The Southlake Cross Country teams' top seven boys and girls raced against the best runners in the nation at the 16th annual Nike Cross Nationals in Portland last weekend. According to a press release, Nike hosts this highly competitive meet for the top two qualifying boys and girls teams from eight regions across the country. Out of 450,000 high school runners in the United States, 400 runners qualified for this intensive meet, and 14 of them came from Southlake Carroll.
“Our kids ran to the best of their abilities and left it all on the course,” head coach Justin Leonard says in the release. “We are proud of our runners and the way they competed on a national stage.”
The boys' team placed 14th overall and was led by Tim McElaney, who finished in 26th place with a time of 15:55. Following him was Nate Lannen in 33rd place, Antonio Florcruz in 41st, Michael McCabe in 85th, Solomon Chavez in 100th, Joe Gardner in 108th and Brett Gilley in 143rd.
The girls, meanwhile, placed 20th overall and was led by Jenna Holland, who placed 63rd overall at 19:29. Katherine McElaney was next to finish in 71st place, with Kaylie Cox following in 80th, Tatum Foreman in 92nd, Abigail McIlvain in 120th, Grace Williamson in 129th and Alexa Karmis in 142nd.
“The amount of work and dedication our runners display on a weekly basis provides evidence to future runners that they too can achieve great things when they set goals and work tirelessly as a group,” Justin says in the release.