Region 4-4A Girls
The top four finishers and six of the top ten from last year's state meet graduated in 2024.
Rilyn Grona (Fredericksburg) was fifth last year and she is the top returner. She is joined by Cierra Garcia (La Feria) who was sixth, Kylee Montalvo (Needville) was eighth, and Eva Zabarcenco (Comal Canyon Lake) who was tenth.
Grona is living up to her top returner billing; she leads the region with a 11:39 best performance.
Right behind her at district 26-4A in 11:47 is Lilia Flo (Geronimo Navarro) for the second best time in the region.
Davenport has the Fallon sisters with the third and fourth best times of the season with Kendall Fallon having run 11:51 and Macie Fallon having a 11:54 with both also coming at the the 26-4A district. While we're at it, add Zabarcencu's 11:56 at the same district meet.
Other girls who should be in the mix is Angela Martinez (Zapata) who ran 11:58, Garcia from La Feria who ran 12:00 already, and Allison Dodds (Wimberley) who is also sitting at 12:00.
It was Fredericksburg, Davenport, Needville, and La Feria who all made it out of regionals to the state meet last year and they finished second, fifth, seventh, and eighth at state.
Davenport (No. 6) and Fredericksburg (No. 8) are ranked in the CCCAT top ten.
Davenport has the fastest team average heading into Monday's race. Their 12:09 and 43-second spread is faster than Fredericksburg's 12:25 and 60-second spread.
The district race was very close and a matter of seconds was the difference. Regionals has a lot more runners in each race, so it'll give a different dynamic for trying to keep track of both your own teammates and the opposition.
Davenport's three and four runners were two-seconds ahead of Fredericksburg's two and three runners, who were only one-second ahead of Davenport's five.
Fredericksburg's 3, 4, and 5 runners were just two-seconds behind.
So, this race could be decided by very slim margins just like their district race was.
Canyon Lake has a 12:37 team average, Wimberley has a 12:42, Bellville is a 12:52, and La Feria at 12:53 and Zapata at 12:54 will be in the mix as well.
All of the teams have really good number one and two runners, but the differences will be decided at the No. 3, 4, and 5 spots.
Region 4-4A Boys
The La Feria boys swept the top three spots last year with Armando Morales, Anthony Morales, and Nathan Salinas going 1, 2, 3.
Behind them, Ethan Luu (Geronimo Navarro) was fourth, Elijah Bliss (Davenport) was eighth.
The La Feria trio are all just juniors and are back to give it another shot at winning state.
They each finished in the top ten in Round Rock placing fifth, sixth, and eighth. They were joined by Luu who was tenth.
Anthony won the district meet in 16:02, Armando was second in 16:12, and Salinas was third in 16:34.
Salinas and Anthony have been carrying the load all season with Armando spending some time resting and recovering to be prepared for now.
It is unclear how legit some of the courses many of the boys in the region have run that have produced their top times.
Outside of the top La Feria boys, a total of eight boys have sub 16-minute runs:
- Derek Adams (Fredericksburg) - 15:29
- Gavin Almaguer (Sealy) - 15:44
- Kaden Cypert (Floresville) - 15:49
- Elijah Bliss (Davenport) - 15:58
La Feria won the region last year and ended up second at state. Boerne was second and went on to finish third at state, but they are now in 5A. Alice was third in Corpus last year, Floresville was fourth and Davenport was four points behind in fifth.
The two ranked teams in the region are No. 2 La Feria and No. 9 Davenport.
There is only one team in the state who can run with La Feria and they'll be in Lubbock, but Davenport led by Bliss will easily be the second best team.
There will be a lot of teams circling like sharks in bloody waters going for the next two spots.
Sealy, Floresville, Hidalgo, and Fredericksburg all have really good chances at grabbing one of those spots.