Mia Perez (L) and Gia Kurp (R) with a close finish at the 2024 Texas Distance Festival elite girls 800m
Boys 800m
The 800m is the shortest distance that gets competed at the Texas Distance Festival. It's a lovely thing! There will be 15 heats of boys 800m races and the 15th will have the barnburners in it.
Christopher Harris (San Antonio Cornerstone Christian) has been one of Texas' best half milers over the past two season. We are still waiting to see him really turn it on this season. He ran 1:50.59 in 2024 on his way to a TAPPS state title. He was also the third place finisher in this race last year.
Unlike Harris, Hayden Long (Ponder) didn't win a state last year, but he did come close. He was the UIL 3A state meet runner-up when he ran a 1:53.79 personal best.
Ethan Johnston (Pottsboro) and Bennett Cory (Pilot Point) are two interesting entries. Neither of them have run a competitive 800m race against stiff competition except for when they ran at the Whitesboro HS Track Meet against one another. That race just saw them go 1:51.84 and 1:52.52 for the No. 3 and No. 4 performances this season in the state.
Edgar Thielens (Houston Awty International) has run 1:52.68 this season, but last year's SPC runner-up has gone 1:51 in his career.
Girls 800m
There are ten heats of the girls 800m with the the last one being the loaded section.
That hot heat should easily produce a sub 2:10 performance with several girls who have already eclipsed that mark in their careers with other coming oh-so-close.
Faith Murphy (Austin Anderson) is the fastest girls in the race. The Arkansas commit just has a 2:10 mark on the 2025 season, but in 2024 she had four sub 2:10 races including her 2:07.14 PR that earned her a second place finish at the UIL 6A state meet.
Mia Perez (Smithson Valley) has also run 2:10 this season, doing it twice already. Her 2:08.96 PR will have her in the thick of things when they lace up for this race. Hailey Johnson (Montgomery Lake Creek) is the only girl to go sub 2:10 this year. She ran 2:09.95 in some not so ideal conditions at the Texas A&M Bluebonnet High School Invitational. She was third last year at the UIL 5A state meet.
The Oklahoma state champion Bella Nelson (Owasso) will mix it up with the Texas girls. She ran her 2:09.59 PR at the last yaer's OSSAA 5A/6A State Championship and went 2:12 last week at Tulsa Union.
Taryn Bailey (DeSoto) and Caila Lyons (San Antonio Brennan) have state meet experience. Bailey finished third at the 2023 UIL 6A state meet when she ran 2:10, the same race that Lyons ran her 2:09.88 PR to place second.
Boys 1,600m
Justin in case you haven't watched any 1,600m races this season,you can get caught up this weekend. There will be no deficiency of this event as there are 27 heats of boys 1,600m.
The final section is scheduled to have 25 boys entered and they can all lay it down.
Noah Strohman (Holliday) will be the headliner in the race for the Texas boys. He won this event last year with a 4:06.18 PR. The two-time UIL 3A state champ has run sub 4:10 multiple times and last week just ran 4:10 indoors at the New Balance Nationals Indoor.
Caden Gary (Lucas Lovejoy) hasn't launched just yet in the 2025 season. His SB is on 4:19, but that was a whole month ago. Last year's UIL 5A state meet runner-up will look to get back to his 4:07 form and this weekend will be a good ramp to taking that step.
Matthias Peterson (Northwest Nelson) is the second best outdoor miler in the state. His 4:12 is a good mark, but expect him to lower that with the best line up he'll face and cooperative weather.
Noah Thayer (Mustang, OK) returns to TDF after a ninth place finish last year. Since that race, Thayer won a OSSAA state cross country championship, but hasn't reached the 4:13 in the 1,600m from that day.
That is where the Arkansas boys could become major factors. Expect both Matthew Shelly (Bentonville) and Alan Gallardo-Lopez (Fayetteville) to be major players on Saturday evening. Shelly ran 4:08 in the 1,600m last year and was the Arkansas state champ. He recently ran 4:14 indoors to win the Arkansas Indoor HS championship. Lopez seems to run well every time he comes to Texas. He ran 4:18 at the Arkansas Indoor state meet.
Girls 1,600m
While the girls will only have 16 heats of the 1,600m, there will still be plenty of good action to watch.
The 16th heat will be full of sub 5-minute girls and several who have dipped under 4:50 in their careers.
Elin Latta (South Texas Heat Homeschool) is just a freshman, but she is a bonafide super star. She qualified for NXN back in December, but on the track, this young lady has some serious wheels. She ranks No. 12 nationally with her 4:43 in the mile.
In this field, Megan Calhoun (Keller Timber Creek) is ranked No. 6 in the Texas outdoor season. Her 4:53.53 is just ahead of No. 7 Katherine Valentine (League City Clear Falls) and her 4:55.62. Reese Pena (Lubbock) is the only other Texas girl under 5-minutes this season.
Alexandra Fox (Flower Mound) hasn't found her stride from last year yet, but it could come this weekend. She ran 4:47 in this race last year to finish second. Emma Wade (Cedar Park Vista Ridge) was the UIL 6A state meet runner-up last season is also in the race.
Who can't be overlooked is Gabbie Bishop (Providence Academy) who ran 4:54 indoors in the mile at the Arkansas High School Invitational and 4:56 at their state meet.
Boys 3,200m
The 9:01 meet record should go down this year.
The Foot Locker National Champion has registered for the 3,200m. Tamrat Gavenas (Phillips Academy, MA) has run 8:54 for two miles and ran 9:04 indoors at the Beantown Winter Classic.
Despite the accomplishments of Gavenas, it'll be Joaquin De La Cruz (McKinney Boyd) looking to defend his 2024 TDF win. He ran a 9:02 to win a wet race last year, hopefully, this race will look drastically different with the even running abilities of Gavenas.
Lathan Lewter (Canyon) was fifth in this race in 2024 and is back to do it again. He will help keep the pace honest as will his fellow UIL 4A competitors Anthony Morales (La Feria) and Armando Morales (La Feria).
Girls 3,200m
The out of state girls will be some of the favorites in the Girls 3,200m.
Payton Meineke (Riverdale, CO) can run everything. She can blaze in the 800m, the 1,600m, and she will show us what she can do this weekend in the 3,200m. She ran 10:16 last year and went on to finish second at the Colorado state meet. Oh, by the way, she won this race at last year's rain TDF in 10:33.
Lilly Beshears (Rogers, AR) is a super star. The NXN qualifier and Foot Locker Championships 7th place finisher just ran 10:29 for two miles at the The Circuit - Chicago at the end of January.
Natalie Duggan (Edmond Santa Fe, OK) is another top finisher from last year. She finished third with a time of 10:44 and was the OSSAA state meet runner-up last year.
Flower Mound sophomore Adeline Bennett (Flower Mound) has been great during the cross country season, but we have been accustomed to seeing her run shorter on the track. We've seen most of her track appearances coming in the 800m and 3,200m. The 800m state finalist has a 10:36 this season for a No. 4 state ranking in the 3,200m.
Addison Scott (Houston Memorial) ranks No. 7 in Texas with her 10:48 SB and Ava Cole (Flower Mound) has a 10:53 mark this season.
Boys 5,000m
The TDF boys 5K will be like the Texas state cross country meet. The best Lone Star long distance boys will be in one race.
That includes last year's runner-up Aidan Danny Torres (El Paso Eastwood). Torres ran 14:38 last season; he hasn't really been seriously tested yet this season. That will change for sure on Saturday, but will Torres make it look as easy as he has been doing?
Recent University of North Carolina commit, Caden Leonard (Southlake Carroll) is the hometown guy. The current Carroll number one guy and two-time UIL 6A cross country state champion will headline the 5K race along with Torres.
Despite the success of Leonard and Torres there are a couple of out of state talent that will be present.
Owen Kelley (Bentonville), AR, Dominic Matthias (Moore), OK and Jeron Wisner (Organ Mountain) from Las Cruces, NM are all very talented. Matthias, the Arkansas vs. Oklahoma All Star XC champion in cross country, opened his outdoor season with a 9:22 in the 3,200m a couple of weeks ago and Wisner has already competed very well at several national meets including last week's Nike Indoor Nationals.
Kelley, the University of Mississippi commit has also fared well indoors. He ran two sub 9-minute 3,200m indoor races along with a 8:55 two mile last week at the New Balance Indoor Nationals to go along with a 14:41 5K there as well.
Austin Vandegrift was one of the top cross country teams in the country last fall and they have their top two runners Hudson Haley and Kai McCullough competing; both are very capable of winning this race.
With all of those guys, we shouldn't overlook guys like Ruel Newberry (Denton Guyer), Zachary Miller (San Antonio Brennan), Gavin Chapa (San Antonio Reagan), and Griffen Saacke (Bridgeland).
Newberry proved his ability both statewide and nationally on the grass during cross country, Miller is only the outdoor state leader at 3,200m with his 9:03 mark. With Chapa, we haven't even seen him really exert himself yet, but he is a gamer and seems to turn it up as the season progresses. Saacke is another uber talent who went 9:05 indoors last week at the New Balance Nationals Indoor.
This race should be very good and fast, one you won't want to miss! It is tough to say, but Parker Wolfe's meet record could possibly be in jeopardy.
Girls 5,000m
Abby Faith Cheeseman (The Webb School of Bell Buckle) is coming home! Well, back to her second home. The Tennessee native spent several years in the DFW, but moved back to Tennessee just in time to start high school. She'll return to compete at the TDF's major event.
The four-time Foot Locker/East Bay Nationals qualifier is committed to her father's alma mater, the University of Virginia to compete beginning next year. This will be her first outdoor race of the 2025 season after going 2:14, 4:45, and 10:19 indoors.
A Texas front will be there to welcome Cheeseman back. Macy Wingard (Denton Braswell) has only raced twice this season. One was a 6:56 in the 2K at the Lovejoy Spring Distance Festival and the other was a 16:33 5K last week at the Nike Indoor Nationals.
Rowan Saacke (Bridgeland) has been a terror on the track this year. She has gone 2:16, 4:46, and 10:30 this outdoor season. Last week at the New Balance Nationals Indoor, she also dropped a 10:15 two mile tune up for this week.
Texas commit and current Saacke teammate, Lily Fawcett (Bridgeland) has also been running some gem races this season. Her 2:14, 4:49, and 10:34 SBs show she hasn't been playing around. The UIL 6A cross country state meet runner-up knows how to perform at big meets.
Elizabeth Smits (Southlake Carroll) and Clara Dye (Humble Kingwood) should also be in the mix. Smits ran a nice tune up last week with a nice 10:40 at the Nike Indoor Nationals. Dye, the top Mustang distance runner went 10:54 back on February 8th.
I don't think Brynn Brown's 15:56 meet record is in jeopardy, but these girls could get under 16:10 this weekend.