The Kingwood Girls 6A Cross Country team has defied expectations by breaking up the Dallas/Fort Worth monopoly on the podium by taking Runner Up at the 2019 6A state championship. This has been the first time the girls have placed since 2010. The team left Kingwood High School for Round Rock, Texas on Friday morning to prepare for the big race. The girl’s plan was ambitious, but not impossible. Their goal was to place in the top three but in order to do so, the girls had to defeat Dallas schools Flowermound, Coppel, Carroll, and Prosper, all teams with a history of cross country excellence. Kingwood, on the other hand, was described by Texas Mile Split as the “sleeper”. What they didn’t know though was that the Kingwood girls had come to win. The ladies scoped the track out Friday afternoon in preparation for their race the next day.

On Saturday, November 9th, the state meet had finally arrived. The girls warmed up with a shakeout run, logbook session, and pep talk from coach Jeremiah Dye. The team’s motto was, “Win Each Day”. The Lady Mustangs lined up along 15 other of the best teams in the state. A sea of girls was primed and ready to take off the moment the gun signaled. Suddenly, a loud boom rang out across the field and the running began. 

The course was particularly hilly but this was no hindrance to the Lady Mustangs. At the front of the race, freshman Carly Ahrens pulled ahead finishing in 8th place with a PR of 17:54 leading the team to victory. Following close behind was senior Rachel James (18:20), sophomore Carson Parker (18:22), freshman Rebecca Rhodes (18:34), senior Daniela Wisniewski (18:42), freshman Skye Hoffman (18:59), and freshman Jenna Carter (19:09). The alternates were Helena Karlstrom (junior), Lauren Johansson (sophomore), and Anastasia Small (freshman). The team scores consisted of Southlake Carroll winning with a total of 45 points, Kingwood was runner up with 91 points, and Prosper received 3rd with 105 points. 

Freshman Skye Hoffman stated in a post-race interview, “The race felt good. We’ve been preparing for it for a while and all the hard work paid off”. Congratulations to the Lady Mustangs Cross Country team, go blue!