Cross Country wrapped up a successful regular season by competing in separate meets on Friday and Saturday.   The varsity boys and girls competed in the Nike South XC Invitational in The Woodlands on Saturday, while all other Stratford runners competed in the varsity divisions at the Klein Bearkat Tune-up in Tomball on Friday morning.

Nike South Invitational - The Woodlands

Nike South is a prestigious event that attracts many of the top high school cross country teams and runners from around Texas and outside the state.  In a field of 142 runners, Emanuel Galdino finished second place overall in the boys competition, only two seconds behind race winner Omer Ibrahim from El Paso Pebble Hills, and one second ahead of Kyle Easton from The Woodlands.  In the process, Emanuel beat four runners that were top-20 in the UIL 6A state meet last season.  The Stratford boys came into the race ranked #5 in Class 6A in the latest coaches poll, and in the elite boys division they earned a solid result on a soggy, muddy race course. Out of 20 teams, Stratford finished fifth place overall,  behind #2 state ranked The Woodlands, Deer Creek HS in Oklahoma (2nd place 6A Oklahoma state meet 2020),  #4 state ranked Atascocita, and El Paso Americas.  In addition to Galdino, other runners that earned points for the Spartans were Maddox Durnell in 33rd place, Jackson Potter 38th, David Kalwahali 50th, and William Wylie 54th.  

The Spartan girls entered the race ranked #9 in the coaches poll, and competed in the elite division against a field that was loaded with top talent across Texas.  Teams competing included the #1 ranked 6A and 5A teams in Texas (both top -20 nationally), and the 5th, 6th, and 8th ranked teams in Class 6A in Texas.  The Spartan girls finished eleventh-place out of nineteen in the team competition and were led by freshman Allison Goodwin in 28th place.  Also earning points for the Spartans were Niamh Collins in 42nd, Anastasia Sciretti in 57th, Megan Broom 90th, and Siena Yoder in 99th.  There were 136 girls in the race. 

Klein Bearkat Tuneup- Tomball

After waiting out torrential downpours and lightning delays, and watching many schools decide to remain on the bus and eventually drive home Friday morning, the Spartans runners braved the elements and competed in a race that could have been labeled as a swim-run biathlon considering how high the water was on some portions of the course. Freshmen Ben Pearce and Nathan Hirst were 2nd and 3rd place in the varsity boys race, and Jonathan Lumpkin and Jacob Smith also nabbed top-10 finishes by getting 6th and 7th.  The Stratford boys brought home the team title in epic cross country fashion. 

In the varsity girls race, Maggie Pearce finished 9th and Amelia Bommer was 11th.  

Post-season is up next when all Spartans teams will compete for the District Championship at Nottingham Park on Thursday morning, October 14th.  First race will start at 7:30am.