Athletic Live - PR Invitational / Video Screengrab
Carroll's Caden Leonard, right, before the two-mile Brooks PR Invitational race earlier this month.
There's a case to be made that Carroll's Caden Leonard is the fastest high school long distance runner in the country after the senior-to-be came in second place at the Brooks PR Invitational in Washington earlier this month.
The top six finishers at the event set the new fastest times in the United States for the event, in descending order. The first-place runner, Juan Gonzalez, graduated in May from Fremont High School in Nebraska and is heading to Oregon University. Leonard, of course, has one year of high school left before departing to run for the University of North Carolina.
Gonzalez and Leonard were separated by only three seconds, with Gonzalez finishing in 8:47.06 and Leonard crossing the finish line in 8:50.22. Joe Barrett, from Lincroft, New Jersey, came in third at 8:52.18.
Entering his final season at Carroll High School, the stakes continue to be sky-high for Leonard and the Dragon cross country team. Leonard has already been named the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year in boys cross country twice -- as a sophomore and last year, as a junior. He also led Carroll to its second straight University Interscholastic League Class 6A state championship last fall, running the championship race in 14:50.1 -- ten seconds faster than his time in the same race his sophomore year.