McNeil Invitational & Nike South Recap

Hi it’s Oceane, back to recap this week’s meets! This was an exciting weekend with the McNeil Invitational and the Nike South Invitational. We had many great performances and fast times, so let’s get right into it!

The Nike South Meet was bound to be a showdown between last year’s state champion Paige Hofstad, and the state runner-up Julia Heymach. The two battled it out until the end, when Hofstad took the lead and won the race in a time of 17:38. Heymach came in 11 seconds later at 17:49.

On the boy’s side, it was a tight race between Pedro Nasta and David Strome, but in the end Nasta unleashed his kick for the win and finished in a time of 15:32, Strome finishing just behind him in a time of 15:33.

The McNeil Invitational was one heck of a meet, starting with the girl’s gold race. This was a very deep field, including Devin Clark, Madie Boreman, Abby Gray, Ashton Endsley and more of this season’s top performers. The race got out fast with Devin Clark leading from start to finish. Clark remains undefeated this season, running a time of 17:10. I interviewed her after her win at the UTSA Invitational.

Abby Gray is the clear 5A leader, coming in second with a time of 17:22, and keeps improving drastically from week to week. I was able to interview her after her race, unfortunately there was a little issue with the sound, but Gray spoke about the pressure and excitement of being the number one ranked runner in the division, something she’s never experienced before. Gray also hopes to compete at Nike South and Foot Locker regionals to qualify for nationals.

Ashton Endsley, Alex Cruz and Madie Boreman all came in within two seconds of each other, ranging from 17:51-17:53, so there were a total of 5 girls under 18 minutes.

On the boys side, Alex Rogers took the win with an amazing time of 15:12, 20 seconds ahead of second place Caleb Hollifield. I interviewed Rogers after his race.

It was a blazing fast race with 14 boys under 16 minutes. Sophomore Sam Worley came up big with a third place finish in a time of15:35. Also in the mix were Darren Medrano and Alex Cleveland.

Those were really the two big meets this weekend, and it was exciting to see all of the big names race each other. The only one missing from the pack was Carter Blunt, but hopefully we’ll see something from him next week before the district meets begin. That’s it for today, tune in next week for another recap and thank you for watching Stride by Stride. 

XC Recap Week 2

Hi it’s Oceane, back to give you this week’s recap. We’ve had several more fast times come in, and we’re starting to get an idea of who will be competitive for the state title. So let’s get right into it!

Earlier on in the week was the Pflugerville Invite, where Madie Boreman and freshman teammate Helen Roddy dominated the race. Boreman ran 17:56 and Roddy is currently the fastest freshman in the state with an 18:08 5k.

The St. Andrews Invitational had some great performances, starting with last year’s state champion Paige Hofstad setting a new state leading time of 17:36. Ashley Driscoll and Gema Sanchez both came in at 18:24, Sanchez moving up to first position for 5A girls. I was able to interview her after her race.

Another one to note is Danielle Garza, currently ranked first for 3A girls who just ran a time of 11:48 at the Yoakum Invitational.

On the boys side, Carter Blunt still leads the way with his 15:02 5k from last week. Most of the results from this week came in from the Fort Worth Invitational, which appears to have been a short course. Alex Cleveland was the winner there with a time of 15:09, most likely for 3 miles. Another great performance was Darren Medrano’s 15:41 5k at the St Andrews Invitational, and I interviewed him after his race as well.

Moving onto teams…New Braunfels surpassed Southlake Carroll and is now ranked number one in the state for girls, with an average time of 18:49. Southlake Carroll boys are still ranked number one with an average time of 15:49, led by senior Eli Canal. The remarkable thing about this team is that only 39 seconds separate their top 7 runners.

The girl’s top performer of the week goes to…Paige Hofstad for running a new state leading time of 17:36! And for the boys, the top performer of the week goes to…Darren Medrano for the fastest full 5k time of the week, 15:41!

Congrats to everyone mentioned, tune in next week for another recap and interviews from UTSA. Thank you for watching Stride by Stride!