The 2021 Cross Country season is off and running and the Spartans girls and boys teams kicked off the season at the Cypress XC Relays on Saturday against several of the strongest teams across the region and state. 

Spring Creek Park in Tomball was buzzing with 30 schools represented and a big crowd on hand to cheer on the athletes  in an exciting atmosphere that felt a lot more like cross country meets did before Covid. 

Both the girls and boys Spartan teams came into the meet ranked #7 in the pre-season 6A coaches poll, and both came away with impressive performances across the board. The varsity girls came out on top with a first place finish in the division 1 competition and the boys earned a second place finish behind #3 state ranked Atascocita. 

The format of this meet was unique and much different from a typical cross country meet.  Each school entered multiple 2-person relay teams, and each athlete alternated running 1 mile  for a total of 4 miles for each team. 

Medals were awarded to the top 10 relay teams in each division, and the school team competition was determined by how well the top three teams from each school finished in the standings.  Coach Siemers’ strategy was to

create balanced teams in order to maximize the possibility of having at least three teams finish near the top. That strategy was effective, and resulted in two top-ten finishes by the girls and three for the boys. 

“I’m really proud of the heart that our team displayed,” Coach Siemers said to his team after the race. “We can build your speed, but you have to bring your heart on your own and I’m happy to see that we have plenty of heart.”

Next up for the Spartans is a 2 mile race at Pearland Dawson next Saturday, August 21st.  First race starts at 7:45am.