL 4A team battle, but that battle begins individually with those two front runners.
Harris was the fourth place finisher last season and Grona was eighth at state. These two might run the two-mile, but we've seen both coaching staffs stack their teams with 5,000m races until mid-September before.
2023 Boys 5K Race
As we mentioned last year's winner Benjamin Montgomery is back. I expect him to run even faster than his 15:29 winning time from last year. I don't think this is a very fast course, but the way he made the Brenham course look easy was scary.
So, is there anyone who can challenge the Bridgeland star? Here are some guys we think have a shot if there is anyone who does.
The first person on my list is all-state runner Camden Gibson (The Woodlands College Park). Prior to the season, Gibson got a nod on the MileSplit Preseason Boys All-State team and he will be one runner who will keep Montgomery from running away with this race.
He was ninth at the UIL 6A state meet last season finishing with a time of 15:19 before focusing on the 800m and 1,600m races on the track. He finished fifth at this meet last year with a 15:58.
Aledo senior Jack Fink was right behind Gibson at this meet last year when he finished sixth in 16:08. He is already ahead of the pace with his run last week at the Southlake #1 XC Invite where he ran 15:49.
Essentially, for same reason I expect Montgomery to be nearly dominant over the course I am looking for the same from Griffen Saacke. With only one race as well, he has already filled the box score with his 15:43 run at Brenham.
Cole Gildersleeve (Montgomery Lake Creek) busted open his season when he went 15:46 at the Run the Dog Pound Invitational 2024.
There are also several guys who already have sub 16-minute performances this season. At the top of the list is Zachariah Morin (Elkins) who has already run 15:49 this season at the Seven Lakes Showcase two weeks ago.
Then there is Zachary Mangum (Georgetown), another MileSplit Preseason All-State selection and he already ran 15:50 at the Pro-Fit Cross Country Invitational.
Other Boys To Lookout For:
Luke Anderson (Salado) - 15:51 this season and was 29th at 4A state
Coulson Boyd (Salado) - 15:51 18th at 4A state
Roehl Rodriguez - McAllen Memorial - 15:53 this year
Aiden Faz (Barbers Hill)- 19th at 2023 5A state meet and went 15:58 last weekend
Grant Currier (Richmond Foster) - 15:53 this year
Jeremy Gaitan (Houston Lutheran South) - 12th at TAPPS 5A state
Reid Toner - (Houston Lutheran South) - 13th at TAPPS 5A state
Titus Gill (San Antonio Homeschool Spartans) - 16:02 this year - runner-up at 2023 HS Championships
Brandon Timms (Tilden McMullen County) - 10th last year at state