Photo of Sebastian Talamantez - 2024 UIL 1A State Champion
2025 UIL State Championships LIVE
October 31 - Nov. 1, 2025
The UIL Region IV Cross Country Championships will take place on Monday and Tuesday. Before those races begin I thought it would be fun to look at what top runners and teams return from last year's Region championships. Last year, Region IV performed well at the State meet bringing home a total of four team and three individual titles.
6A Girls
The top five teams from 2024 all return for the 2025 season. San Antonio Johnson will attempt to repeat as Region champions after taking the title with 103 points last year. The Jaguars enter the meet as the top-ranked team in the Region. Cedar Park Vista Ridge, Round Rock, Reagan and Austin Bowie finished in that order a year ago, but it is Austin Vandegrift who might provide the biggest challenge to Johnson.
Last year, only two of the top-20 individual runners were seniors, but there are a few others who did not make it back. Most notably, Eleanor Smith of San Marcos won the Region title last year, but did not run at all this year. Three others; Norah Vanderzanden (CP Vista Ridge), Miah McAulay (Bowie) and Kallie Van Prooyen (Churchill), did not run at their respective District meets, but have run for their teams this year. Johnson returns the most top-20 finishers with Isabella Porter (2nd), Emily Krot (6th) and Ariana Pinheiro Barrei (12th).
6A Boys
The 6A boys matched the 6A girls with all five of the top teams from 2024 making a return appearance to this year's meet. Vandegrift won with a measly 27 points last year and they are the top-ranked squad again this year. San Antonio Johnson, Harlingen, Round Rock and Austin Bowie were top-5 teams last year. One more team to watch closely is Clemens who could challenge the top squads after a great regular season.
Individually, the 6A boys are unlike their female counterparts. There were 11 seniors who finished in the top-20 last year. Only nine top-20 returners will be back in the field again this year led by the Vandegrift trio of Kai McCullough, Collin Goodwin and Miles Nutt. No other team has more than one individual returner.
5A Girls
The 5A girls are the first group to not have the top-5 teams from last year return to the championships. There is one district that stands above the rest and that is District 26-5A. They boast Smithson Valley (1st), Boerne Champion (3rd) and New Braunfels (5th) who all return from last year. Smithson Valley, the defending State Champs, are the top-ranked team heading into the meet despite the absence of last year's Region champion, Brady Solansky, who has not run this year. Boerne Champion and New Braunfels are also ranked in the top-10 in the State.
The Region IV-5A girls were some of the best in the State last year, but there are many State medalists missing from the lineup this year for a variety of reasons. There were six seniors in last year's top-20 and that does not include Elizabeth Leachman (Boerne Champion) who did not finish the Region meet, but came back and won the State meet. Like Solansky, Leachman has not run this year. Smithson Valley still has Lilly Koenig, Aubrey Pozzi and Skyler Fonseca in the lineup and all three were top-20 finishers last year. Savanah Moya (New Braunfels) was a top-10 finisher at the 6A level as a freshman and at the 5A level last year.
5A Boys
The 5A boys return all five of the top-5 teams from last year. Weslaco East won a tightly contested meet with 69 points while McAllen and Boerne each had 80 points. Boerne Champion and Leander rounded out the top-5 teams. This year, McAllen is ranked #2 in the State while Weslaco East is ranked #4.
The reigning Region champion, Nathan Salinas of Mission Sharyland, leads a group of 11 returners from last year's top-20 who are back in the meet. Eight seniors graduated from a year ago and Boerne's Valor Menn has yet to compete this season. Weslaco East has three runners back from last year's top-20; Alexander Nava, Aaron Nava and Aron Martinez while McAllen brings back Sean Smith and Aidan De Leon.
4A Girls
Last year, the 4A Girls Region title came down to the #6 runner with Davenport winning over La Feria thanks to the tie-breaker. Those two teams will be back along with Fredericksburg, Floresville and Wimberley who were each top-5 teams. Fredericksburg enters the meet as the #4 team in the State after a dominant District title while Davenport is ranked #7. One team that did not factor last year who will be a big factor this year is Salado who checks in at #3 in the latest CCCAT rankings.
Individually, there are 11 returners back from last year's top-20 after eight graduated and a ninth runner did not advance out of a tough district. Last year's champion, Rilyn Grona of Fredericksburg, is favored to take the title again. Davenport, Kendall Fallon and Macie Fallon, and Zapata, Angela Martinez and Yaretzi Gonzalez, are the only teams with more than one returner from last year's top-20.
4A Boys
Region IV is likely the toughest Region for 4A boys this year. They have four teams ranked in the top-10 and all five of the top finishing teams from last year are back in the fold. La Feria took the title last year with 41 points and are ranked #2 in the State again this year. Davenport, Floresville, Hidalgo Early College and Fredericksburg followed La Feria last year. Floresville is currently ranked #8 in the State while two teams who did not finish in the top-5 last year are ranked this season, Salado at #4 and Tuloso Midway at #10.
Armando Morales and Anthony Morales of La Feria finished first and third last year and will be expected to do the same or better this year after nine of the top-20 graduated. La Feria nearly returned five runners from last year's top-20. Jake Vela and Andrew Cantu return while Nathan Salinas finished fourth in the Region last year but has not run for the team over the past month. Floresville has a pair of returners in Kaden Cypert, who could challenge the Morales brothers, and Joshua Simmons.
3A Girls
The top three teams from last year's Regional championship are definitely back with Poth, Cole and Hondo. Lytle would have likely been in the top-5 last season if top runner Frances Scotello had not gotten hurt right before the meet. She is healthy this year and Lytle heads into the meet ranked #5 in the State. Poth and Cole are also top-10 teams which means we could be in for a lot of fun.
For the first time in awhile the Regional title will not be a foregone conclusion since Randolph's Sophia Bendet graduated and is now running at Texas A&M. Poth's Brooklyn Albert has had top results every season of her career and this could be the time for her to grab a Regional title. Overall, 13 of the top-20 from last year are back. Along with Albert, Poth also returns Rylee Ellis and Katelyn Poth. Great Hearts Northern Oaks has a pair of runners who finished in the top-20 last year, Madison Teague and Juliet Alcott. Alcott is on the short-list of top contenders for the individual title.
3A Boys
Lytle finally snatched an elusive State title last year after multiple years of close misses. They are the favorite for another State title this year since they are ranked #1 in the CCCAT poll. Great Hearts Northern Oaks won the State title two years ago and was Region runner-up last season and Vanguard Rembrandt took third place last season. Both teams are back and hoping to make another run at the State meet. Cole completed at Regionals as a team last year but were not contenders. This year, they head into the Regional meet ranked #7 in the State despite losing their top runner to a transfer.
Individually, the top seven runners in 3A all graduated leaving a vacuum that is waiting to be filled. Stockdale's Cooper Warrick was the top underclassmen at last year's meet. However, Lytle returns Bryan Montes-Rodriguez and Diego Reyna who were each top-20 finishers. Altair Rice also boasts a pair of top returners in Payton Engelbrecht and Jael Valles Serrano. Progreso can match Lytle and Altair Rice with their duo of Nathan Villarreal and Martin Villarreal.
2A Girls
There are many unknowns at the 2A level, but there are a few things we do know. Goldthwaite and Mason finished first and second last year and both teams will be toeing the line in Corpus Christi. Both teams are ranked in the top-10 in the State and they will likely be joined by last year's third place team, Mumford, who is also ranked in the top-10.
Goldthwaite's Payten McGee and Emily Bartek are the top returning finishers from last season and lead a group of 13 returners from last year's top-20. Thorndale returns three runners who finished in the top-10 last year; Raven Sandoval, Skielee Bear and Nadia Gonzalez. Mumford and Skidmore-Tynan each return a pair of individuals from the top-20 in 2024.
2A Boys
It is likely that the top five 2A boys teams from last year will all be back this year. Mason and Port Aransas went 1-2 last year, but heading into the meet it is Port Aransas ranked #4 and Mason at #5. Agua Dulce, San Antonio Stacey and Premont rounded out last season's top-5 and they will be fighting it out for a spot in the State meet.
Shane Stawar of Port Aransas is the defending Regional champion and should be favored again this year. Six runners from last year's top-20 graduated, but they left behind lots of talented runners. Stawar's teammate, Leo Martinez, finished in 13th place a year ago. Agua Dulce, Mason and Premont all join Port A in having a pair of returners in the top-20. Brackettville's Matthew Schwandner finished in second place to Stawar last season and has racked up three meet victories already this year.
1A Girls
Tilden McMullen County ran away with the State title last year and returned nearly their entire lineup. They are ranked #1 in the State and competed at numerous meets this year in large school divisions and fared quite well. Brookeland and Utopia both finished in the top-5 in 2024 and have qualified as a team for the Regional championships.
Only three girls graduated from last year's top-20. One of them was Cassidy Slavinski of Tilden McMullen County, but they still return five others who also finished in the top-15; London Yanity, Isabella Billingsley, Ella David, Caroline Trudeau and Crystal Gardner. Brookeland has a pair of returners in Caylee Morgan and Jada Sanders while Nordheim brings back Abby Klein and Percy Torrez.
1A Boys
Region IV is loaded with the top 1A boy's teams in the State this year. Last year, it was Comstock winning the Region title over Tilden McMullen County and Zephyr. Heading into the postseason Zephyr is ranked #1 in the State while McMullen County came in #3 and Comstock at #4. Utopia finished in fifth place last year and brings their team back again this year.
Despite the current rankings, Region IV graduated 10 of the 20 runners from last year. Zephyr returns Aaron Fagen and Spencer Marwitz while Tilden McMullen County has Joseph Timms and Dusty Garcia returning. Comstock one-ups both teams with three top-20 returners including reigning State champion Sebastian Talamantez as well as Jordan Allen and Noah Bahena who were all part of their State championship team.