A State Championship Loss Defined By Seconds

ROUND ROCK – A season-long dream ended in the span of 10 seconds on Friday.

That’s how close, and how agonizingly far, the Austin Vandegrift boys were away from clinching their first state title in school history at the UIL Texas State Class 6A Cross Country Championships at Old Settlers Park, finishing just four points shy of Southlake Carroll’s sixth-straight team title.

The Dragons, led behind overall winner Caden Leonard in 14:50.10 and a blitzing first mile pace that saw the team’s scoring five all whip through the first 1,609 meters in under five minutes, never relinquished control of the 5,000 meter race that they have come to own, scoring 49 points overall behind three runners in the top 12.

Southlake Carroll has now won 10 state titles over the last 15 years.

“Kudos to Southlake,” said Vandegrift head coach Colin Sully, whose team followed with 53 points. “They found a way to win.”

The final 50 meters, ultimately, spelled disaster for the Vipers, which lost position, vital placement and points.

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Hudson Haley, considered the team’s No. 1 and its top finisher at regions, struggled over the final stretch, jogging to the line as a series of athletes passed him. Based on the outcome and the point total, the Vipers’ losing deficit counted for about 10 seconds.

“I’m gutted for the guys,” Sully said, “because it takes that belief, and they had it, and they had the ability as well.”

In the Dallas-area team’s successful defense of its sixth straight championship, it was a gut-punch to the Vipers, whose state title hopes vanished nearly as quickly as the championship race began.

After the first mile – a wicked pace of 4:42 led by Leonard – Vandegrift trailed by 180 points. That was an astonishing deficit on its own. But the Austin-area program wasn’t out of it.

They made up 126 points over the second mile – a series of turns into the back-half of the course – cutting the deficit to just 54.

“I knew that because I started a little more conservatively, I would be able to make it up and catch some of those people who went out a little faster,” said Kai McCullough, who led Austin Vandegrift with a sixth-place finish on Friday in 15:11.8. “I had trust in my instincts.”

The Vipers ultimately had all five of its runners all inside the first 30 placements, getting their fifth before the Dragons’ fifth, but it wasn’t enough.

Southlake Carroll’s aggressive tactics were ultimately indicators of a championship-level move. Leonard, considered one the country’s best runners and a threat to win a national title in December, never lost control of the race – clocking a 4:48 second mile.

“Those nerves are always going to be there,” said Leonard, who claimed his second straight state win and pressed his right index finger to his lips at the finish. “But it’s just about managing it, and that’s easier said than done.”

The result handed Vandegrift, a school that could drop to Class 5A during a new re-classification, Sully said, its second straight runner-up finish in Class 6A.

Vandegrift sophomore Collin Goodwin was 13th overall in 15:27, while Christian Cruz-Castro was 18th, Haley in 26th and Jack Ebeier rounding out the group in 30th.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Sully said. “Am I upset we got second? Only because I fully believed that we could win.”

Elsewhere In The Class 6A Boys Race

Two more Austin-area runners crossed the finish line in the Class 6A boys race inside the top 20. Austin Bowie’s Griffin Hummel, a high school junior who had finished 70th the year prior, unearthed an out-of-body final 100 meters, lunging across the line to finish 12th in 15:24.20.

“It felt different,” Hummel said. “I felt like I was where I needed to be, and I felt like it all came together.”

Austin High’s Luke Bone, competing in his first state cross country championship, was 15th in 15:31.70.

Staying Strong Over The Second-Half

Round Rock’s Meredith Wolfe was no stranger to state.

Her Class 6A girls program had qualified over the high school senior’s first and second seasons, giving her ample experience on the Old Settlers course.

And so Wolfe didn’t let her final race in a Round Rock jersey get away.

“The adrenaline was high,” Wolfe said. “Getting to pass girls and getting those adrenaline boosts, it was really exciting. So when I got on that bridge, I was like, ‘This is it. This is my last senior race with a Round Rock uniform.’”

The Columbia University signee finished seventh overall, clocking her fastest time on the course over her tenure in 18:01.40.

A couple rungs back was Round Rock Stony Point’s Sophia Lopez.

The District 6A-25 champion was thrown a curveball a day before the championships when she learned she couldn’t wear a watch – a point that had contended with every single race she ran this season.

That adjustment ultimately led to a fast first mile for Lopez, who went through in 5:28.

But after holding strong through the second mile, Lopez’s instincts caught on and she managed to the line and held off lactic fatigue, finishing 15th overall in 18:21.5.

“I had my family, my coaches and everything,” Lopez said. “And so whenever I felt like I was getting tired with myself, (I told myself), ‘People are out here to watch me.’”

Lake Travis’s Olivia Laudicina was 21st overall in 18:33.

Class 6A Boys Results:

1. Caden Leonard, Southlake Carroll, 14:50.10
2. Benjamin Montgomery, Bridgeland, 15:01.80
3. Aleksandr Acuna, Denton Braswell, 15:03.80
4. Gavin Chapa, San Antonio Reagan, 15:06.40
5. Ruel Newberry, Denton Guyer, 15:09.50
6. Kai McCullough, Austin Vandegrift, 15:11.80
7. Joaquin De La Cruz, McKinney Boyd, 15:13.10
8. Blake Bullard, Southlake Carroll, 15:15.80
9. Zachary Miller, Northside Brennan, 15:16.10
10. Aidan Torres, El Paso Eastwood, 15:19.60
11. Griffin Cords, Southlake Carroll, 15:24.20
12. Griffin Hummel, Austin Bowie, 15:24.50
13. Collin Goodwin, Austin Vandegrift, 15:27.00
14. Elton Martin, Conroe The Woodlands, 15:28.40
15. Luke Bone, Austin High, 15:31.70
16. Cris Creedon, League City Clear Creek, 15:33.10
17. Tyler Hegepeth, Conroe The Woodlands, 15:34.90
18. Christian Cruz-Castro, Austin Vandegrift, 15:35.90
19. Jayce Love, Schertz Clemens, 15:39.60
20. Benjamin Pearce, Houston Stratford, 15:39.80

Austin-Area Finishers (Top 60):

6. Kai McCullough, Austin Vandegrift, 15:11.80
12. Griffin Hummel, Austin Bowie, 15:24.50
13. Collin Goodwin, Austin Vandegrift, 15:27.00
15. Luke Bone, Austin High, 15:31.70
18. Christian Cruz-Castro, Austin Vandegrift, 15:35.90
26. Hudson Haley, Austin Vandegrift, 15:43.80
30. Jack Ebeier, Austin Vandegrift, 15:47.00
36. Ben Hamilton, Austin Westlake, 15:52.40
52. Andrew Esparza, Round Rock, 16:03.00

Class 6A Girls Results:

1. Macy Wingard, Denton Braswell, 17:07.90
2. Lily Fawcett, Bridgeland, 17:32.10
3. Maya Easterwood, Coppell, 17:36.80
4. Adeline Bennett, Lewisville Flower Mound, 17:43.70
5. Alexandra Fox, Lewisville Flower Mound, 17:44.00
6. Ava Cole, Lewisville Flower Mound, 18:00.40
7. Meredith Wolfe, Round Rock, 18:01.40
8. Rowan Saacke, Bridgeland, 18:03.40
9. Adelynn Rodriguez, El Paso Eastwood, 18:06.40
10. Emily Orr, El Paso Franklin, 18:12.70
11. Taryn Elmer, Lewisville, Marcus, 18:13.20
12. Jamie Klander, Katy Mayde Creek, 18:18.20
13. Clare Boneau, Keller, 18:20.50
14. Susana Rawls, Bridgeland, 18:21.10
15. Sophia Lopez, Round Rock Stony Point, 18:21.50
16. Stoya Laydevant, Conroe The Woodlands, 18:23.30
17. Addison Scott, Houston Memorial, 18:27.00
18. Naomi Weller, Conroe The Woodlands, 18:27.70
19. Marian Mann, Klein, 18:30.00
20. Isabella Porter, San Antonio Johnson, 18:30.20

Austin-Area Finishers (Top 60):

7. Meredith Wolfe, Round Rock, 18:01.40
15. Sophia Lopez, Stony Point Round Rock, 18:21.50
21. Olivia Laudicina, Austin Lake Travis, 18:33.00
31. Miah McAulay, Austin Bowie, 18:41.00
42. Norah Vanderzanden, Cedar Park Vista Ridge, 18:59.30
50. Caroline Kurap, Austin Vandegrift, 19:06.00

Class 6A Boys Team Results:

1. Southlake Carroll, 49
2. Austin Vandegrift, 53
3. Bridgeland, 84
4. El Paso Eastwood, 98
5. Conroe The Woodlands, 141
6. Conroe The Woodlands College Park, 215
7. Waxahachie, 238
8. Lewisville Flower Mound, 239
9. San Antonio Johnson, 272
10. Round Rock, 276

Class 6A Girls Team Results:

1. Lewisville Flower Mound, 47
2. Bridgeland, 81
3. Katy, 139
4. Northwest Nelson, 151
5. Conroe The Woodlands, 168
6. Southlake Carroll, 170
7. San Antonio Johnson, 182
8. Prosper, 229
9. Klein, 247
10. Cedar Park Vista Ridge, 250