Southlake Carroll teams get it right at regionals

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Southlake Carroll's boys and girls swept the team titles at NXR South and both squads will return to Nike Cross Nationals in Portland. 

RESULTS

But what's surprising about what went down on Saturday at Bear Branch Park in The Woodlands was that neither team won the Texas 6A state title a week earlier. 

"We definitely ran better today than we did last week at state," Southlake Carroll coach Justin Leonard said. "This felt like sweet redemption."

A week earlier at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, The Woodlands boys beat Southlake Carroll by 72 points (51-123) and the Keller girls beat Southlake Carroll (44-84).

The Woodlands, big favorites coming into the weekend, suffered some misfortunate when No. 1 runner William Hunsdale got sick and was unable to run. The Highlanders finished third behind automatic qualifiers Southlake Carroll (97 points) and College Park (111), scoring 124 points. The team will have to wait out the at-large selection process to find out whether it will advance to Portland. 

Up front, Comal Canyon's Sam Worley won for the second consecutive weekend in a very tight race that saw the state's top four runners finish within a second and a half. Worley ran 15:10.1, Southlake Carroll's Reed Brown ran 15:11.1, Daniel Bernal of El Paso Eastwood ran 15:11.2 and Flower Mound sophomore Alex Maier ran 15:11.7.

"Reed ran a bette race today," Leonard said. "Charlie Gardner and Connor Rutledge ran better races today, too."

On the girls side, freshman sensation London Culbreath from McKinney won her first head to head race with standout Ashton Endsley of Abilene (sixth at NXN in 2015).  

Culbreath, the UIL 5A champ, ran 17:33.8 for the win. Endsley, the 6A runner-up, was second in 17:42.4. 

Southlake Carroll turned the tables on Keller and won the team title 50-57. Southlake had advantages at 4 and 5 to pull out the win.

"We did not run well at state on the girls side," Leonard said. "We had just beat (Keller) at regionals and we knew it was going to be close. Keller and us are neck and neck so we knew we had a shot. The girls were excited to see if they could get it done today. They were racing for NXN and racing for redemption."

The Woodlands was third with 101 points and Lewisville Marcus (Highland Village RC) was fourth with 174.