TX High School Track Recap 2/15

This was the first week of outdoor track meets and there were quite a few fast times.

Starting with the 100m dash, Talajah Murrell placed first at the San Antonio North East Meet with a time of 11.64, followed by Allysha Davis in a time of 11.94. The leading time for the boys is 10.54 by Chris Ntreh of Plano East High School.

The Converse Judson high school dominated the San Antonio North East Meet. Kiana Horton finished first in the 200m with a time of 24.44. The girls 4x100 won with a time of 46.86 and the boys 4x2 won with 1:29.06. Also at that meet was Robert Ford, who ran a 1:55.83 for the 800.

In the hurdles, Samantha Gonzalez set 2 season records with a time of 13.94 in the 100 and 43.94 in the 300.

We had a blazing fast 800m time for the boys as Jeffrey Moore ran 1:53.40. The leading time for the girls was 2:20.53 by Gabby Crank.

We had several fast 1600m times, starting with the 4A state XC champion Natalie Rathjen who ran 5:08 at Carrollton Trojan Relays. After running the 800, Moore hopped into the mile as well and finished in 4:23. Steven Galli ran a 4:25 at the Rogue Track Festival.

Moving onto the 3200, the girl’s leading time is 11:07 by Evelyn Chavez, the 4A XC runner-up. The boys 4A state champion, Carter Blunt, ran 9:34 and Johnny Kemps came in 4 seconds behind at 9:38.

And finally, for the top performances of the week, we have…Madi McLellan’s 1600 at the Kingwood Joey Simpson Invitational. She ran an amazing time of 4:56, an excellent start to the season.

The boy’s top performance goes to…Chris Pietraskiewicz. He ran a 9:26 3200 at the Rogue Track Festival. I was able to interview him after his race.

That wraps up this week’s recap. Stay tuned for more meets coming up next week, and thank you for watching Stride by Stride!

Skype with Alana Hadley

Catching up with Alana Hadley (17 years old and qualified for the Olympic Trials in the marathon in a time of 2:41:55)

-Qualifying for the Olympic Trials

-Future plans and goals

-Training 

-First ever Stride by Stride trivia game

2013 Texas Cross Country Recap & Flashback

We’ve seen several fantastic performances throughout the 2013 cross country season. Starting back at the first week of the season, Natalie Rathjen set the fastest time of the week with a 17:38 5k at Marcus I invitational. Austen Dalquist led the boys with a 15:26.

Several stand-out performances occurred throughout the season. Still early on, Devin Clark and Paige Hofstad ran 10:36 and 10:38 for 2 miles, followed by Morgan Szekely with a 10:51. Steven Galli ran a 9:32.

Before the district meets, other standout performances included Natalie Rathjen’s 17:34 at McNeil Invitational, Paige Hofstad’s 17:56 at UTSA Romo Classic, Madi McLellan’s 17:59 at Humble ISD and Julia Heymach’s 17:40 at Angleton. Annie Dunlap set the 2 mile course record at McNeil with a time of 11:14.

For the boys, Frank Lara ran a 15:19 at Humble ISD and a 15:25 at Stanford Invitational. Brad Dohner ran a 15:21 at Humble ISD and Jacob Pickle ran a 15:28 at Southlake Carroll Invitational.

5 girls and 5 boys were crowned state champions on November 2^nd. Annie Dunlap set the state record with a 10:59 2 mile, winning her second XC championship. Natalie Rathjen ran a 17:41 5k winning the 4A title, and Paige Hofstad ran a 17:38 5k winning the 5A title. Frank Lara won the 5A boys race with a 15:26.

Some runners chose to compete at Nike South Regionals to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals, and some also ran Footlocker Regionals.

Paige Hofstad individually won Nike South, and her team New Braunfels won the team title. Also qualifying for the girls was Safiya Belbina, Annie Dunlap, Natalie Rathjen, Madie Boreman and Devin Clark.

The boys race was won by Jacob Shiohira, and Southlake Carroll took home the team title. Frank Lara, Wesley Ward, Ben Berrett and Connor Hendrickson also qualifying for NXN.

Natalie Rathjen went on to earn All-American Status at Nike Cross Nationals. The tight race was won by Alexa Efraimson from Oregon with a time of 16:49. Sarah Baxter was unable to obtain her third NXN title after finishing 3^rd.

Frank Lara was the first boy from Texas to cross the finish line with a 15:38. The race was won by Taylor Wilmot from North Spokane XC club, running 15 flat.

At Footlocker South Regionals, Natalie Rathjen placed 3^rd with a time of 17:06, the fastest time run all season by any Texas girl. Devin Clark also qualified with a 17:18. Frank Lara placed 9^th to qualify with a 14:53, also setting the fastest time of the season.

Devin Clark was able to earn All-American status after placing 12^th at Footlocker Nationals. Tessa Barrett from Pennsylvania was the winner with a 17:15. Grant Fisher from Michigan won the national title for the boys in a time of 15:06.

That wraps up the 2013 Cross Country season and thank you for watching Stride by Stride. 

TX Girls Dream XC Team

This is a compilation of all the girls in the state of TX who I believe would make the top team in the state, based on their performances throughout the 2013 Cross Country season.

1)  Paige Hofstad 

(5k PR-17:22, 2013 5A XC State Champ, 2013 Nike South Champion & NXN qualifier) Had excellent season, ran consistently well & won 2 major titles as just a sophomore.

2)  Natalie Rathjen

(5k PR-17:06, 2013 4A State Champ, NXN & Footlocker qualifier, All-American Status at NXN) Started the season fast and kept it up, won state meet by 40 seconds and earned All-American status)

3) Devin Clark

 (5k PR-17:16, NXN & Footlocker qualifier, All-American Status at Footlocker) Had a few ups and downs but finished the season on a high note earning All American status.

4) Madie Boreman 

(5k PR-17:36, 2012 4A XC State Champion & 1600m Champion, 2x NXN qualifier, All-American Status at NXN 2012, Addidas Dream Mile Invitation, 2012 FR of the Year) Weaker season than last year but still good enough to make the dream team after a comeback at Nike South

5) Annie Dunlap

 (5k PR-17:52, 5x 2A State Champ, NXN qualifier, 2A XC state record-holder) Won state meet 2 mile by over a minute and destroyed the previous state record, even coming from a 2A school she placed 3^rd at Nike South

6) Julia Heymach 

(5k PR-17:40, 5A State Runner-Up, 4 USATF National title-holder, 2 AAU JR Olympic title-holder, 2013 FR of the Year) Just a FR running small meets, Heymach came up big at state beating out Devin Clark and running fast times.

7)  Safiya Belbina 

(5k PR-17:48, 2x NXN qualifer, 2013 Nike South Runner-Up) Flew under the radar as attention was mostly focused on Hofstad and Clark, but came up big with a second place finish at Nike South beating out Clark and Rathjen.

3 Alternates:

Madi McLellan (5k PR-17:06, 3 Runner-Up 5A state titles) Started the season out strong but fell apart. Her times from last year would easily earn her a spot on the team, but having only broken 18 once this season she was not on her A game.

Evelyn Chavez (5k PR-18:03, 2013 4A State XC Runner-Up) Usually ran small meets but came big at state when she placed 2^nd

Kelsie Warren (5k PR-17:48, 2013 3A XC State Champion, 1600m & 3200m state title-holder) Another big win at the state meet by 26 seconds, Warren went on to run well at Nike South and Footlocker Regionals.

State Meet Recap Pt 2 (4A & 5A)

The 4A race went slightly different then expected as last year's defending champion, Madie Boreman, fell down to 7th place. Natalie Rathjen completed her outstanding season with a state title and a time of 17:41, beating 2nd place Evelyn Chavez by 46 seconds.

Canyon Randall won the meet with times averaging 19:13. The 5k times were a bit slower than expected due to a change of course.

Sophomore Carter Blunt is the new 4A boys state champion, running a time of 15:48.

Houston Stratford took home the state title with times averaging 16:33.

And finally, the 5A race took off. Devin Clark, Paige Hofstad and freshman Julia Heymach battled it out for the first two miles, but Hofstad spread apart in the last mile, winning the state title with a time of 17:36, followed by Heymach and Clark.

Southlake Carroll beat New Braunfels by 6 points and the Woodlands by 7, taking home the state title averaging 19:16.

Senior Frank Lara, the favorite coming in, won the boys state title by 4 seconds with a time of 15:26.

Southlake Carroll took home the boys state title as well, averaging 16:07.

That wraps up the state meet. Although he couldn't make it, the 9-time state champion and Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano congratulates the winners and describes the feeling he got when he won the state championships as "feeling like you are on top of the world, not too far off from feeling like you won a silver medal at the Olympics. You feel happy, thankful and realize that your sacrifice and hard work has paid off. It is a great feeling."

Congratulations to all of the runners this weekend, and I hope you enjoyed watching Stride by Stride. Keep checking for upcoming recaps on the national meets and more features coming up! The video version can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU1m4iAQOfQ

State Meet Recap Part 1 (1A-3A)

This week, I interviewed 7 state champions and some of their parents. Old Settler's Park was packed with fans and supporters cheering on the runners in pursuit of state titles. The meet started off with the girl's 1A two mile race. Freshman Andrea Sanchez was the favorite coming into the competition, and blew past the other runners with a time of 11:40, 18 seconds ahead of second place.

Harper took the team title, with an average time of 12:53. Sophomore Jeremy Cervantes took home the boys 1A title, running a time of 16:31, and Ozona won the team title by just 3 points, averaging 17:33.

The girl's 2A meet kicked off with a giant lead by senior Annie Dunlap. Dunlap finished the race with a time of 10:59, setting a new state record by 19 seconds despite it being a tougher course than previous years. She won the race by over a minute, and it was her second consecutive year winning the 2A cross country state title.

Only five points separated the top 3 teams, but Eustace took home the state title, averaging 12:50. In the boys race, Evan McQuirk is the new state champion with a time of 16:03. Luling won the team title averaging 16:58.

The girls 3A meet was supposed to be a tight race, but junior Kelsie Warren pulled away, winning the state championships by 26 seconds with a time of 11:24.

College Station won the meet with times averaging 12:06. Senior Taylor Clayton won the race by just 1 second, running a time of 16 flat. It was a battle for the top team as Lytle and Alvarado tied for first. In the case of a tie, the title goes to the team with the fastest 6th place finisher. Lytle's 6th runner finished 45th, 22 spots ahead of Alvarado's 6th runner, therefore the state title went to Lytle.

The video recap can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uSqmj7_LOk

Girls XC Recap 11/2 (Regional Meets)

Hi it’s Oceane, here to recap this week’s results. The regional meets took place this weekend, and the top 10 individuals, along with the top 3 teams moved on to the state meet.

Region 1 and Region 4 were by far the fastest as region 4 had a total of 40 girls under 19 minutes, and region 1 had leading times in all 5 divisions.

Starting with 1A, Andrea Sanchez leads the 1A girls for the state title. She ran a time of 11:39 this weekend at the region 1 meet. Kelsey Warren and Kamie Haulfmann are ranked 2^nd and 3^rd, and ran times of 11:52 and 11:52.3 at the region 2 meet.

In 2A, Annie Dunlap’s got herself a pretty good lead of 36 seconds. She ran 10:55 at the region 3 meet, winning by over a minute. Kristaly Munoz from region 4 is ranked 2^nd with a time of 11:31, still 28 seconds ahead of 3^rd place, Liz Guerra. While it will be a battle for the 3^rd spot, Annie Dunlap and Kristaly Munoz seem to have their spots secured.

3A will be fun to watch, as the top 4 girls are all within 4 seconds of each other. McKynzie King and Kelsie Warren both ran 11:28, followed by Sara Smith who ran 11:29, and Jazmine Garcia with 11:31.

Madie Boreman’s got herself a nice lead for the 4A girls. She won the state meet last year as a freshman with a time of 17:53, but she’ll have to run significantly faster than that if she wants to win again. Boreman won the region 4 4A meet with a time of 17:22, followed by Brittany Innis who ran 17:58. Devin Norton won the region 1 meet with a time of 17:49 and Natalie Rathjen won region 2 with 17:59. We have seen Rathjen run 17:34 and 17:38 this season, so she is still very much in the running for the state title.

Lastly, Devin Clark leads the 5A girls with an unbelievable time of 16:35. I asked Clark how she motivates herself to keep going when she can no longer continue, and she showed me some words of encouragement on her hands, which she writes as a reminder to keep fighting. Clark won the region 4 meet by just 1 second, as sophomore Paige Hofstad ran 16:36. Clark beat Hofstad by one second last week too, so no doubt we’ll be seeing them go head to head at state. Kellee McCann also ran a spectacular time of 17:13 at the region 1 meet, followed by Safiya Belbina (17:21) and Megan Montgomery (17:44). Others to watch are Morgan Szekely, Alex Cruz and Maddie McLellan.

That wraps up our preview of the state meet, and I would like to end this recap with an interview with Casey Garcia, the Ann Richards School first ever team captain. This was Casey’s last race, and she fights back tears as she reflects on her cross country experience. “I want them to keep getting better without me,” she says when asked about her team. “I just don’t want to be replaced. I know other good runners will come, but I know I don’t want to be replaced.”

The cross country season is coming to an end, but there’s still the most important meet of all next Saturday, so don’t miss the recap and interviews with the state champions! Thank you for watching Stride by Stride.

Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHBUV3wElMg