Reese Massey (Marble Falls) is having a very good freshman season
Every week we will bring you members of either the freshman and sophomore classes who are having a good season and who we believe might become leaders or stars in the sport
Tomorrow is right around the corner, but the future is already here and we are getting a glimpse of it with the future runners who will be the next to take the helm.
In the mid 1980s (well before any of the competitors were born), when the band Timbuk3 released their only significant mainstream hit, "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades."
That is how I feel about the several members of the 2027 and 2028 class of distance runners.
Below are six girls and six boys who have already shown the propensity to take over the state of Texas with their abilities and talents.
Girls Future Stars
Coach Ray Baca is no stranger to infusing new and young talent into his Canyon program. Despite being a just a 4A school, Baca and his staff have helped develop a pipeline from their middle school ranks that transitions well to the high school level.
Morris is a class of 2027 and looks to be a transfer from nearby Happy and looks to be fitting in well with the team. She ran a personal best 11:47 two-mile at the McNeil Invitational.
Barraza is just a freshman, but she is right on time for El Paso Franklin. For a program looking to extend its state meet qualifying streak out of Region 1-6A, quality youth is important.
Barraza looks to be rounding out into that runner. She is in the top seven and her last two races have been at two of the most competitive meets in the state and all she did was run personal bests of 18:48 and 19:44.
Cahill is at a well-known program at The Woodlands that graduated some good talent. The freshman is taking the right steps from the McCullough Middle School feeder to the Highlanders level.
Massey is another freshman hitting the ground running and doing it fast. The Marble Falls youngster has three quality two-mile races, 12:33 and 12:46 that were before her 11:57 PR from last weekend's McNeil Inv.
With two individual wins and a seventh place finish at McNeil, Massey is a real competitor.
She had really good runs at the middle school level and it has transitioned very well to the varsity level.
Last week, we highlighted a different
Smithson Valley freshman, and now Fonseca has made herself undeniably recognizable herself.
Her best performance is a 19:02 from last week at McNeil, but it is closely followed by 19:15 and 19:16 runs. Smithson Valley has solid podium chances because of Fonseca and their other young talent.
Boys Future Stars
Goodwin is GOOD! A member of the class of 2027, he made his presence last year as a freshman, but he is one of the top runners on one of the top teams in the country.
Vandegrift has been so consistent thanks to Goodwin's contributions. He has four runs under 15:40 this season including a 15:18 PR from the Lovejoy XC Fall Festival.
The Mansfield Legacy program continues to develop talented runners and McCain will get the chance to have four years in a program that is on fire.
So far this year, he already has four sub 17-minute races out of his five runs this season. He has a 16:09 personal best run so far this season.
De Leon is on a strong and sud filled squad with so many experienced junior runners. However, he made an impression from day one on the McAllen team.
He did it by going 16:20 in his first race of the season. As he continues to gel with the team, he is making McAllen better and even more dangerous of a team.
Tuscola Jim Ned sophomore Pritchard had a good freshman year. He finished it with a 16:22 run at the UIL 3A state meet where he finished sixth individually.
He has seen progress already this season with three sub 16-minute runs including a 15:33 PR and 15:49 in the last two races.
Loweree ended his freshman track season with some good runs, but he began his sophomore cross season with some bombastic times.
The El Paso Eastwood sophomore popped the season off with a 15:18 run and also has a 14:33 run on the season that despite the accurate distance, he was competitive against some outstanding talent.
Mugambi is looking like a state meet favorite out or Region 3. He was third at the Preview and finished second in the McNeil Silver race.
