Region 1-3A Girls
In 3A, Kenli Atwood (Holliday) won the 2023 regional title and went on to finish eight at the state meet.
Well, she is back and Atwood has the top time in the region this season with her 10:56 run from her district meet.
Other top returners from the region are Konnar McClendon (Canadian) who was the fifth place finisher last year and went on to grab 19th at state.
McClendon has been crushing it this year and she has the region's second best run at 11:11.
Other top 10 returners from last year's regional meet are Sammi Kirkland (Holliday), Lillian Rumbo (Ingram Moore), Circe Johnson (Dalhart), and Kyla Rangel (Crane).
Joining Atwood and McClendon entering the meet and already under the 12-minute mark this season are Sarah Spears (Holliday) -11:41, Anahi Machuca (Holliday) - 11:45, Rylan Raschke (Iowa Park) - 11:47, Avy Mauldin (Holliday) - 11:51, and McKenzie Lopez (Wall) - 11:56.
The girls teams punching their ticket to state last year were regional champs Holliday, runner-ups Dalhart, Alpine was third, and Canadian finished fourth.
Holliday went on to win another state title and did so in a dominating fashion. They ran a 12:06 team average at state with only a 36-second spread.
Dalhart was fourth, missing out on the podium by just one point, Alpine was 10th, and Canadian was 11th.
Holliday is ranked No. 1 in the state; they did graduate two runners, one of them being their No. two runner Simone Mouras, but they can run a team average under 12-minutes. They just have a lot of work to get as tight as last year.
Dalhart, ranked No. 5 in the state, graduated one runner and they enter this weekend with the second best average of 12:35.
Alpine graduated two runners from last year.
Canadian returned everyone and they have the fifth best team average of 12:50.
Ballinger will be in the mix this weekend, they have a 12:52 team average and might have the best compression in the region being able to run under a minute.
Wall has the fourth best average with a 12:51.
We have to keep an eye on teams with some sub 13-minute 3,200m team averages.
Compass Academy (Odessa) has a 12:46 3,200m average.
Eastland has a 12:49 3,200m team average.
Idalou and Peaster both have sub 13-minute 3,200m averages as well.
Region 1-3A Boys
Two time region and state champion Noah Strohman (Holliday) is back to add to his legacy. It would be a major surprise to seen anyone beat him in Lubbock and Round Rock.
His twin brother Ryder Strohman was runner-up last year at regionals and carried Holliday throughout the year as Noah gained his health and fitness.
Ryder went on to finish 14th at state in 16:19.
With a time of 16:24, Kenny Pritchard (Tuscola Jim Ned) was the third place finisher at regionals last year and as a freshman, he went on to place sixth at the state meet.
Lubbock Roosevelt senior Dax Mahan is the fourth best returner from 2023. He also ran sub 17-minutes last year as he went 16:40 for fifth place.
I think we have to be on the lookout for Eastland senior Andrew Hicks. While he didn't qualify for state last year, he came out of nowhere to run 15:15 and 15:16 this year.
There are three ranked 3A boys teams in this region (No. 1 Holliday, No. 6 Lubbock Roosevelt, and No. 7 Presidio).
Lubbock Roosevelt won last year's regional title by just five points over Holliday, Jim Ned was third, and Presidio fourth and advancing to state.
Holliday went on to finish fourth at state. They only graduated one runner, so they should be in a good position again this year.
Jim Ned who actually tied Holliday with points last year graduated two guys including their No. 1 Samuel Bryan, so they'll have some work to do.
Roosevelt also only graduated one runner. Expect them to run with motivation as they only finished eighth last year at state when Mahan didn't finish the race and that was a big hit for them.
I'm sure they believe at their best they can podium at state.
Presidio finished in 12th place at state and they only graduated one.
Keep an eye on Eastland (15:58) and Breckenridge (16:37) both ran their best team averages at their district and the Dublin Dash where there were some big drops in times.
Jim Ned has a 16:49 average and Holliday has a 16:53 of the two teams with what I think are legit sub 17-minute averages.