* Kevin Sanchez won his second-straight UIL Texas 6A state cross country title on Friday morning.
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ROUND ROCK, TEXAS -- On Friday and Saturday mornings at Old Settler's Park, Texas' best took to the course to challenge for coveted titles at the UIL Texas State Cross Country Championships.
The meet action certainly didn't disappoint, for a variety of reasons.
Begin with day one, which saw Texas' top level of cross country competition gain national attention as former University of Texas runner Brendan Hebert illegally ran in the UIL Class 6A boys race.
The 2018 Lake Travis High School graduate wore a red Lake Travis uniform and finished second to Austin Vandegift's Kevin Sanchez, but Hebert's performance was disqualified by the UIL shortly after he crossed the finish.
An official from the UIL told MileSplit that it planned to make a report to the police about Hebert and will take all necessary actions going forward to make sure nothing like Hebert's unprecedented actions happen at a future UIL-sanctioned event.
But beyond the race bandit, the high school performances across the board certainly stole the show, especially in the large school classifications that saw race favorites dominate against the girls and boys fields.
* The 6A girls race takes off at the UIL Texas State Championships.
Photo Credit: Jan Smits/MileSplit Texas
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One of the most anticipated races helped begin state competition on Friday, as the 6A girls race featured a hefty handful of individuals more than capable of winning a title and an exciting matchup between the nationally-ranked Flower Mound and Southlake Carroll programs.
As the race unfolded, it was as if the race was perfectly scripted for Flower Mound and the Humphries sisters.
Nicole and Samantha Humphries gapped the field with about a mile to go and ran together through the finish to go 1-2, both clocking 17:36.40. Further video review gave Nicole the state title win over her twin sister.
The duo, along with a third-place finish from Alexandra Fox, earned Flower Mound its third-straight state cross country title, scoring 42 points to Southlake Carroll's 51.
TEAM SCORES PLACE TEAM POINTS SCORERS TIMES 1 Flower Mound 42 1+2+3+17+19 (44+72) 1:27 1-5 Split | 18:12 Avg 2 Carroll High School 51 4+6+7+16+18 (25+41) 1:00 1-5 Split | 18:33 Avg 3 Kingwood High School 116 9+21+27+29+30 (69+87) 0:48 1-5 Split | 19:19 Avg 4 Austin Vandegrift 137 14+22+24+28+49 (51+52) 1:13 1-5 Split | 19:26 Avg 5 The Woodlands 176 11+37+40+42+46 (58) 1:17 1-5 Split | 19:44 Avg
In the 6A boys race that followed, Hebert's bandit-maneuver didn't stop defending champion Sanchez from throwing down an impressive performance. The Austin Vandegrift senior surged over the final mile to capture his second-straight title in 15:26.3, equating to a 191 speed rating on a muddy course.
Sanchez was the clear favorite in the 6A individual battle, as was the Southlake Carroll boys in the team race, which they capitalized on. Carroll posted just a 23-second 1-5 spread and amassed 62 points to win the state championship, 19 points ahead of the Sanchez-led Austin Vandegrift squad in second.
Led by freshman Caden Leonard, who placed sixth overall in 15:56.20, Carroll put four in the top 25 of the field to secure the title.
TEAM SCORES PLACE TEAM POINTS SCORERS TIMES 1 Carroll High School 62 5+8+13+17+19 (22+55) 0:23 1-5 Split | 16:07 Avg 2 Austin Vandegrift 81 1+9+18+20+33 (108+110) 1:11 1-5 Split | 16:09 Avg 3 Coppell 126 6+21+25+28+46 (73+89) 0:53 1-5 Split | 16:26 Avg 4 The Woodlands 135 10+12+24+41+48 (53+64) 0:44 1-5 Split | 16:26 Avg 5 Atascocita 148 3+11+35+39+60 (80+85) 1:20 1-5 Split | 16:27 Avg
But after the triumphs -- and unprecedented antics -- that made for quite a memorable first day of action, Saturday morning's competitions brought similar eye-catching moments.
Day two highlights included entertaining races in the 5A division, which saw athletes pull off upsets and capture long sought-after title-winning moments.
One of the biggest performances of the morning came from Georgetown senior Mckenzie Bailey, who out-kicked Cedar Park's Isabel Conde de Frankenberg over the final mile to capture her first-ever state championship in shocking fashion.
Bailey crossed the line in 17:36.40 for the win, ahead of Conde de Frankenberg in 17:45.60.
* Bailey talks about her championship win at the UIL Texas 5A State Championships on Saturday.
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It was a two-person race from the gun as Bailey and Conde de Frankenberg stretched out the field in the first mile. The competition became a race of surges as both tried at points to begin dropping the other, but it was Bailey who ultimately had the final kick that would hold through the finish.
The 5A girls team competition saw Lucas Lovejoy handily take home the championship, tallying just 28 points and putting five runners in the top 15.
Perhaps Lubbock Monterey's David Mora took some pointers from Bailey as Texas' 5k leader took to the 5A boys race that followed with similar senior confidence.
After a conservative first half, a lead pack of around 10 boys dwindled down to one over the final 1,000 meters, and Mora shifted into another gear to win his the first 5A title of his career in 15:15.40 -- the fastest time posted across all divisions. The win comes after back-to-back bronze medal finishes in 2020 and 2021 for Mora, who ends his high school cross country career as a state champion.
Behind Mora came Grapevine teammates Adam Burlison and Alberto Rayon in second and third with times of 15:24.00 and 15:24.80, respectively.
That 2-3 finish for Burlison and Rayon helped Grapevine to one of the most commanding team performances of the championships. Grapevine took home a state title -- their third-straight such win -- with a 56-point score, more than 50 points ahead of runner-up Lucas Lovejoy.
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