Bryce Denton, Matthias Peterson and Jason Wade will compete this weekend at Nike South
The Nike South Invitational is always at the end of September/first of October. The significance of the timing of the meet is because it is after a good month of strong competition and a month away from the end of the season.
Nike South typically grabs the teams who are excited about their chances at the upcoming Nike Cross South Regional. That is the big reason the big Houston teams are usually in attendance along with DFW teams and some out of state competition.
That is exactly what we have in the field this weekend.
The likes of hosts The Woodlands as well as Flower Mound, Southlake Carroll, Northwest Nelson, Boerne Champion, and Kingwood are all competing as is Parkview Baptist from Louisiana.
Here are twelve girls and twelve boys we believe could win the elite race and teams who could heavily impact the race.
Girls Individuals
Alexandra Fox (Flower Mound)
With all that's new and all that is going on throughout the state, it is easy to forget some of the seniors who are running less frequently than most, so far.
Fox is one of the runners who can get overlooked; she has only ran in two races this season. Those races were three weeks apart, but after giving it a go last week, she is scheduled to get at it again this weekend.
The senior ran 18:03 at the Marcus Coach T XC Invitational on the last day of August and last week turned in a 16:23 three-mile race at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic. She was third in this race last season, but can definitely win this weekend.
Ava Cole (Flower Mound)
Now is the time for Cole and she is making it count. With Fox being absent in many races this year, she has carried the torch and leadership role for the Jaguars.
She has 17:43 and 17:52 performances this season and a 16:27 three-mile from last weekend's Woodbridge race. It would be slight surprise if Cole doesn't win this weekend's race.
Taryn Elmer - Marcus
Elmer's last race on this course was at the NXR South race last November and that was to the tune of a 19:39 PR.
She has been crushing it all season long and has run faster than that previous personal best in four of five races this year. Last week was possibly disappointing as she only ran 20:22 at McNeil.
Nevertheless, she has 18:11 and 18:12 races in the books from this season and should get back on track in The Woodlands.
Clara Dye (Kingwood)
Coach Dye had Kingwood gradually warming up to 5,000m and Clara did just that. It looked like she was nice and ready for her first 5K and her performance reflects it.
She dropped a 18:38 last week at McNeil to finish 16th in the Gold race. The Bear Branch Park course isn't necessarily fast, but it is an easier and could still result in swift new PR for Dye.
Emma Goetz (Tyler Grace Community)
Adeline Bennett (Flower Mound)
Reyna Heisserer (Northwest Byron Nelson)
Heisserer is just hundredths of a second away from being a sub eighteen-minute runner. She ran 18:00 and 18:41 in her 5K races this season.
She leads the No. 4 ranked 6A team Nelson as one of the top teams in the state. With a showdown with the No. 1, 2, 7, 9, and 10 ranked 6A teams, look for Heisserer to be on it this weekend.
Jamie Klander (Katy Mayde Creek)
Klander was fifth last weekend at the McNeil. Inv. That was the lowest she's finished in a race this year, but it was in 17:58.
The Mayde Creek junior won every other race this season and two of them have been in 17:46 and 17:51. She will be facing her second straight race with elite talent.
Stoya Laydevant (The Woodlands)
Laydevant can bring the speed! She ran 17:57 last year at NXR South and this weekend could be her first sub 18-minute run of the season.
With 5,000m runs of 18:11 and 18:22 this season, she blazed a 16:45 last weekend at Woodbridge. With 4:57 and 10:42 track PRs, the quicker the race the better for Laydevant. With several DFW area girls who like to take it out, this could be a very good run for the The Woodlands' to runner.
Marian Mann (Klein)
The Klein senior is building off the track season improvement she showed last spring.
She started with 18:33 and 18:45 runs at the beginning of the season and impressively ran a 18:02 PR last weekend at the McNeil. Mann's previous PR was a 18:24 at last year's Nike South race, so she could drop under 18:00 this weekend.
Abigail Stucker (Keller Timber Creek)
Stucker is having a good senior year. She has 18:32 and 18:53 best runs this year.
Not racing as many DFW girls this weekend could put her in a good position within the race. I figure her to be in one of the lead chase packs. That makes me optimistic on her chances of getting another PR.
Lucy Cramer (Parkview Baptist)
The majority of the girls this weekend will not know who Cramer is, and that could be to her advantage.
She is a defending Louisiana LHSAA cross country state champion and has 2:22, 5:00, and 10:48 abilities. She could be in the mix of this race.
Girls Teams
Flower Mound
Flower Mound is not only the four-time consecutive UIL 6A team champions, but they are fresh off their win at last weekend's Woodbridge Inv.
That helped them to become the No. 1 ranked team in the country in the COROS MileSplit50 Rankings. It looks like they have a full team running again this weekend and they'll be hard to be stopped.
Southlake Carroll
Carroll is still ranked No. 2 in 6A, but should they be? Well, we won't find out this weekend as they won't be racing with a full squad.
The Dragons will race without their No. 1 and No. 2 runners, but the rest of their top seven are competing and we'll get to see how deep the Dragons are.
Kingwood
The No. 7 ranked Mustangs have solid leadership and good coaching.
Senior Eliana Contreras and junior Clara Dye are coming off a good run last Saturday at McNeil when they ran 18:33 and 18:38 to lead the team to a 19:47 team average.
That isn't exactly what Kingwood had in mind for an average or for a spread with their 2:47 gap. Somehow and someway, this program finds a way to get it figured out. We'll see what they work out for this weekend because this team definitely is talented...they're not ranked for no reason.
Katy
Coach Darcey has Katy rolling again. His Tigers will get their stiffest test of the year this weekend.
The No. 9 ranked 6A team in the state has their leader, senior Victoria Guerrero along with Lauren Acopa who both can run tight. They'll see how well the back of their pack holds up against the elite teams in the state.
Northwest Nelson
The Byron Nelson will be racing with a complete squad this weekend. It hasn't happened often this year, but they'll have Heisserer, MJ Novelli, Elena Sather, and the rest of their big dawgs or cats.
Nelson knows Flower Mound, Carroll, and Marcus well, but they'll get a good look at the other top 10 ranked teams in this meet (The Woodlands, Kingwood, and Katy)
The Woodlands
The Woodlands kept Northwest Nelson off the podium last year by one point. They'll face off again this weekend.
The Highlanders are running well and their No. 5 ranking could be too low.
They ran a very good race last weekend at Woodbridge going for a 17:20 average and a 1:11 gap. They opened up with a 19:10 average at Brenham and quickly lowered that to 18:59 the following week at Lovejoy.
Marcus
The No. 10 ranked Marauders cracked the top ten and then had their worst race of the season at McNeil. Well, it happens.
This program and the coaches know how to pick things up as good as anyone. We've seen Marcus run well and run fast this season, but this will be a good mid season exhibition on how relentless this group can be.
A late September race usually doesn't hold much weight on the totality of the season, but this could teach them what they need to know heading into the championship season.