Nottingham Park was the site of the the annual SBISD Cross Country Invitational on Saturday morning, and the Stratford community showed up to support the cross country program and all of the athletes competing. Thank you to Principal Barnes, Coach Rankin, and the many other administrators, teachers, friends, and family members that were in attendance to cheer the Spartans on to victory. The event was well-organized and executed by the SBISD Athletics department, and made possible by the numerous volunteers that arrived early to help out.  

Varsity

The varsity girls cruised to the team championship title while having all six runners earn top-15 medals.  Stratford’s low-point total of 25 was well ahead of the second place team George Ranch with 46 points, and Memorial with 135.   Sophomores Niamh Collins and Anastasia Sciretti took the top two podium spots, with Collins powering her way to first-place overall and Sciretti taking second-place.  Not far behind were Siena Yoder in fourth, Megan Broom in seventh, Allie Weinhardt eleventh, and Ola Jalal thirteenth.  Despite being such a young team with no seniors, the girls continue to demonstrate solid leadership and teamwork as the post-season draws closer. 

Our varsity boys also achieved a wide-margin of victory, and placed seven runners in the top-15 to earn medals. The boys finished with 29 points in the win, followed by Memorial well behind with 85 points and Bellaire with 104.  Emanuel Galdino took second-place overall, followed by Maddox Durnell in fourth, David Kalwahali in fifth, Zach Tobin eighth, William Wylie tenth, Jackson Potter eleventh, Ben Pearce twelfth, and Nathan Hirst thirteenth.  It was another strong team win for the boys. 

Sub- Varsity

Amelia Bommer and Mary Mitchell joined each other on the the podium in the JV girls race, with Bommer taking first-place overall and Mitchell earning second-place. Emily Hopkins was also a medal-winner by finishing in fourteenth-place. Paige Dial and Bella Rexer earned team points, and the JV girls finished second-place in the team competition.  George Ranch High School was first-place and Memorial was third. 

Not to be overshadowed by the girls, the JV boys also captured the top two podium spots, with Jacob Smith taking the overall victory and Justin Kaimann coming in second-place.  Jean Choi finished sixth place and earned a top-15 medal.  Fernando Mejia and Fred Kunick were the other two Spartans earning team points, and the JV boys took second-place in the team competition. Memorial was second and Jersey Village was third.  

And finally, the freshman boys wrapped up a fun day of competition by capturing the team championship.  Memorial was second-place and Cy-Fair was third.   Brody James motored his way to the top of the podium with a first-place victory and Samuel Jordan joined him on the podium by finishing in third-place.  Andrew Hopkins also earned a medal by placing fourth, as did Ethan Shuck in seventh and Nate Yoder in thirteenth. 

All Stratford teams will be off next week for a well-timed break, but will be back in action on October 2nd when both varsity teams will compete in the Nike South XC Invitational in The Woodlands. All other teams will participate in the Klein Bearkat tune-up on October 1st.