San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Fredericksburg snags silver at state
ROUND ROCK — The reality set in shortly after Fredericksburg accepted the runner-up trophy for Class 4A girls at the UIL state cross country meet held Saturday at Old Settlers Park.
It was the final runs for Billies seniors Ann Claire Cop and Taylor Grona, who formed the foundation for the program's recent run of success.
The hugged one another through tears after emerging from the awards presentation tent.
“Taylor and me have been running together for the past four years, and we became best friends though it, lifelong friends,” Cop said. “It just means a whole lot to see that we helped this team grow and how we helped push people to their limits.”
The Billies tallied 61 points, 11 behind champion Canyon Randall.
It is Fredericksburg's third straight second-place
finish. A Billie had never touched the podium before that.
“Knowing that we've finished second place three times in a row, it just warms my heart,” Grona said. “This teams works so hard. They'll do anything you want them to do, and they push themselves to limits they didn't think they could push themselves through,”
Cop was the Billies' highest finish in fifth, followed
by Grona in seventh, sophomore Rilyn Grona, Taylor's sister, in eighth.
Cop and Taylor Grona are the team's lone seniors. Fredericksburg coach Dan Aldrich said they helped the team build a foundation for success.
“We've talked about trying to change the culture of our program, and three years ago, the two seniors we have actually changed that,” Aldrich said. “They're leaving with three silver medals, and nobody has ever accomplished that for us.”
Cop wasn't sad the team didn't win the gold, but that the ride was over.
“I know sometimes we take it for granted, but it's just amazing how we all push each other and come together when we need to,” Cop said. “Second place, three times in a row is just really an honor and it's been a lot of fun.”
Boerne's boys also climbed on the podium in third in the 4A boys division.
The Greyhounds, led by Aaron Garcia's 33rd place finish, scored 127 points. Canyon was the winner (56) followed by La Feria (105).
Stockdale senior Taylor Warrick finished third in the 2A boys race, going 16:04.9 on the 5,000-meter course.
Warrick finished behind Wolfe City's Caden Thurman (15:27.9) and Waco Meyer's Marco Cunningham (15:49.0).
They raced together until about the two-mile mark when they separated. Warrick didn't want to push the pace because he was afraid of burning out too quickly. Instead, he laid back and held his third-place position.
“I knew if I would have taken the lead, I would not have gotten through it,” Warrick said. “I would have blown up way earlier.”
They finished in that order at the track and field state meet in the 3,200-meter run.
“I definitely needed it,” Warrick said. “It was a very good race today.”
It's Warrick's first state medal in cross country after finishing sixth last year and 64th in 2021.
Two area boys finished in the top 20 in the Class 6A race. Reagan junior Gavin Chapa was tenth (15:20.1 for 5,000 meters), and Brandeis senior Hayden Scott was 17th (15:29.1). Southlake Carroll's Caden Leonard was the overall winner (15:00.1).