BybrRick Herrin
Three-peat is a word Carrollbrcross-country coach Justin Leonard wanted to avoid. He didn't want undobrpressure placed on this year's boys and girls runners, especially since thebrprevious teams had produced 18 runners over two years who are now running inbrDivision I programs. It's hard to maintain the standards those special group ofbrrunners produced winning back-to-back state Class 5A state titles. Now,br“three-peat” is about to appear on T-shirts and Carroll state championshipbrrings, and Leonard couldn't be happier.
It happened in onebrpicture-perfect Saturday in Round Rock, as the 2013 Carroll teams now have abrplace alongside the previous two teams. The Dragons and Lady Dragons kept thebrtradition going with 5A state championships as Carroll continues to reign as abrrunning superpower in the state.
The Lady Dragons won theirbrseventh state championship, and the Dragons won their third title. While thebrfinal standings at state were closer than the past two seasons, the end resultbrwas the same. The Lady Dragons won by six points, and the Dragons won by five,brmaking for a stressful Saturday for Leonard and the Dragon faithful at thebrrace.
Leading the way forbrthe Lady Dragons was Tig Archer, who finished fourth overall, finishing the 5Kbrcourse in 18:20. Samantha Young finished 10th and Katie Burnham wasbr11th to round out the Lady Dragons’ top three runners.
It has been abrwork-hard-and-wait scenario for Young. The senior waited three years to get abrshot at running with the varsity at the state meet. Her patience and commitmentbrpaid off as she succeeded like those before her. What makes this programbrspecial is the trust, work ethic and commitment in Leonard's program. Thebrrunners commit to running 50-70 miles a week, following a strict diet andbrwaiting their turn.
“The trust allowsbrthem to buy in and be patient that it's going to happen,” Leonard said.
Most rewarding forbrthese two teams this year was the ability to keep the bar raised. No drop-offbrhappened, despite losing so much talent.
“The kids wanted tobrmake a statement that our program is here and we are continuing the tradition,”brLeonard added. “It's a mindset and knowing that amount of work that has to be done.brThe younger kids see that.”
Another storyline inbrRound Rock was Dragon lead runner Jacob Pickle. A stress fracture in his legbrprevented him from running in last year's state meet. This year, he wasbrspectacular and led the Dragons to a title with a second-place overall finish inbr15:31.
Two places behindbrhim, senior Connor Hendrickson capped a decorated career running for thebrDragons. He became the only Carroll runner to be part of all three boys' statebrchampionships. For Hendrickson, his sacrifices, sweat and commitment were builtbrinto the Carroll three-peat, which is now a word they can say and never forget.
Lady Dragons 5K (110brpts.)- 1st place:
4th place- AntigonebrArcher- 18:20
10th place- SamanthabrYoung- 18:51
11th place- KatiebrBurnham- 18:51
23rd place- MoriahbrDadson- 19:30
62nd place- HaleybrMcFadden- 20:45
68th place- AriannabrLopez- 20:58
72nd place- KaylibrJones- 21:05
Dragon 5K (80 pts.) -br1st place:
2nd place- JacobbrPickle- 15:31
4th place- ConnorbrHendrickson- 15:35
9th place- Eli Canal-br16:07
25th place- JohnnybrKemps- 16:34
40th place- AnselbrRichards- 16:50
46th place- BrentbrAydon- 17:00
49th place- LukebrLanham- 17:03