This Austin Area Boys Cross Country Team Was Nearly Perfect At Its District Championship
The Vandegrift boys are considered one of the best cross country teams in the country. They began their quest for a state title on Wednesday.
ROUND ROCK – It was clear that Hudson Haley wasn’t quite satisfied with his performance on Wednesday during the District 6A-25 Championships at Old Settlers Park.
He was the defending champion, after all.
But moreover, Haley – also the reigning UIL Class 6A state runner-up – may have felt he didn’t have that ‘A’ gear that contenders have. Shortly after finishing second to his teammate, Kai McCullough, he issued a thought to a teammate, ‘I hit lactic, bro.’
“Have some good things to work on, for sure,” Haley said. “I don’t know, it’s more personal for me. But I’m really happy the team put it together. We’re looking really good for the upcoming races.”
Fortunately enough for Haley, there’s plenty of time to solve issues and move forward through the UIL cross country postseason, which began for the Austin Vandegrift boys, one of the country’s top teams, with a clear and concise victory over 5,000 meters, a near perfect score of 16 points on Wednesday.
BornToRun is a developmental program for middle school and high school runners wanting to reach their full potential.
Next up are the Region 4 Championships, which will take Vandegrift and the rest of the District 6A-25 qualifiers to Corpus Christi on Oct. 21.
McCulllough and Haley led Vandegrift through to the line in 14:55.3 and 15:01.0, respectively, while their teammates went 3-4-and-6, checking off the first bucket list item on an ambitious plan to go after the Class 6A championship in November. Vandegrift has never won a state cross country title in its history.
“District is one of those things where we want to come out and show up and do the best we can,” Vandegrift head coach Colin Sully said. “But we want to advance the kids to the regional meet and the next step is just to really just go from there, sharpen up and focus a bit more, recover and get ready for the run into the state championships.”
The Round Rock boys followed close behind with 47 points while Westwood, perhaps a bit surprisingly, became the third and final regional qualifier with 110 points, out-working Cedar Park Vista Ridge, which fell behind by six points.
“We’ve just been really preaching running as a team and dictating, ‘This is the expectation,’” said Jamie Coy, Westwood’s head coach. “And today, we were just like, ‘You have to run. Run with your heart, not with your head, not with your watch. Just get out there and if you see a Vista Ridge jersey, you better go catch it.’”
Round Rock’s Andrew Esparza was the lone runner to break up Vandegrift’s perfect score, finishing fifth overall in 15:18.3. While he had finished 10th as a freshman and reached the state final in 2023, he said his goals this year are to compound that success.
“I’m really just taking my opportunity of being fast and just taking it to the next level of training and just doing all that kind of stuff I’ve been doing,” he said.
The District girls race, meanwhile, saw the Vandegrift girls slip by Cedar Park Vista Ridge by two points and Round Rock by four, with the Vipers scoring 43 points behind the pairing of Tibbie Mustacchia and Cate Cloran, the pair finishing second and sixth.
Round Rock Stony Point’s Sophia Lopez scored the win down the stretch in 17:55.8.
“I wanted to have like a pace,” Lopez said of her early strategy over 5K, adding, “It was mainly a mind game, I think, and I wanted to make sure I had some left towards the half mile and a half left.”
Vista Ridge’s Norah Vanderzanden and Emma Wade finished third and fourth, clocking times of 18:12.6 and 18:25.7.
For Wade, an Oklahoma State commit, the district race was just her second race of the season.
“We’re going to keep training as a team and keep doing hard workouts every week,” Wade said. “And then we’ll probably start dialing down as we get closer to regionals.”
Individual Girls Top 5:
- Sophia Lopez, Round Rock Stony Point, 17:55.8
- Tibbie Mustacchia, Austin Vandegrift, 17:58.7
- Norah Vanderzanden, Cedar Park Vista Ridge, 18:12.6
- Emma Wade, Cedar Park Vista Ridge, 18:25.7
- Meredith Wolfe, Round Rock, 18:36.4
Girls Team Top 3:
- Austin Vandegrift, 43
- Cedar Park Vista Ridge, 45
- Round Rock, 47
Individual Boys Top 5:
- Kai McCullough, Austin Vandegrift, 14:55.3
- Hudson Haley, Austin Vandegrift, 15:01.0
- Collin Goodwin, Austin Vandegrift, 15:03.7
- Christian Cruz-Castro, Austin Vandegrift, 15:08.0
- Andrew Esparza, Round Rock, 15:18.3
Boys Team Top 3:
- Austin Vandegrift, 16
- Round Rock, 47
- Westwood, 110
