‘This Is Our Moment!’ Round Rock’s Girls Score State Bid With Inspiring Effort At Regionals

CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex. – Perhaps the final conversation the Round Rock High School girls had with each other before a do-or-die UIL Class 6A state qualifier on Monday at the Region IV Cross Country Championships was inside a hotel room, not 12 hours ahead of race day.

“We all kind of had a talk and last night realized, ‘This is our moment,’” senior Sarina Gharbi said.

That moment – which was an aim to qualify for the Texas state championships for the first time since 2022 – didn’t come without some adversity, however, with the team reeling after senior Merrit Moore fell twice over the course of 5,000 meters, including once at the start and another midway through the race.

“There was some rolling involved both times,” said Moore, who was the team’s second-best runner.

Of course, the measure of a complete team isn’t what one may do on a perfect day but rather on an imperfect outing, and no squad was more fitting of that moniker on this day than the Dragons, who managed to overcome catastrophe with a third-place finish, scoring 132 points and watching as star senior Meredith Wolfe netted a fifth-place finish overall in 18:49.97.

The Round Rock girls had accomplished their objective. Onward to state.

“We had multiple casualties today,” Moore said. “But we did it. That’s literally all that matters.”

In one of the rarest sights you’ll ever see during a high-stakes cross country race, the Class 6A girls start was actually called back after a bowling-pin-esque situation that involved a pile-up just meters from the opening gun.

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Round Two established the likes of Eleanor Smith, a San Marcos High School sophomore who led almost from start to finish and won in 18:22.99. Meanwhile, the Austin-area was led by Wolfe in fifth, while individual qualifiers Olivia Laudicina of Lake Travis and Sophia Lopez of Round Rock Stony Point followed in seventh and eighth, netting times of 18:53.22 and 18:53.52, respectively.

San Antonio Johnson grabbed the Region IV Championship with 103 points, while Cedar Park Vista Ridge was second with 106. Round Rock was third with 132 and San Antonio Reagan followed in fourth with 136.

Austin Bowie’s Miah McAulay, a top 20 finisher in the Class 6A state race in 2023, booked her second straight ticket with a 10th-place finish, while Caroline Krupa of Austin Vandegrift was the lone Viper to make it to the big dance.

There was no bigger surprise in the Class 6A girls race than Vandegrift, which despite winning a competitive District 6A-25 race just 13 days earlier, fell to sixth at regions, which prompted an exit from the season.

The Austin Vandegrift boys, however, had no such surprises up their sleeves.

In fact, the Vipers looked every bit the state contender, as they walloped the Class 6A field with 27 points, claiming a 15:46 average and a 36-second spread from first-to-five.

“Nothing special,” said Hudson Haley, who finished second overall in 15:29.56 and was followed by teammate Kai McCullough in third in 15:31.39. “Just another race to get us to state. And that’s where we’re really focused.”

Even on a hot day – where the heat stuck to runners like glue – and despite the Class 6A races kicking off at the tail-end of Monday’s action, the Vandegrift boys were ready for it. That’s a tell-tale sign of future success.

“We were really just happy how we performed, like even in this heat,” McCullough said. “It was really good that we were able to stay consistent, regardless of the weather and the way Corpus is.”

Arguably the only net loss was the individual race itself, with San Antonio Reagan’s Gavin Chapa taking the tape in a winning time of 15:24.28.

San Antonio Johnson was over 100 points back from Vandegrift in the team race with 102, while Harlingen was third with 132.

The Vandegrift duo was followed by Collin Goodwin in fifth, Miles Nutt in seventh and Jack Ebeier in 12th. In fact, that performance was unexpected. “Another different fifth runner,” Vandegrift coach Colin Sully said, almost delighted.

The Austin Region was represented well beyond the Vipers with the likes of Luke Bone, an Austin High senior who’s been flying high over the last year. He finished sixth in 15:49.

“I think track last year was my breakout season,” Bone said. “I made (the state championships), finally. That was my huge goal. And then coming off that season, after nationals, taking some time off and really building that base up, I knew I could do something special on the cross country course and on the grass.

Bone couldn’t help but think back to the decision he made the previous season, one that put him ‘all-in.’

“Just raced my heart out,” he said. “I knew I had it in me. I just needed to execute.”

Austin Bowie junior Griffin Hummel was eighth, while Austin Westlake senior Ben Hamilton was 11th.

Round Rock avoided catastrophe by slipping into the top four, led by sophomore Andrew Esparza. The talented underclassmen picked up a few scrapes, he said – and managed to get past a fall of his own – before crossing the line in 13th. It was a marked improvement from the year prior when he finished 38th.

“I made it through,” Esparza said.

What’s Next:

The second day of the Region IV Championships will feature the final three classifications on Tuesday, with the Class 1A, Class 3A and Class 5A races setting off on the Dr. Jack Dugon Soccer & Track Stadium course. The first race – the Class 1A girls – will begin at 8:00 a.m.

Related: This Austin Area Cross Country Team Was Nearly Perfect At Its District Championship

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Region IV Girls Individual Qualifiers:

2A: 

1. Kaycei Salazar, La Villa
3. Jackie Early, Johnson City LBJ
4. Peyton Sigsbee, Burton
5. Sarah Pena, Skidmore-Tynan
6. Raven Sandoval, Thorndale
7. Skielee Bear, Thorndale
9. Nadia Gonzalez, Thorndale
12. Ruby Rodriguez, Schulenberg
15. Kelyn Yanez, San Saba
16. Clarissa Gonzalez, Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco

4A: 

2. Bianca Bosquez, Robstown
4. Eva Zabarcencu, Comal Canyon Lake
5. Madison Gilliam, Geronimo Navarro
6. Kylee Montalvo, Needville
7. Angela Martinez, Zapata
11. Katie Dallas, La Vernia
12. Allison Dodds, Wimberley
13. Lilia Flo, Geronimo Navarro
16. Taytum Moeller, Floresville
17. Corina Joyrce, Wimberley

6A: 

1. Eleanor Smith, San Marcos
3. Kailyn Brunson, Northside Brennan
4. Kassia Kozarski, Cibolo Steele
7. Olivia Laudicina, Austin Lake Travis
8. Sophia Lopez, Round Rock Stony Point
10. Miah McAulay, Austin Bowie
11. Caroline Krupa, Austin Vandegrift
13. Kallie Van Prooyen, San Antonio Churchill
14. Ada Mathias, Northside Brennan
15. Adelyn Miller, Northside Taft

Region IV Boys Individual Qualifiers:

2A: 

2. Matthew Schwander, Brackettville Brackett
3. Calixto Valencio, Junction
6. Case McDaniel, Thorndale
7. Ethan Janac, Snook
9. Demarcos Gonzalez, Premton
11. Elian LaFuente, Premton
12. Antonio Perez, Johnson City LBJ
14. Colton Vrazel, Danbury
15. Eric Yanez, San Saba
17. Haven Farias, Premton

4A: 

7. Tristan Schenk, Comal Canyon Lake
8. Derek Adams, Fredericksburg
10. Jacob Ribvera, Kingsville King
11. Gabriel Garcia, Zapata
13. Donovan Dixon, Devine
14. Corbin Garcia, El Campo
15. Aiden Hallock, CC Tuloso-Midway
16. Royce Havens, Rockport-Fulton
18. Anthony Baltazar, Bay City
21. Colten Evans, Port Lavaca Calhoun

6A: 

1. Gavin Chapa, San Antonio Reagan
4. Zachary Miller, Northside Brennan
6. Luke Bone, Austin High
8. Griffin Hummel, Austin Bowie
9. Jayce Love, Schertz Clemens
11. Ben Hamilton, Austin Westlake
15. Aiden Adams, Northside Clark
16. Nick Maldonado, San Antonio Madison
17. Connor McGlothlin, San Marcos
19. Alex Alvarez, Eagle Pass

Region IV Girls Team Qualifiers:

2A: 

1. Goldwaite, 57
2. Mason, 128
3. Mumford, 138
4. Weimer, 148

4A: 

1. Davenport, 92
2. La Feria, 92
3. Fredericksburg, 121
4. Floresville, 128

6A: 

1. San Antonio Johnnson, 103
2. Cedar Park Vista Ridge, 106
3. Round Rock, 132
4. San Antonio Reagan, 136

Region IV Boys Team Qualifiers:

2A: 

1. Mason, 81
2. Port Aransas, 95
3. Agua Dulce, 138
4. San Antonio Stacey, 172

4A: 

1. La Feria, 41
2. Davenport, 86
3. Floresville, 100
4. Hidalgo Early College, 149

6A: 

1. Austin Vandegrift, 27
2. San Antonio Johnson, 129
3. Harlingen, 132
4. Round Rock, 133