It is all over! No more cross country meets and Texas runners were right there until the very end.
As I said this morning, good luck concluding the season without the effects of Texas athletes.
Just like last year when the race was won by a Texan with two more in the top ten, It didn't go down today either without the involvement of a few athletes from the Lone Star state.
Aledo sophomore Graydon Morris was competing in his second straight Foot Locker championships. The number two would be his magic number today as he would take second place in the boys race and an imporvement form last year's 34th place. "I have a lot more respect for the course," Morris said prior to the race. "I'm going to try to get up with the top guys, relax, let the race play out and hopefully I'm in contention for the top spots." Well, that exactly how thing played out as his runner-up finish in 15:23.3.
Morris executed his game plan to perfection as he found the leaders and whole step of the way. At the half mile mark into the race the entire field came through within a few seconds at 2:25 - 2:27 and the mile mark at 4:57 - 4:59 for the leaders and Morris was right there. When the field came through the 1.5 mile mark, the race begin to open up. As planned, Morris was still in position at fifth place and with in 2-3 seconds of the leader. From there, Morris displayed the second half strength and speed we've seen at the Region I-5A and the UIL 5A state races.
Fort Worth Christian junior Carter Cheeseman also had him would have liked. self a heck of a race with his sixth place finish. Just a week ago, Cheeseman had competed in the NXN championships and finished in 36th place. Last week, Cheseman said, "I felt like my body didn't really have it today, I have Foot Locker next week, It's my first big time national race like this, it's good to get one under the belt." The lesson was learned as he looked more like himself today.
Cheeseman also had another milestone as he joined his father as a Foot Locker National competitor. Thirty five years ago, Ken Cheeseman ran as a Florida prep athlete at the Foot Locker Nationals (AKA Kinney) where he finished in 17th place with a 15:14.7. Today, Carter's sixth place topped his father's 1982 finish.
On the girls side, junior Adoette Vaughan put the nation on notice. The three time SPC state XC champion from Hockaday ran a very impressive race. As I stated earlier today, Vaughan was dangerous for several reasons. She has had a knack of being able to identify the top runners and hang in there and not be dropped. Vaughan held true to her usual tough running as she kept contact with the chase pack through the first mile and beyond.
Being one of the more rested runners in the field, fresh legs may have played a part as Vaughan was able to run down a few girls who had taken a lead on her and almost tracked down a couple of more. My exact words were, "Don't be surprised to see Vaughan with a top 15 finish or higher in this race." Well, she was better as she took the under in finishing higher!
Related: Rahmaan And Wilson Make It Two Individual National Championship Races For One Team
Also in the girls race were two UIL 6A stars, Montgomery junior and the UIL 6A state champ Halena Rahmaan and UIL 6A fourth place finisher Katy Cinco Ranch freshman Heidi Nielson. Rahmaan and Nielson both competed rigorously up to the first mile, but things started to go not so much the way they would have liked. Rahmaan finished in 35th at 19:03.3 and Nielson finished 38th at 19:43.4.