Meet Preview: Lovejoy XC Fall Festival

The 2025 Lovejoy XC Fall Festival returns to Myers Park, the fast-but-fair layout that just staged the McKinney Boyd Stampede and routinely settles district titles. It's a fitting showcase for the hosts, Lucas Lovejoy, one of Texas's flagship distance programs-whose boys are the reigning UIL 5A state champions and whose girls finished state runner-up in 2024 following four years of championship-level dominance. With a deep, multi-classification field and early-season form already flashing, Saturday reads like a September meet with November stakes.

Girls Individual Race Preview

Four athletes enter under 18 minutes, and the headliner is home favorite Camryn Benson (Lovejoy, 17:31.50), an all-state finisher and last fall's Region 2-5A champion whose skill set matches Myers Park's long straights and gradual rises.

The sternest pressure should come from Savanah Moya (New Braunfels, 17:55.60), already sharp in 2025 with 17:59.50 (2nd) at Westlake Chaparral and 18:29.40 (2nd) at McAllen Bulldogs, on top of last year's 18:15.60 (5th at state XC) and spring marks of 2:13.74/4:53.74 at the state track meet.

Emma Goetz (Tyler Grace Community, 17:55.90) brings repeat-championship experience as a two-time TAPPS XC titlist, fresh off an 18:16 win at Tyler Legacy and state-meet track finals (5:12/11:09). Add Kenedy Card (Rockwall, 17:59.10), Highland Park's trio of Paisley Bassett (18:10.30), Finley Heckler (18:22.40), Madeline Heckler (18:23.50), plus Audrey Kaleba (Plano West, 18:23.30), Taylor Peck (Prosper, 18:26.00), and Lily Schmidt (Frisco Wakeland, 18:27.60) and you have a front pack deep enough to force honest splits and a decisive last mile.

One more needle mover will be Rowen Skinner (A&M Consolidated), fresh off a 17:42.10 win at Brenham Hillacious, who adds another sub-18 threat to the front of this race.

Girls Team Preview

The numbers say Dallas Highland Park vs. Lovejoy up front. HP's balance-18:39.58 average, :57 1-5 split-is elite, and Bassett/Heckler/Heckler can crowd the top 15 before most programs clear a second scorer. Lovejoy counters with Benson's low stick and a proven front three-Emily Armstrong (18:18.00) and Bridget Bernal (18:22.00)-backed by a pack that typically travels well on flat grass.

Behind them, A&M Consolidated (buoyed by Skinner) sits close on paper with a 19:15 average but a wide 2:18 split that must tighten to threaten the top two, while Frisco Wakeland (19:43 average) owns enough depth to steal late points if the race turns tactical.

Don't overlook New Braunfels-if Moya forces pace early, that aggressiveness can tilt the scoring for a podium bid.

Boys Individual Race Preview

Individually, it feels like a regional final. Rhett Hulin (McKinney North, 15:18.50) is the purest low stick in the field and a likely tone-setter through two miles. Lovejoy answers with the championship tandem Tristan Arceneau (15:29.00) and Joseph Reid (15:30.00), plus Arjun Sharma (15:59.00) to keep team scoring honest.

Andrew Malan (Frisco Lebanon Trail, 15:31.11), Michael McCart (Prosper, 15:36.00), and Spencer Haag (Highland Park, 15:37.10) are built for a hard third mile, while Wakeland's pair Dylan Grzywinski (15:46.28) and Bradley Vacek (15:48.51) can drag a big group through 4K.

Two major additions sharpen the front: Canyon's UIL-4A hammer Domenic San Miguel (15:08) and teammate Noah Cooper (15:11)-both sharp at the Coach T Invite two weeks ago, profile as outright win candidates here.

There are a lot of talented and hungry running boys who can shift this narrative, but guys I also expect to be in the mix include Dallas Wilson's Hayden Gaunt (14:57 seed), Rockwall's Matthew Kinniburgh (15:44.70), Prosper's Noah Johnson (15:48.40), and Boerne's Carsten Bain (15:51.50) / Aaron Garcia (15:55.40).

Boys Team Preview

Defending state champion Lovejoy owns the home-course rhythm and a proven scoring template. At Coach T, the Leopards averaged 16:23 (Arceneau 15:29, Reid 15:30, Sharma 15:59, then 17:01/17:59/18:13), and-like Canyon be faster 14 days later on a course they know by heart. McKinney North arrives as the third-best team average in the 5A data (15:56.42, 1:05 split) with Hulin/Hansen up front, and a 3-5 that's close enough to pressure any wobble.

Frisco Wakeland brings classic compression, Dallas Wilson (15:54.54 average) is a volatility play with a huge low stick but a 1:38 split, and Highland Park-a 2024 state team-has been excellent again with a 16:15 average and pack depth to flip places late. Boerne sits No. 6 in the CCCAT poll after finishing state runner-up in 2024, while two powerful 4A programs-Canyon (three-time defending 4A champs) and Big Spring (No. 4 in 4A)-raise the ceiling of the field; Canyon already clocked a 16:17 avg at Coach T and could be better two weeks later and with San Miguel and Cooper in the win conversation, don't be surprised to see them win the meet.