Since we're now several weeks into the season, all of the teams ranked in the preseason have given us an idea of their fitness level. Some have come out of the gates and impressed, while others still have work to do if they want to end their season on a high in Round Rock. While some teams may not be in prime shape at this point, I feel there's been enough racing to analyze how the competition in the 6A division is shaping up.
For this analysis, I'm going to use CCCAT's first poll for the rankings. While I have my own set of rankings, CCCAT updates theirs throughout the year and this will give us an easier way to track these teams' progress as the season goes on. Now that we've established the rankings and the situation, let's dive in and see how the state's top 6A boys teams have fared so far.
1. Southlake Carroll
Not much historical context needs to be given to explain why Southlake Carroll started the season at number one. The Dragons have achieved a level of dominance over the 6A division that we haven't seen since the mid-2010s. They returned several key contributions from last year's state championship team, including state champion Caden Leonard and fourth place-finisher Blake Bullard. The Dragons are renowned for their ability to develop talent and their culture has once again proven to stand the test of time.
Southlake Carroll started their season at the Southlake Carroll 2 mile where they didn't run their full squad. Still, we got our first look at their number three man Griffin Cords who ran 9:20.65 along with several other depth pieces who will play a key role this year. The debut of Carroll's full squad came at their home meet, the Southlake #1 XC Invite. The 2023 edition of this meet played a huge role in establishing the top players for both state titles last year and the same was expected this year.
The Dragons came away with the win last weekend, scoring 47 points against some stiff competition and showing why they've retained the top spot heading into this year. Caden Leonard took home the individual victory while Blake Bullard finished fifth. Carroll came away from the weekend with a team average of 15:12 and a 62-second split, both stats showing once again why this team continues to lead the pack in Texas' top division.
2. Bridgeland
The Bridgeland Bears out of Region II came in at number two to open the season according to the first CCCAT poll. While this was a surprise to some, the Bears have quickly and quietly grown into an emerging powerhouse out of the Houston area. They won the Region II championship last year and returned their entire team, including 3200m state champion Benjamin Montgomery. On top of this, Bridgeland also added 3200m state qualifier Griffen Saacke to the squad, giving the team one of the best lineups in Texas.
Bridgeland opened up their season at their annual Midnight Deuce, a two-mile time trial in mid-August designed to feel like a real meet. The results from this meet were impressive as Montgomery ran 9:10.98, and the top-six runners averaged 9:31.24 to start the season. The Bears recently debuted over 5000m at the Brenham Hillacious Invitational, known for being one of the toughest courses in the state. Not much was expected in the way of time, but Bridgeland still managed to impress.
The Bears came away with an easy victory, scoring just 25 points on the way to an easy victory over The Woodlands. Benjamin Montgomery broke the course record by running 15:12.90 and Griffen Saacke came in second by running 15:42.70. The Bears finished with a team average of 15:51 and a 59-second split on one of the state's toughest courses and dominated one of their main regional rivals. They have a big meet coming up this weekend at Texas A&M, and so far they look to be living up to expectations.
3. Austin Vandegrift
Austin Vandegrift has long been the class of Region IV and came into this season ranked third, and expected to continue that trend. The Vipers finished second at last year's state meet and returned individual runner-up Hudson Haley along with their young core that emerged last season. While Vandegrift came into this season ranked lower than they finished last year according to CCCAT, they've looked very impressive and are right in the fight for the state championship.
Vandegrift has raced the most out of the state's top teams so far. Their debut came at their annual Silver vs. Black time trial where they looked strong over the 3000m distance. They debuted over 5000m shortly after at the Vista Ridge Cross Country Invitational where they scored just 18 points on their way to an easy victory. Hudson Haley, Kai McCullough, and Collin Goodwin finished 1, 2, 3, and gave the Vipers an impressive start to their season.
Most recently, Vandegrift competed at the Marcus Coach T Invitational where they once again took home the team title by a comfortable margin. They scored just 43 points and finished the weekend with a team average of 15:09 and a 43-second split which gives them the best team average in the state. While Vandegrift may have been missing a piece or two over the last few years, that doesn't seem to be the case this year. The Vipers look to have a great shot at the state title and we'll see how they evolve as the season goes on.
4. College Park
College Park came into the season ranked in the number four spot after a strong finish to their 2023 campaign. The Cavaliers finished fifth at the state meet and returned a ton of talent heading into this year including Camden Gibson. They've proven to be one of the state's most consistent and enduring programs and they look set to make another push for the podium this fall.
Despite their ranking coming into the season, we've only seen them race most of their full squad once. The Cavaliers ran most of their squad, including Camden Gibson at the College Park XC Invitational which was a 4000m rather than the traditional 5000m. Gibson came away with the victory in 12:19.00 while James Hadwin and Kaden Barney finished sixth and seventh respectively. College Park finished second as a team behind The Woodlands as they missed out on key points in the 10th-20th range.
While it hasn't been a very active start to the season for College Park, we've yet to see their full squad so it's hard to get a measure of their true potential. They came on late in the season last year, and from the looks of it, that's probably what we'll see from them again this year. We'll see them this weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational where they're slated to face off against No. 2 ranked Bridgeland so we should have a better grip on their performance by Saturday.
5. El Paso Eastwood
As I covered in their recent team spotlight, El Paso Eastwood has been the premier force out of the Far West for the better part of a decade. They've shown to be a great producer of talent across the 5A and 6A divisions and that's continued with the likes of Aidan Torres in recent years. Eastwood came into the season ranked No.5 according to CCCAT and their results have been impressive to start the year.
Eastwood opened up their season at Canutillo XC Invitational where they took home the victory. They scored just 26 points and finished with a team average of 15:21 and a 64-second split to start the year. They soon followed this up with another victory at the Twilight XC Invitational where they scored 37 points and came away with the victory. They averaged 15:52 as a team and had a 70-second split, with Torres leading the way in 14:59.71.
Eastwood most recently competed at the San Elizario/Tornillo XC Invite where they once again came away with the victory. Aidan Torres added another race win to his growing tally and this team looks to be legit. While their region is always tough, they've proven they can run fast and relatively close together across multiple courses. If Eastwood can ensure they stay consistent as the season goes on, they should be competitive in Lubbock and Round Rock later this season.
6. The Woodlands
Along with Southlake Carroll, The Woodlands has become famous for being one of the state's few teams to sustain a period of dominance across multiple seasons. While the Highlanders may not quite be at that level this year, they return a solid team that looks to bring a renewed fight for the Region II crown. They have a good young core to go along with one of the best coaches in the state and have started the season off on the right foot.
The Highlanders opened up their season at the College Park XC Invitational where they took home the victory ahead of No.4 ranked College Park. They ran together extremely well and that's what ultimately allowed them to secure the victory against their crosstown rival. Elton Martin led the way in second place while Tyler Hedgepeth finished third to give The Woodlands a strong 1-2 punch that will only help them as the season goes on.
Most recently, The Woodlands took on the challenge that is the Brenham Hillacious Invitational where they finished second to No. 2 ranked Bridgeland. They finished with a team average of 16:13 to go along with a 44-second split. This year's team looks to be an upgrade from the 2023 team, and I wouldn't be surprised to see this team continue improving as the season goes on. I wouldn't be surprised to see them move up the standings and start making their way back toward their former glory in Round Rock this year.
7. Northwest Nelson
Northwest Nelson was the first team to come into the year ranked despite having missed out on the 2023 state meet. While an outsider may view this as being high, this team possesses a ton of talent and they've proven they can fight with the state's best. They returned the elite talent that is Matthias Peterson and have started the season with results that would be indicative of a team making a push to be in Round Rock this November.
Northwest Nelson opened up their season at the Byron Nelson Cross-Country Invitational where they competed over the 2-mile distance. They came away from this race with a victory and a team average of 9:40 to go along with a 25-second split. Next, they traveled to the Southlake #1 XC Invite where they again showed that they could hang with the state's best. Matthias Peterson came away in third with a time of 14:57.60 while the team finished second with a team average of 15:31 and a 48-second split.
Northwest Nelson has done everything they needed to do to start the season. They've been consistent and have given themselves two huge confidence boosts heading into the thick of the season. This team looks to have fixed the pitfalls of last year's squad and they should make the state meet with this current form. Matthias Peterson has continually proven to be one of the state's best and look for him to be the catalyst for their success moving forward.
8. Waxahachie
The second team to miss out on the state meet and come into the season ranked was Waxahachie. They proved to be a solid team that could run fast times in 2023, however, they narrowly missed out at the regional meet in tough conditions. Luckily, they've returned much of their squad from last year and have looked impressive to start the year. They have all the necessary contributors to make a run at the state meet and their season has started on the right foot.
Waxahachie opened up their season at the Waxahachie Woodhouse Invitational where they finished second as a team behind Coppell with a team average of 15:57 and a 51-second split. This gave them their first taste of ranked competition and they'd go on to face similar competition at last weekend's Southlake #1 XC Invite. They'd ultimately finished sixth in Southlake but once again came away with some solid numbers in the form of a 15:58 team average and a 45-second split to go along with it.
Graham Scott has proven to be a great individual talent for this team and he'll be key to their success going forward. They've looked fast at the courses they've run but I would like to see them run more difficult courses to be properly prepared for the regional meet in October which is held on a sneakily difficult course. For now, Waxahachie has had a fast start to the season and it'll be interesting to see how they progress and prepare for the upcoming championship season.
9. Katy
One of the more surprising things to come out of Region III last year was the emergence of Katy. The Tigers had produced some solid individual talent over the last decade, but could never quite get over the hump when it came to contending at the top of the state. However, this year's team looks to be continuing the trend set by last year's team as they've had some solid results led by their top returners Joshua Perez and Ryder Darcey.
The Tigers opened up their season at the 22nd Annual SA Patriots Invitational where they placed second as a team behind one of the best 5A schools in Boerne Champion. They finished with a team average of 16:27 to go along with a 64-second split which gave them a solid start to the season. Most recently, Katy competed at the Strake Jesuit XC Invitational where they came away with the victory over No. 4 College Park who did not run Camden Gibson. The Tigers finished with a team average of 16:25 and an 82-second split.
Overall, Katy looks to be in a good position to make it back to Round Rock out of what looks to be a weak Region III. They have a solid chance to win the region and will likely fight with rival Katy Tompkins for the top step of the podium. I feel like this year's team is another sleeper like the 2023 team, and I think if things go well and they run closer together they can surprise a lot of people over the back half of the season.
10. Coppell
Rounding out the CCCAT preseason top-ten was the fourth Region I team and another one that narrowly missed out on the state meet in 2023. Much like some of the other teams on this list, Coppell has proven to be one of the more consistently solid teams over the last few years. They routinely have solid individual talent and great depth and that looks to be the formula for this year's team to start the season.
Coppell opened up their season at the Waxahachie Woodhouse Invitational where they came away with a strong victory to start the year. Pranav Vegiraju won the individual race in 14:59.90 while the team average sat at 15:47 with a 72-second split. Coppell then went on to compete at the Marcus Coach T Invitational where they placed third as a team behind Austin Vandegrift and Round Rock. Most recently, they competed at the Lubbock ISD Cross-Country Invitational where they scored just 17 points and came away with the victory.
Coppell looks to have retained their solid form from last year and looks set to make another run for the state meet. While it'll always be tough to make it out of Region I, this team looks good and they have all the qualities of a state-caliber team. Getting as close to the front as possible is going to be the key for them and if they can do that, I think we should see them in Round Rock this November.