High School Cross Country

Katy sweeps team golds, Barrow wins individual gold at Regional Cross Country meet

Tompkins boys, Mayde Creek, Jordan girls clinch team spots at state

By Tyler Tyre, Sports Editor
Posted 10/23/24

Katy repeated its accomplishment from the District 19-6A track meet on an even higher level last weekend, earning team golds on both the boys and girls side at the Region III-6A track meet and clinching spots at state for both teams.

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High School Cross Country

Katy sweeps team golds, Barrow wins individual gold at Regional Cross Country meet

Tompkins boys, Mayde Creek, Jordan girls clinch team spots at state

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Katy repeated its accomplishment from the District 19-6A track meet on an even higher level last weekend, earning team golds on both the boys and girls side at the Region III-6A track meet and clinching spots at state for both teams.

Katy’s girls led the way with a great performance where five finishers finished in the top 20 individually. Victoria Guerrero led the way with a sixth-place finish, while Lauren Acopa finished in ninth place, Vienna Fish finished in 14th place, Abby Lester finished in 16th place and Avery Torres finished in 17th place overall.

The Katy girls team finished with just 50 points overall, with the next closest team over 60 points away from the Tigers finish.

On the boys side, Katy dominated as well and had three finishers in the top 11 of the meet.

Ryder Darcey led the way and earned a silver medal individually for his efforts, finishing second overall, while Evan Couture finished seventh, Joshua Perez finished 13th, Benjamin Robins finished 30th and Biego Mion finished 33rd overall.

Katy’s team finished with 73 points, over 25 points better than the second-place finisher Tompkins.

Tompkins boys, Mayde Creek, Jordan girls clinch team spots at state

Both Tompkins boys, Mayde Creek girls and Jordan girls earned team spots at the state meet with their strong results at the regional meet, as the Falcons boys finished second, the Rams girls finished third and the Warriors girls finished fourth to all clinch spots at state.

Tompkins finished second overall, earning a silver medal as a team and had a strong day at the regional meet. Matias Pitzel led the way with a fifth-place finish for the Falcons, while Diego Reyes finished 22nd, Carter Maloy finished 23rd, Jordan Wood finished 31st and Aaron Ramshaw finished 36th to round out the Falcons five. It’s the ninth straight year that Tompkins has qualified for state, which is the third longest streak in all of Class 6A. The Falcons were over 60 points ahead of the regions third place team.

On the girls side, Mayde Creek set an opposite type of streak. For the first time in its 40 years since it opened, the Rams qualified for state, finishing third as a team to clinch its spot at the tournament.

Jamie Klander continued her dominance and finished second overall individually to earn a silver medal, while Claudia Klander finished 11th overall, Ava Gonzalez finished 35th overall, Sophia Ilagan finished 41st overall and Denise Perez finished 86th overall to round out the Mayde Creek top five. Mayde Creek comfortably sealed their position at state by finishing with 149 points, over 40 points better than Jordan, which finished fourth.

Jordan had consistency across the board to clinch the fourth spot at state from the regional meet. The Warriors didn’t have a player finish in the top 25, but had all five of their runners finish in the top 60 as from top to bottom they had consistence to earn their spot at state.

Alice Frame led the way for Jordan, finishing 30th, while Brooklyn Allen finished 37th, Alejandra Sagbini finished 47th, Emmy Hardin finished 51st and Lilah Katz finished 60th overall to round out the Warriors five.

Taylor’s Barrow wins individual gold

While there were plenty of team awards to go around, there was also tons of individual success from Katy ISD as well, and none bigger than Taylor’s Caroline Barrow, who clinched an individual gold medal on the girls side with a time of 17 minutes, 35.21 seconds to take first place at the regional meet. Barrow improved nearly 30 seconds from her time at the district meet with the result and jumped Mayde Creek’s Jamie Klander as well to earn her spot atop the podium.

Klander medaled as well by finishing second with a time of 17 minutes, 42 seconds. Katy’s Victoria Guerrero finished sixth with a time of 18 minutes, 44.85 seconds and Lauren Acopa finished ninth overall with a time of 18 minutes, 44.85 seconds. Taylor’s Casey Scherpereel finished 12th overall as well to clinch a spot at state.

Ryder Darcey led the way on the boys side with a second place finish, earning a silver medal with a time of 15 minutes, 23.96 seconds, while Tompkins’ Mathias Pitzel finished fifth overall with a time of 15 minutes, 29.86 seconds. Katy’s Evan Couture finished seventh with a time of 15 minutes, 41.80 seconds while Cinco Ranch’s Alex Hahn Vadstein finished 10th with a time of 15 minutes, 49.79 seconds, Taylor’s Michael Klahn finished 12th with a time of 15 minutes, 51.30 seconds, Katy’s Joshua Perez finished 13th with a time of 15 minutes and Paetow’s Elijah Emerson clinched a spot at state by finishing 14th with a time of 15 minutes, 53.40 seconds.

Freeman makes mark in 4A

That wasn’t all for Katy ISD. Freeman had a state qualifier for the first time, competing in Class 4A at this year’s regional meet. The Golden Eagles had one qualifier for state in their inaugural season, as sophomore Imani Boakye finished 18th overall individually to claim her spot at state.

Following are all of the Katy ISD Individual and Team Qualifiers from the Region III Cross Country Meet

Girls Class 6A

Individual

  1. Caroline Barrow, Taylor, 17:35.21
  2. Casey Scherpereel, Taylor, 18:57.04

Team

  1. Katy
  2. Victoria Guerrero, 18:36.05
  3. Lauren Acopa, 18:44.85
  4. Vienna Fish, 19:09.89
  5. Abby Lester, 19:13.89
  6. Avery Torry, 19:14.99
  7. Mayde Creek
  8. Jamie Klander, 17:42.00
  9. Claudia Klander, 18:53.83
  10. Ava Gonzalez, 20:18.06
  11. Sophia Ilagan, 20.27.26
  12. Denise Perez, 21.35.29
  13. Jordan
  14. Alice Frame, 20:05.47
  15. Brooklyn Allen, 20:21.65
  16. Alejandra Sagbini, 20:39.02
  17. Emmy Hardin, 20:44.03
  18. Lilah Katz, 20:55.81

Boys Class 6A

Individual

  1. Alex Hahn Vadstein, Cinco Ranch, 15:49.79
  2. Michael Klahn, Taylor, 15:51.30
  3. Elijah Emerson, Paetow, 15:53.40

Team

  1. Katy
  2. Ryder Darey, 15:23.96
  3. Evan Couture, 15:41.80
  4. Joshua Perez, 15:52.90
  5. Benjamin Robins, 16:25.43
  6. Diego Mion, 16:32.09
  7. Tompkins
  8. Mathias Pitzel, 15:29.86
  9. Diego Reyes, 16:09.81
  10. Carter Maloy, 16:10.97
  11. Jordan Wood, 16:36.27
  12. Aaron Ramshaw, 16:36.50

Girls Class 4A

Individual

  1. Imanie Boakye, Freeman, 12:45.05
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