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Cross country: Carroll sweeps state titles, Marcus girls grab bronze
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
The top cross country runners in the state were at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock Saturday to compete in the UIL Class 5A State Championships.
But when the dust settled and all the runners had crossed their respective finish lines, the Dragons and Lady Dragons were left standing as the elite.
Not only did Carroll sweep state titles for a second consecutive season, Carroll's teams occupied 40 percent of the top 10 finishers at the meet.
"We're pretty excited," said Justin Leonard, Carroll head coach. "It was a fun race to watch. Our goal was to go back-to-back on both sides and the kids put in the work and it showed. Especially with a goal like that, it was great to see the work pay off."
Individually, Hebron's Robert Domanic won gold (15:04.00) after outpacing Brigham Hedges of The Woodlands (15:06.70) for first. It was Domanic's third appearance at state after finishing fourth and 14th, respectively, the last two years. Last month at the Nike South Invitational in The Woodlands, Hedges edged out Domanic for the top spot.
"Obviously, the race went very well for Robert," said Jason Grennier, Hebron head coach. "We had a plan and he stuck to it. I think [Hedges] made a move a little earlier than we expected and caught Robert by surprise. But he reacted well and pulled it out."
Grennier added Domanic's goal was to win state, but that he wouldn't have been crushed had he settled for second.
"Everyone he was racing with he had seen before," he said. "His goal was to win and he thought it was achievable. He knew what he needed to do and he executed well."
Domanic was the first Hebron boy and first runner in Class 5A to win gold at state.
Hebron was also represented in girls as the Lady Hawks placed fifth (116).
For Carroll, the Lady Dragons were paced by a fifth-place finish from Courtney Krieghauser (17:57.30), while Shelby Chapin placed seventh (18:05.40), Elena Arriaza took eighth (18:05.80) and Antigone Archer in 10th (18:09.20). Rounding out Carroll's girls were Madison Keen in 17th (18:40.10), Katie Burnham in 24th (18:53.40) and Taylor Ullman in 53rd (19:43.50).
"The girls ran a great race," Leonard said. "We had a lot of girls step up. We had three in the top 10 last year and had the goal of duplicating or maybe even surpassing that and we were able to. The girls up front really pushed the pace and Elena and Antigone ran great races and stepped up to get in the top 10."
Marcus earned its top performance at state behind the strength of 14th- and 15th-place finishes from Sydney Brown (18:28.90) and Madeline Reed (18:29.84), respectively. Peyton Brown followed in 27th (18:59.04), with Miciah Derenzo in 48th (19:29.90), Natalie Polei in 63rd (19:57.68), Emma Blair in 74th (20:15.89) and Devon Cruz in 86th (20:40.71),
"We had a great weekend," said Steve Telaneus, Marcus head coach. "Both teams ran exceptionally well and competed at the same level."
Telaneus said Marcus' girls were in fourth but took advantage of a runner from The Woodlands struggling at the finish to earn their 14th medal at state.
"We were able to jump past them and get into third," he said. "To get a medal is what we expect. I'm not going to say it's the norm, but it's what we shoot for each year and the girls worked extremely hard to accomplish it."
By placing in the top 15, Brown and Reed garnered all-state honors.
Hebron's girls runners featured Megan Montgomery in sixth (17:59.30), Alondra Hoyos in 20th (18:48.40), Rachel Jones in 46th (19:25.50), Stefani Doyle in 62nd (19:56.30), Anna Elkin in 66th (19:58.60), Lauren Halliday in 79th (20:28.70) and Carolina Paulette in 99th (21:26.00).
"We knew it would be close going in," Grennier said. "We didn't run a bad race, but we also weren't at our best. If we ran our best, I think we had a shot to get on the medal stand. But it was our first time out there and was a new experience for everyone."
Grennier added he was particularly pleased with Montgomery's effort.
"She ran a really smart race," he said. "It went exactly as we planned and I was proud of her for getting sixth.
"This is something we can build on. Everyone sees and does the same training that Robert and the rest of the team does and sees that work ethic can get them to the top."
While Domanic finished first in boys, that didn't prevent the Dragons from securing an individual spot on the medal stand as Nate Sullivan earned bronze (15:11.70).
Joe Sansone followed in fourth for Carroll (15:17.90), with Trevor Gilley in sixth (15:28.90) and Connor Hendrickson in eighth (15:29.60). The rest of the boys included Eli Canal in 17th (16:01.20), Alec Garner in 42nd (16:32.70) and Chase Wichman in 60th (16:50.70).
"The guys came out and set the tone and avoided some possible trouble early," Leonard said. "They got some nice distance early on. We also thought we had a couple of guys who were capable of winning it all. It didn't work out that way, but to have four in the top 10 is a great effort.
"It says a lot about the program as a whole. They train 365 days for this and to have 40 percent of the medals in the state is a big deal."
It was Carroll's second title on the boys side and sixth for the girls (fifth in 5A).
From Marcus, Logan Hendrix earned his way on the stand after finishing 10th (15:34.60).
"Logan's progress has been similar to that of the team," Telaneus said. "While he was great runner, he was a little tentative as freshman. But two or three races into the year he realized what he could do running from the front and he really grabbed onto that. For just a sophomore, he showed an amazing amount of maturity."
The rest of Marcus' competitors, which finished fifth, included Evan Durrill in 36th (16:26.50), Jacob Babbidge in 41st (16:31.60), Adam Steele in 43rd (16:33.90), Drew Guenther in 49th (16:37.10), Luke Hendrix in 52nd (16:39.10) and Luke Page in 53rd (16:39.60).
"We were clearly in the mix," Telaneus said. "We were 20 points from third but were 60 points ahead of sixth. Both our boys and girls team ran very well, the girls were just rewarded for it a little more."
Flower Mound's Zachariah Hamstra also competed and finished 21st (16:07.30).
In the Class 4A Championships, The Colony's Blake Anderson and Newman Smith's Daniel Debes were both in competition. Anderson represented the Cougars in 20th (16:38.50), while Debes earned 32nd (16:54.50).
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