East Texas Athletes Excel At State XC Meet, Highlighted by Tenaha Runner’s Thrilling Finish

The UIL Texas Cross Country State Meet wrapped up Saturday in Round Rock. Quite a few athletes from the Pineywoods had outstanding performances, which included many personal bests in their respective 2-mile or 5K races. Here's an overview of some of those excellent efforts.

READ MORE: Deep East Texas Runners Excel at Regional Cross Country Meets

Class 2A Boys

Last year, Tenaha's Adrian Ramirez finished 9th at the State Meet with a time of 17:04 in the 5K race. This year, he took nearly a minute off that time (16:14.6) en route to a first-place finish. Adrian found an extra gear over the last 100 yards to take the gold in a thrilling finish.

Class 2A Girls

The Douglass girls had an outstanding meet, bringing home the trophy for the state's 3rd-place team in Class 2A. The team includes Anahi Mayes, Kinley Fuchs, Leah Roach, Maggie Sinz, Halle Null, Gracie Hise, and Kayleen Shackelford. Mayes, Fuchs, and Roach finished in the top 50 at the meet.

Other outstanding performances in this classification include Madison Grigsby of Timpson. The sophomore finished 6th overall with a personal best of 11:55 in the 2-mile run.

Jannette Bautista of Groveton closed out her high school XC career with a strong 40th-place finish.

Cara Sims of Elysian Fields repeated as the Class 2A state champion with a personal best time of 11:13.7. We will be hearing more from Sims when track & field season comes around. She is the defending Class 2A champ in both the 3200 and 1600. She also holds the state record in the 3200.

Class 4A Girls/Boys

Annie Stewart, a sophomore at Hudson, finished 9th overall with a personal best of 11:32.5. Her brother, Miler Stewart, who's a junior, placed 11th in the 5K with a personal record of 15:52.8.

Daniel Flores of Center finished 36th in state with a time of 16:33.8.

Class 3A Girls/Boys

Micah Hayman, a junior from Central Heights, finished in the top 50 (35th) with a 2-mile time of 12:28.9. Her classmate, Marcos Rivera, also had a top 50 finish (42nd) with a 5K time of 17:02.5. Just behind him in 43rd was Gabe Guajardo of Huntington with a time of 17:03.2.

Class A Girls/Boys

Caylee Morgan of Brookeland finished in the top 50 (48th) with a season's best time of 13:34.4. Teammate Frank Martindale finished 49th in the boys division with a time of 18:38.8. Meanwhile, Daniel Pappas, a senior from Broaddus, had a strong performance, finishing 22nd with a time of 17:49.4.