Season Update
Boys 5A State Champions
Girls 5A State Champions
The Dragons boys and girls cross-country teams did it again!brIt all started with both teams sweeping their way through district competitionbrfor the third straight year. The LadybrDragons’ top five runners all qualified as a team and as individuals with eachbrone finishing no later than seventh. The boys also placed as a team with sevenbrrunners in finishing in the top 17. Coach Justin Leonard’s teams showed nobrsigns of letting up in regional competition with another sweep. They headedbrinto the state meet in Round Rock as the odds-on favorites. The Dragons scoredbr80 points at the meet, besting second place College Park by five points. ThebrLady Dragons followed in similar fashion with a six-point defeat over NewbrBraunfels. Despite losing their share of athletes to graduation, both teamsbrhung in strong for the program’s third straight state championship.
About the team
Coach Leonard has a dynasty in the making with a programbrthat continually replaces its roster with successful athletes. The program mightbrhave been looking for a three-peat, but the senior leaders just wanted to gobrout in style. At the regional boys meet, Jacob Pickle and fellow senior ConnorbrHendrickson finished one-two with times of 14:52.60 and 15:00:00, respectively.brAt the state meet, Pickle and Hendrickson came through again, both with topbrfive finishes of 15:31:08 and 15:36:00. Eli Canal, Johnny Kemps, AnselbrRichards, Brent Aydon and Luke Lanham finished with an impressive showing asbrthey all placed in the top one-third of competitors.
For the Lady Dragons, sophomore Antigone Archer was thebrfirst to cross the line, finishing fourth with 18:20:51 and followed shortlybrthereafter by a trio of seniors. Samantha Young and Katherine Burnham closedbrout their careers in consecutive fashion, almost holding hands as they crossedbrthe tape with times of 18:51:48 and 18:51:78 — good for 10th and 11thplace. Fellow senior Haley McFadden literally out-ran herself, placing fifth despitebrbeing the team’s number seven runner. Her strong finish helped the team takebrhome yet another state championship. Moriah Dadson, Arianna Lopez and KaylibrJones all had solid finishes that led to the top-placing team.
Quote:
Coach Justin Leonard has a dynasty in the making with abrprogram that continually replaces its roster with successful athletes.
Head coach: Justin Leonard
Assistant coaches: Niki Gilley, Brandon Rogers
Roster:
VarsitybrGirls
Antigone Archer Sophomore
Ari Lopez Freshman
Haley McFadden Senior
Katie Burnham Senior
Kayli Jones Sophomorebr
Moriah Dodson Senior
Sam Young Senior
VarsitybrBoys
Ansel Richards Junior
Brent Aydon Senior
Connor Hendrickson Senior
Eli Canal Junior
Jacob Pickle Senior
Johnny Kemps Junior
Luke Lanham Junior