GAMES
RANKINGS
The defending State Champs Bridgeland looks for a repeat
STAY THE COURSE: State XC stars run for glory in Round Rock
Runners take your mark...
The 2026 UIL Cross Country State Championships are Friday and Saturday at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, as the state's top runners put it all on the line for state gold.
Here is the comprehensive breakdown for the two-day event.
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Class 6A Boys (Friday, 8:45 a.m.)
Southlake Carroll’s dynasty is on the line. Carroll won its sixth straight title in 2024 and won again in 2025 behind Caden Leonard’s 14:42.0, but for the first time in years, it isn’t the favorite.
El Paso Eastwood beat Carroll head-to-head at Region I, 48-53, and are the favorites coming out of West Texas.
The Teams to Watch...
- El Paso Eastwood — Had four runners in the Top 12 at Regionals - Noah Garcia (Jr.) second in 14:48.5, Noah Loweree sixth, Ayden Betancourt ninth, Jacob Lara 12th, with Elias Alcocer closing in 23rd just 18.6 seconds back.
- Southlake Carroll — Kai Gutierrez finished third in the Regional (14:50.2), Claudio Auns eighth, Jaxon Glenn and Grant Norgart 13th-14th, Evan O’Donnell 20th; a 63-second spread, tighter than Eastwood’s. If Auns runs like he did at district, Carroll can win and keep the streak alive.
- Bridgeland — The Houston contender. Dean Rosales (15:13.9) and Patricio Navarro finished 3-4 at Region III, 1.3 seconds apart, and the Bears beat Vandegrift by 31 points in their first head-to-head of the year with a 44.2-second spread. Bridgeland was third at State in 2025 and traded NXN auto-qualifiers with Vandegrift in 2024 and 2025.
- Austin Vandegrift — 2025 runner-up (98 points). Sophomore Avinash Dewagan won Region III in 14:42.0 by 23.7 seconds, his third straight win, but the spread was 1:25.8.
- Keller — Boston Bowcutt was fifth (15:04.9) and Austin Boto was 10th at Region I; third as a team with 113 points.
- The Woodlands — The Highlanders were the Region II champ (49). Elton Martin ran 14:25.0, the fastest winning time of the four regionals, and won by 32.5 seconds. Bo Breed was fifth, James Clary was 10th.
- Round Rock — Region IV champ (107, 36 ahead of Clemens) on their home course, essentially. Andrew Esparza won in 15:05.8, his third straight win.
- Flower Mound — Grabbed the last Region I spot by 16 points; their 27.8-second spread is the tightest of any ranked team and they can finish as high as fifth if the district-meet version shows up.
- The Woodlands College Park — Second at Region II (82); Ryan Beken second in 14:57.5, Andrew Fry sixth.
- Humble Atascocita — Third at Region III (131), 14 ahead of Strake Jesuit, which also qualified as the region’s fourth team. Eli Mugambi was second behind Dewagan.
Individual contenders: The man to beat is Ruel Newberry of Denton Guyer, who won Region I in 14:35.5 ahead of Garcia and Gutierrez; he was second at state last year in 14:49.0. Behind him, in rough order: Garcia (Eastwood), Martin (The Woodlands, 14:25 regional), Dewagan (Vandegrift), Gutierrez (Carroll), Esparza (Round Rock, 14:30.0 season best, fifth at state last year in 15:02.7), Beken (College Park) and Mugambi (Atascocita).
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Class 6A Girls (Friday, 8:15 a.m.)
Flower Mound vs. the defending champ. Bridgeland won its first state title last year wth 38 points, edging 2024 champion Flower Mound (41), with Katy third (90) and The Woodlands fourth (124). Flower Mound had won five straight before that. This is a rematch, and the individual title is wide open: three-time champion Macy Wingard of Braswell added a 3200 state title in May and has graduated.
The Prospectus
Flower Mound — Won Region I with 55 points. Adeline Bennett, the 6A 1600 champion, won in 17:31.3 with Liana Cluley-Garza second in 17:34.5; their top two have finished 1-2 again.
- Bridgeland — Tied Katy Tompkins for the Region III title and had to be separated by sixth runners. Hope Smith (Sr.) is the frontrunner: 16:46.2 season best, sixth at state last year. The question all year has been the gap to her No. 2.
- Katy Tompkins — The surprise. Tied Bridgeland at Region III; newly ranked.
- The Woodlands — Region II champ with 35, five runners in the top eight: Naomi Weller second (17:58.9), Emma Harder fifth, Emily Kacher sixth, Marta Linde Gomez eighth. The top-two gap nearly closed at regionals.
- Katy — Third at State last year with all seven back. Third at Region III behind the Bridgeland/Tompkins tie.
- Keller / Southlake Carroll / Byron Nelson — Region I’s 2-3-4 (103, 127, 129).
- Comal Canyon — Region IV champ (95) by three over Churchill.
- Vandegrift — Fourth at Region III; dropped from the rankings but still a top-10-caliber team.
Individual contenders: Bennett (Flower Mound) and Hope Smith (Bridgeland) are the favorites; Smith’s 16:46 is the best time in the state. Then Cluley-Garza (Flower Mound), Wylie freshman Eliana Williams (won Region II in 17:49.3), Weller (The Woodlands), Kylie Vega (Eastwood, 17:44.6) and Churchill’s Kallie Van Prooyen (Region IV winner, 18:15.2). Houston’s medal threats: Smith, Weller, College Park’s Isabella Camiro (third at Region II in 18:01.6) and Katy’s Vienna Fish/Kinley Skaggs, who both broke 18:30 on this course last year.
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Class 5A Boys (Saturday, 8:45 a.m.)
Grapevine’s title defense got harder. The reigning champs moved regions and promptly lost Region II by five points to Dallas Woodrow Wilson, 70-75, without a top-10 finisher but with all five in the top 21. Grapevine returns four, with three who broke 16:15 on this course last year.
The Prospectus
- Grapevine — Still the deepest team; their pack ran 21-and-in at a loaded regional.
- Woodrow Wilson — Repeat Region II champs with junior State Slusher third (15:13.6) and freshman Tucker Mauck seventh (15:31.8); sixth at state last year, and the DISD pride story writes itself.
- Boerne Champion — Second at Region IV (103) to Weslaco East (98), with Shawn Edwards winning the individual title in 16:30.1.
- Lucas Lovejoy — Third at Region II (98); Tristan Arceneau won in 14:58.3 after being regional runner-up last year.
- Weslaco East — Region IV champ (98).
- Austin LASA — Region III champ (52); preseason note was that Joaquin Gonzalez could contend for a podium spot but the team needed more firepower — they found it.
- Mansfield Legacy — Region I champ by 42 over Paschal in the school’s first-ever team trip to state after dropping from 6A; Gabriel Martinez-Sanchez third in 15:54.6.
- College Station — Second at Region III (69) with five runners 9-19 and a 16:08 average.
- Midlothian Heritage, McAllen, Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial, Fort Worth Paschal, Burleson Centennial, A&M Consolidated — The rest of the field; Consol was fourth at Region III (193) behind a third-place individual.
Individual contenders: Arceneau (Lovejoy, 14:58.3) is the favorite based on regional times; Joshua Loera of North Mesquite was three seconds back. Then Slusher (Woodrow Wilson), Edwards (Champion), Martinez-Sanchez (Mansfield Legacy) and McKinney North’s Rhett Hulin (15th at state last year).
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Class 5A Girls (Saturday, 8:15 a.m.)
Highland Park finally beat Lovejoy. Lovejoy is the defending state champ and had won six straight regional titles, but Highland Park put four in the Top 11 and won Region II 43-52, with sophomore Adelaide Wortman second in 17:56.9 and senior Ryan Sontag third. Highland Park has 14 state titles, the last in 2012.
Team Prospectus
- Highland Park — See above; Wortman and Sontag give them a front pair nobody else in 5A has.
- Lucas Lovejoy — Defending champs; sophomore Emily Armstrong, last year’s regional winner, was fourth.
- New Braunfels — Won Region IV by 46 (42 points) on a sloppy course behind senior Savanah Moya, who swept the team and individual titles.
- Comal Smithson Valley — 2024 state champ; second at Region IV (88).
- Boerne Champion — Third at Region IV (97).
- A&M Consolidated — Region III champ (57) with runners 2-3-10-14-28; Rowen Skinner won district for the third straight year in 18:31.3.
- Prosper Richland — Region I champ by five over Paschal.
- Melissa / Grapevine — Region II’s 3-4.
- College Station — Third at Region III (162), making this the first time both CSISD schools sent both teams to state.
- Argyle, Kingwood Park, La Joya Palmview — K-Park took Region III’s fourth spot by a single point over Friendswood, its first trip since 2022.
Individual contenders: Wortman (Highland Park, 17:56.9), Moya (New Braunfels), Armstrong (Lovejoy), Sontag (Highland Park), Skinner (Consol), Argyle freshmen Annee Binning and Presley Skaggs (7th and 9th at Region I), and Magnolia West’s Valerie Haros, who was 41st at state as a sophomore in 2021 and is a regular top-10 regional finisher.
St. Thomas looks lilke TAPPS favorites
BIG CHANGES: TAPPS, SPC early playoff look in
The big-picture story: TAPPS blew up the playoff format
For the 2026-28 realignment cycle, TAPPS compressed the football playoffs to three weeks so they finish before Thanksgiving, a move that drew significant pushback from member schools and fans. To get the playoff field down near 50% of teams, the organization added an extra championship in 11-man Division II and two more in six-man.
- Division I is a straight eight-team bracket, regionals this Friday, then semis and a final.
- Division II is now split into Large School and Small School brackets with four byes, so only two games are played in each this week.
- Finals are Nov. 19-21 in Waco. Per TAPPS, the Division I title game is Friday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m., with Division II Small School at 11 a.m. and Large School at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Waco ISD Athletic Complex.
TAPPS Division I — Regionals, Friday, Nov. 6
The four games: Austin St. Michael’s (District 2 No. 4) at Argyle Liberty Christian (District 1 No. 1); Frisco Legacy Christian (1-3) at Houston Lutheran South (2-2); San Antonio Central Catholic (2-3) at Dallas Parish Episcopal (1-2); and Plano Prestonwood (1-4) at Houston St. Thomas (2-1), Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Prestonwood at St. Thomas (Fri., 7:30) — The Eagles are the District 2 champion and the Houston-area headliner. St. Thomas is 7-2 overall and 5-0 in district before closing the regular season against St. Michael’s. Their two losses came early, including one to Kinkaid in September, before a 19-14 win over Lutheran South on Oct. 2 that effectively decided the district. Prestonwood is the 4-seed out of the Dallas district, but their résumé isn’t a pushover: PCA beat Fort Worth Christian 49-35 in September and lost to All Saints 42-14, a team that’s arguably the best private program in the state.
Legacy Christian at Lutheran South (Fri., 6:00) — The Pioneers were a surprise package this fall. LSA started 6-0 and and were 7-1, with the lone loss the five-point game at St. Thomas. QB Reid Jeffrey and Braeden Robinson are the names to wach. Legacy Christian is the District 1 No. 3 — they lost 24-20 to Episcopal School of Dallas in September, and ESD is now an undefeated SPC 3A team, so that’s a respectable loss.
St. Michael’s at Liberty Christian — Liberty Christian is the District 1 champion and the program with the most recent hardware: they won Division II in 2023 and Division I in 2024 before being upset early last year. They opened 2026 with a 66-63 loss to Midland Christian and lost 35-34 to Celina, so the defense has been the question all year, but the offense is explosive. St. Michael’s is the District 2 4-seed that St. Thomas just played.
Central Catholic at Parish Episcopal — Parish lost 42-16 to San Antonio Cornerstone in September, and finished second in District 1. Central Catholic is the District 2 No. 3; Lutheran South beat them 48-14 in September.
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TAPPS Division II Large School — Quarterfinals this week
Fort Worth All Saints and Regents School of Austin have byes. The two games are Midland Christian vs. Bullard Brook Hill and Austin Hyde Park vs. Houston Second Baptist. The winners face All Saints and Regents, respectively, in the semifinals, with the final Saturday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m.
Hyde Park vs. Second Baptist — This is the Houston story. Second Baptist is coming off the most improbable run in the area last year: they started 2025 at 1-6 and still reached the state title game, beating Woodlands Christian 34-27 and then Lutheran South to earn the berth for a second straight year. They led defending champ All Saints 10-7 at halftime of the final before falling. They sat at 5-3 as of mid-October. Hyde Park lost 31-27 to Central Catholic in Week 0.
Midland Christian vs. Brook Hill — Midland Christian is the dangerous one: they put 66 on Liberty Christian in Week 0, and played a New Jersey team (Wayne Hills) in a 41-34 loss. Brook Hill is the East Texas entry. Winner gets All Saints, the defending Division II champion. Prospectus: All Saints is the title favorite in this bracket; Midland Christian is the team most capable of scoring with them.
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TAPPS Division II Small School — Quarterfinals this week
Tyler Grace Community and The Woodlands Christian Academy have byes. The games are Grapevine Faith vs. the McKinney Christian/Grace Prep winner, and Brownsville St. Joseph vs. Victoria St. Joseph.
The Houston angle: Woodlands Christian - TWCA is the District 4 champion sitting on a bye and is the obvious favorite in this bracket — it’s a program with real pedigree and was pushed down here by enrollment rather than results. Walk specifically flagged that TWCA was denied the chance to compete against the other district champions. Story: “The best team in the Small School bracket didn’t want to be in it.” TWCA’s semifinal opponent is the Brownsville/Victoria St. Joseph winner — Grapevine Faith, which Walk describes as having come on late in the year, faces Grace Prep on the other side for a shot at Tyler Grace.
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SPC — Semifinals Friday, Nov. 6; championships Saturday, Nov. 7
This is new too. The SPC expanded its football playoffs this year to include semifinals in both 4A and 3A. St. John’s lists its SPC semifinal for Friday, Nov. 6, time TBA. The fall championships are in Houston this year (the SPC cross country championship is Nov. 7 at Spring Creek Park, hosted by St. John’s), so expect the title games Saturday on Houston-area campuses.
4A semifinals: (1) Kinkaid vs. (4) St. John’s; (2) Episcopal vs. (3) Houston Christian. All four are Houston schools. Standings: Kinkaid 5-0 SPC, 7-3 overall on a six-game win streak; Episcopal 4-1 and 7-3, four straight wins; Houston Christian and St. John’s both 2-3 and 5-5; St. Mark’s 1-4; John Cooper 1-4.
- Kinkaid vs. St. John’s is a rematch of Friday’s regular-season finale. Kinkaid beat St. John’s 28-0 in the 76th meeting of the series — the Falcons’ 14th straight win over the Mavericks, and only the fourth shutout in the rivalry since 1971. The Mavericks last beat Kinkaid 27-21 on Oct. 26, 2012, and this will be the first time the two have played twice in one year. Prospectus: Kinkaid, VYPE’s preseason No. 1 private school, is the clear favorite, but SJS gets a second look at them a week later.
- Episcopal vs. Houston Christian — Episcopal’s only conference loss is to Kinkaid, so a Kinkaid-Episcopal final (the matchup that’s defined 4A for over a decade) is the expected outcome. Houston Christian is the spoiler; the Mustangs have never won a 4A SPC football title, having lost the 2023 3A final 30-27 to Trinity Valley before moving up.
3A semifinals: (1) Episcopal School of Dallas vs. (4) Austin St. Andrew’s; (2) Arlington Oakridge vs. (3) Fort Worth Country Day. ESD is 10-0 (7-0), Oakridge 8-1 (6-1), FWCD 6-4 (5-2), St. Andrew’s 5-4 (3-4). ESD could reach 11 wins for the first time in school history next weekend. ESD dropped from 4A to 3A this cycle under new coach Bob Benson.