San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Champion chases 5A state titles
Boerne Champion’s girls will put their depth to the test in the biggest way when the Chargers try to defend their Class 5A state championship.
Jonathan Tate, who coaches Champion’s girls and boys teams, figures the Chargers will be one of about six teams in the mix for podium spots when the two-day UIL state championships start Monday at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.
Because of COVID-19, the meet is being split into two days with Classes 5A, 3A and 1A on Monday and 6A, 4A and 2A on Tuesday.
Champion will have its strongest runners ready to go, but not all of them. Key contributors in junior Katie Houck and sophomore Grace Flores, who helped the Chargers to the title last year, will not run because of health issues.
The good news for Champion is juniors Anastacia Gonzales and Kate Williams, members from last year’s state title squad, have been running strong all season. They’re bolstered with seniors Molly Breuer, Ava Rideout and Savana Alt, who didn’t compete for Champion at state last year. Sophomore Josey Whitaker, who finished eighth in last year’s Class 2A state race for San Antonio Stacey, has been a major contributor since transferring to Champion.
Champion’s girls performed
well in two highprofile events, including a victory at the Lovejoy Fall Festival on Oct. 17 in which the Chargers prevailed over Dallas Highland Park by two points.
On Sept. 25, Champion was third in a tight pack of teams at the Round Rock McNeil Invitational contested at Old Settlers Park. Lovejoy finished first, followed by Dripping Springs, Champion and Grapevine. The difference from first to fourth was 17 points.
Champion defeated Dripping Springs at the District 26-5A meet. Dripping Springs beat Champion at the Region IV-5A meet.
Tate said the Chargers
aren’t carrying the burden of trying to repeat as state champions because it’s essentially a different team.
“There might be some pressure if we had not lost this year and being defending state champs,” Tate
said. “We had a lot of people come back, and we have a lot of new contributors, so I think it’s hard for them to feel pressure because a lot of them weren’t running (at state) last year.”
Tate likes his team’s chances on the boys side. The Chargers and Grapevine will be among the top teams.
They have run against each other twice with Grapevine squeezing out victories over the Chargers both times — by nine points at Lovejoy and seven points at McNeil.
“We’re close and I feel like we’ve gotten better,” Tate said. “We’ll find out if we’ve closed the gap enough on Monday.”
Grapevine was second and Champion third at last year’s state meet. They finished behind El Paso Eastwood, which is now in Class 6A.
The Chargers are expected to have their top five runners from last year’s state podium team, including senior Foster Wilfong, who won the Region IV-5A individual crown two weeks ago. Others include senior Christopher Martinez, senior Devin Duran, junior Camden Vicknair and junior Hunter Lampkin.
Other area competitors looking for top spots include Johnson’s boys in 6A.
The Jaguars look to bounce back after finishing third at the regional meet. Johnson was ranked fourth in state heading into the postseason. Senior Taj Lee, who won the regional individual title, will lead the way.
Smithson Valley seniors Amalie Mills and Sara Scott will be in contention for top 10 spots in the girls 6A race. They finished 1-3 at the regional meet.
Cole’s girls are contending for team and individual spots in 3A. Sophomore Finley Hunting and junior Audrey Velesky paced the Cougars regional team win with 1-2 individual finishes. Hunting was a silver medalist at last year’s state meet.