San Antonio XC News and Notes Week #6

The Nike South and Hoka McNeil Invitationals were the big meets of the week and San Antonio had a strong showing at both meets. The McNeil meet had the majority of local teams in competition since it is considered a great State Meet preview.

Some Surprises

The new CCCAT rankings were released this past week and there were a couple of surprising things, at least to me. I was surprised to see the Smithson Valley girls drop from #1 to #2 in the 5A rankings despite running consistently well all year and with the prospect of last year's top runner, Brady Solansky, returning soon it would seem like they should remain at the top. I also thought that this would be the week that the Clemens boys broke through the 6A rankings. They are still sitting outside the top-10 despite winning five meets and they solidified their standing with a third-place finish at the McNeil Invitational Gold Division race this week.

On the other side of things, it was nice to see the Lytle girls make a big move up in the 3A rankings to #2 and for the Boerne Champion boys to move into the 5A rankings. The Lytle girls have been nearly as consistent as their boys and have solidified their position as the top team in the Region heading to the championship season. Boerne Champion has been putting together some solid results and have been the best 5A team in the area this year.

In the Rankings

The Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas puts out State rankings throughout the season. The following teams appeared in the Regular Season Poll #2:

3A Girls - Lytle (#2), Poth (#3), Cole (#9)

3A Boys - Lytle (#1), Cole (#6)

4A Girls - Davenport (#4), Fredericksburg (#6)

4A Boys - Floresville (#6)

5A Girls - Smithson Valley (#2), Boerne Champion (#9)

5A Boys - Boerne Champion (#8), Boerne (#9)

6A Girls - Johnson (#7)

Lytle, Poth and Cole all competed in the 1A-3A Girls Division at the McNeil Invitational and they finished in the order they are ranked. Frances Scotello led Lytle with a time of 12:13.0 for 14^th place which was behind the top runners from Poth (Brooklyn Albert) and Cole (Katherine Zinnante), but Lytle has a better 1-5 group and finished in third place overall while Poth and Cole finished seventh and eighth, respectively. The Lytle boys took home the 1A-3A title at the McNeil Invitational while Cole finished in third place. Jacob Cantu was the individual runner-up while teammates Diego Reyna and Adrian Reyna were each in the top-15 for Lytle. Levi Kitson led Cole with a 12^th place finish.

In the McNeil Invitational 4A Girls race, Fredericksburg finished in third while Davenport finished in ninth despite Davenport being the higher-ranked squad. Rilyn Grona led the Billies with a time of 11:42.0 to take seventh place. Kendall Fallon was Davenport's top finisher in 12:30.4 to finish in 41^st place. The Floresville boys went to the Nike South Invitational and ran finished fifth in the Varsity Boys Division as Kaden Cypert won the individual title in 16:05.8.

At the 5A level, the Smithson Valley girls finished fifth in the Nike South Elite Division race. Aubrey Pozzi and Lilly Koenig crossed the line in a virtual tie at 18:15 to take 11^th and 12^th place. Boerne Champion finished in sixth place in the McNeil Invitational Gold Girls Division. Rebecca Bezerra was their top finisher in 28^th place. The BC boys were 18^th in the Gold Boys Division while Boerne finished 24^th as a team.

The Johnson girls finished as runner-ups in the McNeil Invitational Gold Division. Isabella Porter was their top finisher with a time of 19:02.2 and they had three runners in the top-35.

A Clearer Picture

I have written a lot about what the District 27-6A girls championship this year and this week the four biggest challengers for the title; Brandeis, Churchill, Johnson and Reagan all ran the McNeil Invitational Gold Division race. Johnson finished as the runner-up in the meet with 147 points despite having no top-20 finishers. Isabella Porter finished in 19:02.2 and Kira Albino was right behind her in 19:04.1. Emily Krot only finished 16 seconds behind Albino but was 11 places behind her teammate. They posted a strong 1-5 split of 51.3s.

Reagan followed in fifth place with 222 points. Freshman Ellyson Spurlock finished less than a second behind Albino. Their #2 runner was Theone Glosser in 38^th place. They posted a 1-5 split of 1:16.8 and had four runners break 20 minutes.

Brandeis took ninth place with 263 points. Delilah Huntley was their top runner crossing the line in 19:45.9 and they had an unbelievable 1-5 split of 15.9s. Despite that, Huntley and their #5 runner, Violet Ostrowski, finished 31 places apart from each other.

Churchill finished in 16^th place with 427 points. Mia Kellogg was their first finisher in 19:46.7 which was good for 43^rd place. However, Kellogg has consistently been the fastest runner in the district prior to this week. Kallie Van Prooyen finished a step behind Kellogg, but the pair can finish in the top-5 at the District meet.

'Heat'ing Up

The South Texas Heat showed why they are one of the best teams in the entire State at the Nike South Invitational. They finished in third place as a team and had four runners finish in the top-10. Elin Latta took the gold medal in a loaded field by covering the 5K course in 17:17.3. Iris Latta followed in fifth place with a great time of 17:38. Remy Latta and Reese Latta each ran 18:06.0 and 18:11.9, respectively. All four rank among the top eight runners in the San Antonio area. The Heat will be running next on October 4 at the American Classic in North Carolina.

Juniors Running Wild

The top varsity boys in San Antonio this year have predominantly been juniors. The junior class comprises seven of the top-10 and five of the top-6 times over a 5K course this year. Sean Gonzalez (Clemens) owns the top time from his win at the Cedar Park Invitational on September 6 when he ran 15:05.60. This week, Gonzalez finished fifth at the McNeil Gold race with a time of 15:20.7. Antonian's John Boland comes in as the #2 runner thanks to his performance at the Texas A&M Invitational. Senior Titus Gill (San Antonio Spartans) is the first non-junior on the list and he has been posting great times all year long.

Aiden Adams (Clark), Cooper Warrick (Stockdale) and Ethan Garza (TMI) are the next three on the list and all are juniors. Adams finished two places behind Gonzalez at the McNeil Invitational this week and has consistently been in the mix for meet wins. Warrick's best time came at his home meet, but he did run 16:18.10 at the McNeil Invitational this week. Garza has posted four times under 15:50 already this year and he won the McNeil Silver boys race this past week with a time of 15:41.80.

Highlighting District 26-5A

District 26-5A has been home to some of the top distance runners in the State the past few years. Last year, Boerne Champion's Elizabeth Leachman was the individual State champion while Smithson Valley was the team champion. It is possible that the District could bring home both titles again this year. Savanah Moya (New Braunfels) has been running like a State champion this year. She finished in fifth at the McNeil Invitational and did not even run her best compared to her earlier season performances. Last year, she finished fifth at the State meet as has to be considered a top contender. Smithson Valley has their eyes set on a repeat State title and it will likely come down to them versus Lucas Lovejoy. SV has four of the top seven runners in the district and all four have run faster than 19 minutes this year. Sadie Larson (Pieper) and Rebecca Bezerra (Boerne Champion) are two more runners who have gone under 19 minutes and should make the District meet very entertaining.

Around the City

Canyon Lake started the week for the area at the Heart of Texas Invitational. Tristan Schenk led the boys to a third place finish and he crossed the line in 19:16.9 to get seventh place. The girls finished as the runner-up and had two top-5 finishers in Eva Zabarcencu and Sophie Eastland.

The Nike South Invitational at The Woodlands featured three local teams in the Elite Girls race. The South Texas Heat finished in third place with 132 points and had four runners finish in the top-10. Smithson Valley finished in fifth place and only lost to the Heat and three 6A schools. Canyon finished in 12^th place as a team and they were led by Madi Molinar who finished in 17^th place and crossed the finish line in 18:24.5. In the Varsity Girls Division, Alamo Heights took 11^th place and Floresville finished in 15^th place. Nora Felan (Floresville) finished in 16^th place overall.

Floresville was the top local boys team at the Nike South Varsity race taking fifth place. Kaden Cypert won the race in 16:05.8 and they had three other runners finish in the top-50. Smithson Valley took ninth place behind Luke Smith's fourth place finish in 16:36.2.

The Hoka McNeil Invitational was filled with local teams. The Gold Division girls race had 10 local runners finish in the top-40. Johnson took home second place with 147 points and were followed by Reagan (5^th), Boerne Champion (6^th), Brandeis (9^th), New Braunfels (12^th) and Churchill (16^th). Savanah Moya (New Braunfels) finished in fifth place and Pieper's Sadie Larson posted a top-10 finish. Kassia Kozarski (Steele) was the top local 6A runner in the meet posting a time of 18:54.5 to finish in 19^th place.

Boerne finished in second place in the McNeil Silver Division girls race with 213 points. Presley Merkens led the team with a fifth place finish and a time of 19:42.7. Pieper's Carolina Maldonado took home 15^th place with a time of 20:16.1.

In the McNeil 6A girls race, Brennan's Kailyn Brunson took home the individual title with a time of 19:55.6. Steele finished in fifth place despite Kassia Kozarski running in the Elite race. Bella Adams (Holmes) and Natalia Sandoval (TMI) each finished in the top-5.

Tivy and Southwest each ran in the McNeil 5A division. Tivy took home the runner-up honors with 127 points. Ainslee Gilbreath, Danna Cisneros and Audrey Nelson each finished in the top-25.

The girls 4A race featured three of the top local teams; Fredericksburg, Davenport and Wimberley. Fredericksburg finished in third place behind Rilyn Grona (7^th) and Abbi Brown (27^th) while Davenport settled for ninth and Wimberley was 13^th. Wimberley's Corina Joyce took home a top-10 finish while Navarro's Lilia Flo finished one place outside of the top-10.

The 1A-3A girls division also had three top local teams with Lytle (3^rd), Poth (7^th) and Cole (8^th) all finishing in the top-10. Juliet Alcott of Great Hearts Northern Oaks was the top local finisher with a third place result in 11:48.3. Lytle, Poth and Cole each had one runner finish in the top-20.

The Hoka McNeil Gold Division boys race saw Clemens lose their first invitational of the year, but they were able to finish a strong third place with 205 points. Sean Gonzalez (Clemens) finished in fifth in a time of 15:20.7 to lead the local contingent. Sotomayor finished in seventh place and were only 35 points behind Clemens. Paul Wallace (16^th) and Ilias Braxton (24^th) gave the SotoCats a pair of top-25 finishers. Johnson ended up in 11^th place and Brandeis took 15^th place.

The McNeil Silver Division boys race featured an individual title from TMI's Ethan Garza. Reagan finished in seventh place as a team. They were led by Logan Martinez who finished third in 16:06.1 and Aiden Gendron took 10^th in 16:31.1. Churchill's Caleb Esquivel and Cristian Lopez Lopez of New Braunfels each finished in the top-20.

Brennan took third place in the McNeil 6A boys race with 176 points. Dionell Delgado led the way in third place with a time of 16:26.9 and Guadalupe Reyes crossed the line in 17^th place. Urijah Peterman led Clark with a 13^th place finish.

The Tivy boys took third place in the McNeil 5A Division with 170 points. Hunter Evans, Uriah Aguilera and Jaydon Alfaro each finished in the top-20 for the Antlers. Meanwhile, Fredericksburg and Davenport ran in the 4A boys race. Jose Ruiz (Fredericksburg) finished in 20^th to lead the locals.

Lytle took the 1A-3A title with 103 points behind Jacob Cantu's runner-up performance. Diego and Adrian Reyna gave them two more runners in the top-15. Cole finished in third place with 175 points while Great Hearts Northern Oaks added a nice sixth place finish.

Falls City hosted a meet where the Randolph girls won with 35 points. Caroline Finley won the race for Randolph with a time of 11:42.06 for the 2-mile course. Savannah Parker led Castle Hills to a third place finish thanks to her runner-up performance. Abby DeLeon (Falls City) finished in fourth place and Addison White (Stacey) added a fifth place finish. The Randolph boys finished in second place with Jacob Milette leading the team with his own fifth place finish. Stacey's Jarred Dunn was the individual champion in 18:28.10 while David Gardiner of Castle Hills took runner-up honors.

Central Catholic won the Gonzales Invitational boys race with 47 points to hold off Devine by five points. Adam Lozano led Central Catholic with a third place finish in 16:41.37 and their remaining four runners all finished in the top-13. Devine's Urijah Velasquez, Zach Guerra and Shawn Lowe finished in fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively. In the girls race, Devine finished in third place behind Hailey Montes' fifth place individual finish. Kyla Sanchez of Uvalde crossed the line in 13^th place.

What's Happening This Week