The Woodlands boys finish second in 6A
ROUND ROCK — The Woodlands was on a mission for history this year. The Highlanders had won four consecutive state championships and were looking to become the first program to ever win five straight twice.
Reaching that pinnacle was not in the cards on Saturday afternoon, however, as Southlake Carroll edged The Woodlands for the Class 6A title on the 5-kilometer course at Old Settlers Park. Carroll finished with a score of 80 points, beating out the Highlanders (115) and Lewisville Flower Mound (133).
“We had a great team day,” said The Woodlands coach Juris Green, who was honored as the National Federation of High Schools Sectional Coach of the Year on Saturday. “Getting a silver doesn’t mark a defeat or a loss . ... If you had told me before the race that we were going to run a 15:22 average, I would have taken it not knowing what place we were going to be. It was our best average of the year by two seconds.”
The Woodlands was led once again by senior Spencer Cardinal, who finished third overall with a time of 14 minutes, 45.01 seconds. He was followed closely by fellow senior Ethan Hammer, who captured fifth place at 14:50.32. Both runners were top-nine finishers for the Highlanders last season as well and will be missed.
“They’re the anchors that we revolve around,” Green said. “It’s nice not to have just one, but to have a couple. They’re poised, they’re calm, and they’re the people that with the other guys, we point to and say, ‘Watch them. Look what they’re doing, and do that,’ when it comes to daily routines, workouts and especially race days.”
Aaron Soltmann (52nd, 15:43.35), Matias Mononen (53rd, 15:43.47) and Chance Gibson (64th, 15:48.26) rounded out the Highlanders’ scoring runners, and Ben Amundson (66th, 15:48.77) and Brian Sewell (81st, 15:57.22) also competed. Mononen, Gibson and Sewell will be returning next season.
Klein came away with a fourth-place finish with 153 points. Christopher Daniels, who took 20th place overall with a time of 15:19.85, led the Bearkats. College Park also had a strong showing, finishing fifth as a team with a score of 163. Nicklaus Brawner led the Cavaliers, taking 16th place overall with a time of 15:14.66.
Gavin Saacke of Katy Tompkins (sixth, 14:57.57) and Nick Majerus of Kingwood (10th, 15:07.80) also reached the podium.
La Porte senior Ryan Schoppe dominated the competition to claim the individual state championship. Schoppe crossed the finish line at 14 minutes, 14.02 seconds, which broke the UIL Class 6A state record set in 2004.
“There really was no key to it — I just went out there and kind of did my thing,” Schoppe said. “I knew from training that I was ready for a big race . ... It just had to be the right conditions, and today they were perfect.”
Schoppe had competed at the state meet before, but going out as the champion was a special accomplishment. He was the runner-up last season by less than 10 seconds.
“I’ve been working for this for four years now,” he said. “Last year, I got outkicked by (Flower Mound runner) Alex (Maier), but I just used that as motivation to come back and run better and faster and stronger.”
The Kingwood girls were the state runners-up in the Class 6A race, finishing with a score of 92 points. They were beat by Southlake Carroll (45), which placed all five scoring runners in the top 12.
“Winning each day was our hashtag and our team motto for the year,” Kingwood
coach Jeremy Dye said. “We knew that the state meet day was not the day you win the state meet or get second in the state meet. It was all the training that we put into it. We just reflected upon that this morning and last night, and it was just a reminder for them during the race — if you ever start getting tired, if you ever start feeling like you’re going to have to quit, just keep pushing, because you’ve done all the work. They just took that to heart.”
The Lady Mustangs were led by freshman Carly Ahrens, who took eighth place with a time of 17 minutes, 54.72 seconds. Teammates Rachel James (19th, 18:20.70), Carson Parker (23rd, 18:22.66), Rebecca Rhodes (36th, 18:34.58) and Daniela Wisniewski (48th, 18:43.06) followed her.
Bridgeland (225) finished eighth as a team, led by 19thplace finisher Cassidy Graham (18:27.79). Katy Tompkins (250) was ninth and saw Addison Stevenson finish ninth overall (18:06.58). Avery Clover of Atascocita (17:35.88) took third place to lead all local individuals.
Huffman-Hargrave senior Peyton Pluenneke finished eighth in the Class 4A race at 15:36.98.