The Southlake Carroll Dragons and Lady Dragons took their annual jog through Lubbock on Monday at the Region 1 Cross Country meet, and quite frankly, did what they always do - which is qualify for state!

The Lady Dragons qualified for state for the 28th consecutive year by finishing 3rd at the Region 1 meet. The Dragons qualified for state for the 15th consecutive year by taking home both the Region 1 team championship and the Region 1 individual championship. Junior Caden Leonard won the individual title for the second straight year. This year he finished in 14:53 which is almost twenty seconds faster than his time last year! Unbelievable and amazing!

The Lady Dragons had a strong day on the course with junior Luna Gutierrez taking home top honors finishing 12th overall with a time of 18:54. She was followed by senior Elizabeth Smits in 22nd at 19:13. Senior Sarayu Veluri finished 27th at 19:18, sophomores Abigail Perez was 35th at 19:40 and Grace McIlvain was 54th at 20:00. Freshman Quinn Salstrand came in 58th at 20:13 and Senior Gabriella Tesoriero came in 70th at 20:26.

Junior Caden Leonard cruised to victory coming in at 14:53 followed by seniors Griffin Cords in 6th at 15:24 and Blake Bullard in 9th at 15:44. Freshman Kai Gutierrez came in 19th at 16:05 followed by senior Alex Severson in 22nd at 16:09. Senior Michael Fuller came in at 28th at 16:20 and sophomore Jaxon Glenn came in at 55th in 16:54.

Head Coach Justin Leonard was estatic over the meet's performance and stated that both the Dragons and Lady Dragons will be ready for state. "We are incredibly proud of our runners' performance at the regional meet. Competing in such a competitive region, they rose to the challenge and earned their spots at the state meet. Our boys are excited to defend their state title, while the girls are eager to reclaim the championship."

After one final week of UIL practice for the season the teams will head to Old Settler's Park in Round Rock on Friday, Nov. 1st.