Southlake Carroll, Grapevine, The Woodlands, Deer Creek Among Boys Favorites 

By Doug Binder and Erik Boal, DyeStat Editors

The Nike Cross Regional Series, which began last week, will serve thousands of high school cross country runners at each of nine regional meets that span the country. The NXR South at Bear Branch Park in The Woodlands, Texas takes place on the second of four compelling weekends of live webcast coverage of every regional. 

NXR SOUTH LIVE WEBCAST | ENTRIES

At the conclusion of the Texas state meet on Nov. 6, the tightly packed group from 6A champion Southlake Carroll came out on top of the all-class merge that included 5A champion Grapevine, which has been the highest ranked team for the duration of the fall. 

The merged data showed US#16 Southlake Carroll with 130 points, US#14 Grapevine with 156 and US#23 The Woodlands with 172. A fourth team, Deer Creek (Edmond) of Oklahoma, comes into Saturday's regional race with a Top-30 ranking (US#28). 

Another high quality boys team, Jesuit of New Orleans, won the Louisiana 5A title on Tuesday and will not send its top runners to NXR South. 

In 2019, Carroll XC (85) and The Woodlands XC Club (126) went 1-2, which was a common result from this regional as those two clubs have dominated the scene for more than a decade. 

Mustang Army (Grapevine) won its second consecutive UIL Class 5A title with 53 points but the gap that exists between the team's fourth and fifth runners has left it vulnerable in a large field. Walker St. John, the two-time 5A individual champion, leads the way and teammates Trey Leathers, Josue Granados and Alberto Rayon back him up as a strong quartet. The span between Rayon and fifth runner Brian Guevara was 60 seconds at the state meet. 

Carroll XC has run with a pack mentality all fall and won the 6A title with an incredible 15-second split from 1 to 5 to win a sixth state championship. David Alvarez, Jude Fisher, Robert Freeman, Hunter Hill and Logan Cantu all broke 16 minutes at Old Settlers Park. 

The Woodlands XC Club finsihed second in the 6A race and was led by Kyle Easton's 11th place finish. 

The Strength Experiment DCXC (Deer Creek OK) finished well behind Mustang Army and The Woodlands XC Club when it made a foray into Texas on Sept. 11 at the Milesplit Texas Invitational. Since then, the improvement of runners such as sophomore Spencer Carlson have put the Oklahoma 6A champions on the map. AJ Antonelli, Oklahoma's top runner, and teammate Gilbert Velez, give The Strength Experiment DCXC firepower up front. Carlson, who was 82nd at the meet in September, finished 15th at the Oklahoma state meet and was the team's fifth man. 

Individually, Texas 6A champion Kevin Sanchez of Venom XC (Austin Vandergrift) is the favorite. He is undefeated since September and finished fifth behind Newbury Park CA's talented quartet at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic on Sept. 18. Hudson Heikkinen of Running Wolves (Plano West) was second to Sanchez by 11 seconds at the Texas state meet. St. John, the 5A champion, Ruben Rojas Betanzos (Orange Crush Running Club) and Omer Ibrahim of Spartans Club are also among the top individuals.

Texas Powers Look For Regional Encore

Although the fastest female competitor and the top team in Texas won’t be competing in the championship race, with 6A champion Flower Mound not fielding a full lineup – especially individual winner Natalie Cook – there are still several elite athletes entered in Saturday’s event.

The 5A classification will be well represented with champion Cameron McConnell of Canyon Randall competing unattached, along with runner-up Allie Love of Colleyville XC Club.

Gabbie Love, who finished 21st in the 5A final, is also scheduled to compete for Colleyville XC Club, which finished fourth at the state championship meet.

McKenzie Bailey of Georgetown High, sixth in the 5A championship race, is representing GTXC. Josey Whitaker, who finished 28th in the 5A final, is competing unattached after helping Boerne Champion secure second place as a team at the state meet.

Karsten Bobb, a senior at Dripping Springs who placed 10th in the 5A championship, is competing for DS Tiger XC Club after contributing to the team’s third-place finish in the state final.

Prosper, the 6A runner-up behind Flower Mound, is competing as Prosper Running Club, with a lineup highlighted by second- and third-place finishers Aubrey O’Connell and Shewaye Johnson.

O’Connell is the top returning finisher from the 2019 regional, placing fourth overall.

Third-place team Conroe The Woodlands is entered as The Woodlands XC Club, led by ninth-place finisher Penelope Gracey.

Southlake Carroll, the fourth-place finisher in 6A, is scheduled to race as Carroll XC Club, featuring 19th-place competitor Kaylie Cox.

Freshman Adelynn Rodriguez and senior Lauren Walls-Portillo are entered for El Paso Eastwood, competing as Eastwood Running Club. Rodriguez was seventh and Walls-Portillo placed 10th in the 6A final.

Flower Mound will be represented by sophomore Samantha Humphries, who is competing unattached following a 12th-place performance in the 6A championship. Senior Allison Buemi is also entered for Flower Mound.

Abigail Bass, the 4A state winner from Melissa High, is also entered, along with a pair of individual state winners from other Texas championship competitions.

Abby Metzger from Grace Community, the TAPPS 5A state champion, is scheduled to compete, along with Krianne McBride, a senior from Leander Texas Home School, who won her state championship Oct. 12. McBride was seventh in the 2019 regional.

Cayden Dawson of Bixby High in Oklahoma, the 6A state runner-up, is competing unattached, along with Brooklyn Biancamano of Long Beach High in Mississippi, the 5A state winner.

In the absence of both Texas 6A and 5A state champions – Flower Mound and Lucas Lovejoy – the championship race leading contenders are Prosper Running Club, The Woodlands XC Club and Carroll XC Club. Prosper edged Carroll by a 95-99 margin at the 2019 regional.