Dragon Cross Country has reached such special heights that we are re-inventing the dictionary now. I mean honestly, who has ever heard of a 7 peat!!! There are almost no words for this program’s level of dominance, simply because we have almost never seen a program win SEVEN State titles in a row!

Such was the case yesterday morning at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock, Texas at the 6A UIL State Cross Country meet. The pace was set from the beginning by Carroll’s All American Senior Caden Leonard who broke away from the field with one kilometer to go. And when Leonard crossed the finish line, with very few runners in sight behind him, he became the first male runner to ever win THREE individual state titles at the state’s largest classification with a time of 14:42. In fact, no other male has won three individual state titles at the 5A or 6A level. Caden Leonard has won the individual state 6A Cross Country meet every year since his sophomore year, firmly edging his name as one of the greats in Texas UIL history.

Winning the seventh straight title, like the Cross Country boys did yesterday, takes all seven runners to perform at the top of their game. The Dragons had another top four individual finisher with sophomore Kai Gutierez finishing in 4th place with a time of 14:57. Guitierez who often ran in the Dragon’s #1 slot this year, while Caden recovered from an early season injury, concluded his UIL campaign with a just off the podium stellar run as well and looks to have a very bright career in front of him. Junior Jaxon Glenn steadily improved his time throughout the season while earning his first team state championship with SLC, coming in 24th at 15:39. Junior Claudio Auns, always runs a dependable race, and came in with a time of 15:47 placing in 36th. Senior Michael Fuller capped his UIL career the way every senior wants to – by being a part of team state title. He came in 56th at 15:52. Juniors Grant Norgart and Evan O’Donnell contributed valuable team points in a tight team race as Norgart came in 49th at 15:54 and O’Donnell came in 68th at 16:06.

Some may wonder how you build a program that has done so many incredible things, like win eleven state championships in the last fourteen seasons! Head Coach Justin Leonard provided some insight, saying, “Every year brings new challenges, fresh competition, and rising expectations—yet this group met them head-on. Capturing a seventh state title in a row reflects not just talent, but a culture built on hard work, teamwork, and belief. Now it’s up to the underclassmen to carry that tradition forward and continue what this incredible group has built.”

Dynasties are built on tradition and this incredible group of Dragons has left quite the legacy for the group behind them to chase, just as they chased the Dragons who came before.

The Lady Dragons continued to be the most consistent team in the state, racking up another top 5 finish on Saturday morning, finishing 5th as a team. The Lady Dragons were making their 29th consecutive appearance at the state meet. The Lady Dragons were led by Senior leader Luna Gutierrez who came in 17th, 18:15. Rounding out the top five were Junior Megan Bergman (37th, 18:36), Junior Grace McIlvain (47th, 18:45), Junior Abilgail Perez (52nd, 18:50) and Junior Quinn Salstrand (83rd, 19:18).

Note: Portions of this story contain information provided by the Carroll Cross Country Media Release.