There aren't too many legendary cross country Saturdays but yesterday, 11-9-19, was one of them!
On a perfect, crisp, fall Saturday afternoon at Old Settler's Park in Round Rock most observers and cross country experts expected a very tightly packed pair of 6A races.

They said 'Flower Mound would be there. Maybe Coppell and Keller too.' So much for pre-race predictions. From the second each gun went off signifying the start of the 6A races there was never a doubt as Carroll controlled each from the beginning. Dragon Girls and Boys dominated the field, beating their collective competition by a combined 81 points. (Girls won by 46 points and boys by 35 points.)

The Lady Dragons were led by Jenna Holland who finished in 7th place in 17:54 followed closely by Katherine McElaney in 9th at 18 flat. Grace Williamson came in 13th at 18:07, Tatum Foreman came in at 15th in 18:14 and Abigail McIlvain came in 17th at 18:19. Lydia Lo came in 24th at 18:24 and Kaylie Cox in 41st at 18:38 to round out the title winning field.

The way the UIL state meet is time structured (the 6A girls meet started at 2:30 and the 6A boys started at 3:10) the Lady Dragons weren't even close to through celebrating their state title when it was time to line the Dragons up and go for something unprecedented - a UIL State Championship sweep!

The Dragons controlled the meet from the beginning with Soloman Chavez coming in 9th at 15:07. Antonio Florcruz came in 22nd at 15:20, Tim McElaney in 23rd at 15:20, Joe Gardner in 32nd at 15:27 and Michael McCabe in 40th at 15:34. Rounding out the team was Nate Lannen in 55th at 15:44 and Brett Gilley in 79th at 15:56.

When the 6A tape was broken for the Dragons it was serious celebration time for everyone. It is the 4th time in the last 9 years that the teams have swept the UIL STATE meet!

For a decade now the boys Cross Country team has finished either 1st or 2nd at the UIL meet. It is the 5th State Title for the Dragon Cross Country team. The previous four titles for the Dragons all came in a 4-peat from 2011-2014.

This is the 8th State Championship for the Lady Dragons with their previous seven coming in 2 separate 3-peats. The latest 3-peat was 2011, 2012 and 2013. The one before that was 2005, 2006 and 2007. And the first state title was in 2000.

Congratulations go to everyone associated with this DYNASTIC CARROLL CROSS COUNTRY PROGRAM! Head Coach Justin Leonard and assistant coaches Niki Gilley, Wendy Starkey, Zach Sellers and Philip O'Neal are the builders who bring this program back to a championship level every season.