Running on Monday and Tuesday at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie, there might be more state qualifiers from the area than ever before from the 2A and 1A schools.
The Nocona girls and Saint Jo boy’s teams made school history by qualifying for the state meet. Individually, Freddie Duran from Nocona, Grace Martin from Bellevue, Isaac Renteria from Gold-Burg and Tyler Winkler from Prairie Valley qualified for state as well.
Both days, the area teams were the last races of the day. Combined with the rain it meant course conditions were not primed for the fastest times of the year. The second day the course was reconfigured to avoid as much mud after the previous day’s rain.
The Lady Indians finished fourth overall out of 23 teams in the 2A race, getting the last state qualifier spot and finishing just one point ahead of De Leon.
Bayler Smith led the team by finishing 12th overall with a time of 12:45. The top five runners included Jolie Rose finishing 27th, Ayden Patton finishing 37th, Melissa Segura finishing 38th and Jayce Rose finishing 60th.
Coach Kyler Spitzer has gotten close before and was glad it was this group that finally broke through.
“I knew we had a group that was capable of doing it,” Spitzer said. “They just had to mentally decide that was something they wanted to work towards and they have absolutely put in the work. This group has been so easy to coach. They show up and work, every single day, with very little complaining. This year has been a blast and I’m so glad we get to compete in that final race.”
The next day, in the boy’s 1A race it was Saint Jo’s turn to make school history. The Panthers also finished fourth, though there was less drama as they were 100 points ahead of fifth place.
Collin Thomas bounced back from a tough district race where he was dealing with an injury to finish third overall with a time of 19:18. Even if his team would have not qualified, it would have been the seniors fourth straight state meet which was another school first.
Coach Ryan Bruce had nothing but praise for the senior.
“Collin got to be part of making history twice in one day and deservingly so,” Bruce said. “He is the leader of this team and continues to push his team to get better. It has been fun to be a part of.”
Of course this year it was not all on Thomas. Elijah Young and Jayden Curry’s 15th and 22nd placing both would allowed both to qualify for state individually if the team had not.
Kile Thurman battled back after having his football season cut short due to an injury to finish 39th and Josh Vogel split his time between football and cross country well enough to finish 46th as the fifth and final runner.
Outside of those teams, some still did well overall even if only the top runner ended up qualifying for state.
The Nocona boy’s team finished in fifth place, one spot away from qualifying though the Indians were more than 100 points off from fourth place. Freddie Duran qualified for the state meet individually, finishing 16th overall, but among the top 10 individuals who were not already a part of the top four teams.
Coach Brody Wilson praised the sophomore for his accomplishment.
“Freddie did a great job,” Wilson said. “I’m super proud of his work ethic and he definitely deserves this. Everyone in Nocona should be proud of what he’s accomplished. I know he will continue to work hard for the state meet next week.”
The Nocona boy’s top five included Ivan Hernandez finishing 55th, Walker Murphey finishing 57th, Claudio Segura finishing 59th and Alex Stephens finishing 77th.
Back in the 1A race, senior Grace Martin from Bellevue ended up qualifying individually as she finishing 10th overall with a time of 15:26. Her Coach John McGee praised her character above her ability to run.
“Grace has been an inspiration to all of the athletes, teachers and administration here at Bellevue and she is well respected in this school as well as in this community,” McGee said. “We are super proud of Grace for qualifying for the state meet as this has been one of her goals for several years.”
Her team finished 11th overall. The top five runners for the Lady Eagles also included Brittany Gill (32nd), Tristan Shook (82nd), Kaycee Conner (114th) and Callie Martin (120th).
The final two state qualifiers came in the 1A boy’s race and both were running without a team. Sophomore Isaac Renteria from Gold-Burg finished fourth overall for a time of 19:19. It is his second straight year to qualify for state and he hopes to improve on his 48th finish at state last year.
“We are striving for a top 10 finish at the state meet, but we know we’ve got some work to do over the next week to get us where we want to be to make that happen,” Coach Jesse Vaughn said.
Prairie Valley’s senior Tyler Winkler grabbed the final individual place as he finished 28th overall with a time of 20:53. It has been a longtime coming for Winkler.
He ran in the regional race his freshman and junior years and had to miss his sophomore year due to COVID-19 protocols. This year has not been the easiest for him as well.
“We’re very proud of Tyler for this accomplishment,” Coach Seth Stephens said. “He’s dealt with some injuries all year, so that’s been something he’s had to deal with and overcome. He’s excited to finally accomplish a goal that he’s had since his freshman year.”
Not every area team or runner ended up qualifying for state. The Prairie Valley girl’s team was two members short which meant it could not compete as a team. Karagan Ritche was the team’s top runner finishing 90th with a time of 18:34. Sisters Carmen and Makaylee Gomez finished 97th and 135th.
Gold-Burg freshman Ollie Gaston was hoping to qualify for state individually. Unfortunately, her 23rd place finish with a time of 16:32 placed her four spots out of the top 10 individually among girls who were not on the top four teams.
The final runner was Saint Jo’s Kaycee Clark, who finished 73rd overall with a time of 17:49.
The state meet is at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock. The runners from Nocona will run on Nov. 4 while the rest of the runners and teams will run in the 1A race the next day on Nov. 5. On both days the girl’s race is scheduled to start at 11:40 a.m. with the boy’s race after at 12:10 p.m.

To see results for all area runners from the regional meet, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.