It was another insanely (for teenagers) early rise for the Stratford Cross Country crew as they traveled to the Kingwood Classmate Challenge on Saturday for a 7:00 am start. The original scheduled start time was 8:00 am, but organizers pushed it up an hour to get a head start on the fast-rising temperature. That was the right call, considering the eight separate 2-mile races that needed to be completed before conditions became too dangerous. In all, 32 dedicated Spartan runners boarded the bus at 5:00 am for the trip to Kingwood High School, and each and every one of them represented Stratford well in how hard they competed and carried themselves as a team.

Unlike every other cross-country meet on our schedule this season, the format of the Classmate Challenge doesn't include the typical divisions for Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Freshmen. Instead, seniors only compete against seniors, sophomores against sophomores, etc., and medals are awarded to the top-10 finishers in each race. Team points by school and gender are determined by merging all of the divisions, ranking each runner by time, and using the traditional method of top-5 runners per school for scoring.

When it was all said and done, the Stratford boys took 3rd place out of 17 teams, and the Stratford girls were 7th out of 15 teams. Five Spartan runners earned top-10 medals, including a second-place finisher and a race Champion. Five other runners finished in the top 20 in their respective races.

 

SENIOR GIRLS (37 finishers)

For the second week in a row, Niamh Collins was runner-up in a talented field. She pushed to the front early, looked comfortable the entire race, and cruised to second place, well ahead of the third-place finisher. Texas MileSplit, a network for high school cross country and track and field news, recently included Niamh in their Houston Metro Girls top-20 pre-season rankings, and she is off to a great start.

Amelia Bommer also had a great race and earned the 9th place medal.

Niamh Collins - 2nd place - 11:34

Amelia Bommer - 9th place - 13:05

 

SENIOR BOYS (69 finishers)

It was another impressive week for our two senior boys, Daylan Rushing and Jona Morford. After Jona stormed to a second-place result at Clear Falls last week while Daylan took fifth, each earned top-10 medals again this week against several of the best runners in Houston and in Texas 6A. Jona ran near the front for most of the race while grinding steadily to a 7th-place result. Meanwhile, Daylan ran further back until about two-thirds of the way into the second loop and then turned on the jets. With approximately 500 yards remaining, Daylan went from 12th place to 4th place, but was passed during the final few strides to cross the line in 5th. Jona crossed one second behind Daylan.

Former Spartan basketball player, Jean Choi, loves to compete and his result on Saturday was a good one after returning to cross-country while only playing basketball last season.

Daylan Rushing - 5th - 9:58

Jona Morford - 7th - 9:59

Jean Choi - 34th - 11:06

 

JUNIOR GIRLS (40 finishers)

It was a solid race for Angie Salel in the junior girls race as she earned top-25.

Angie Salel - 24th - 15:09

 

JUNIOR BOYS (99 finishers)

Texas MileSplit posted an article last week entitled "Breakout: Five 6A Boys Poised for a Big Year." Stratford junior Ben Pearce was number one on that list. After finishing high in the standings and posting several fast times during regular season cross country meets as a sophomore last year, Ben significantly elevated his status as an up-and-comer by what he did in the 2022 postseason. His shocking fifth-place finish at the Region III 6A meet and 45th-place finish at the State Meet were amazing accomplishments for a sophomore. After a very strong spring track season and a solid summer of training, Ben is turning heads again early this season. After he and sophomore Owen Duggan won first place in the Cypress XC relays to begin this season, Ben chose not to run at Clear Falls last week due to a minor health issue. The week of recovery proved to be the right decision because he outran the entire field of juniors in Kingwood to win first place in a very fast race.

Fellow junior Andrew Hopkins continues to impress and demonstrate how important he is to the success of our boys' Varsity team. Andrew missed earning a medal by one spot on Saturday after finishing 11th.

Ben Pearce - 1st - 9:37

Andrew Hopkins - 11th - 10:16

Ethan Shuck - 43rd - 11:39

Matthew Dial - 62nd - 12:15

Brody James - 64th - 12:24

 

SOPHOMORE GIRLS (70 finishers)

Laura Gonzalez was the top Stratford sophomore girl at Kingwood with her 31st-place finish.

Laura Gonzalez - 31st - 13:54

Sophie Hare - 55th - 15:36

Amanda Gonzalez - 66th - 17:18

 

SOPHOMORE BOYS (156 finishers)

In a huge field of 156 runners in the sophomore boys race, Jake Rodriguez found it difficult early on to maneuver around other runners in the narrow spaces and sharp hairpin turns. However, he steadily fought his way out of the congestion and secured a strong 16th-place finish. Eli Roberts snuck into the top 30 with his tough running and 29th-place result.

Jake Rodriguez - 16th - 10:38

Eli Roberts - 29th - 10:55

Nate Zoboroski - 48th - 11:29

Nathan Scott - 56th - 11:36

Diego Ruiz - 64th - 11:44

Liam Osbon - 76th - 11:56

Charles Keen - 87th - 12:13

Kaleb Bernat - 91st - 12:19

Kyle Gray - 116th - 13:03

 

FRESHMAN GIRLS (83 finishers)

Although the number of freshman girls competing in cross country at Stratford is small this season, the ones we have are capable of doing great things as they continue to train and gain experience. In the freshman girls race on Saturday, Savannah Ceraudo and Olivia Ceraudo both finished top 20, and Laura Lozano was top 25.

Savannah Ceraudo - 12th - 13:28

Olivia Ceraudo - 19th - 13:46

Laura Lozano - 25th - 14:14

 

FRESHMAN BOYS (132 finishers)

By the time the freshman boys race started on Saturday, the heat was up a notch or two from what it was during the early races. Despite the misery factor, Braddox Overstreet gave every ounce of fight that he had on his way to an 11th-place result in the freshman boys race. It's a very good start to Braddox's high school cross-country career, having finished 2nd and 11th in his first two races as a Spartan. Kudos to all of our freshmen that competed so well in tough conditions.

Braddox Overstreet - 11th - 11:13

Wesley Shuck - 41st - 12:12

Nolan Brock - 48th - 12:22

Bobby Carter - 62nd - 12:40

William Ryan - 85th - 13:28

Cooper Avila - 121st - 16:15

NEXT WEEK: All Stratford teams will be back in action next Saturday, September 2 at the Seven Lakes Showcase Invitational in Katy.