Congratulations to the winners and best wishes to all of our college bound scholar athletes.
Double Podium Spots Earned at State
Both the Lovejoy girls and boys earned podium spots at the UIL Conference 5A State Championships held
today at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, TX. The girls won their championship while the boys took 3rd
place in theirs. This marks the 3rd time in Lovejoy history that both have made the podium. In 2009,
they each placed 2nd and in 2010 they each won their championships.
The turnout by the Lovejoy was exceptional — the best ever. The trifecta of Super Katie Kordel, AD
Chris Ross, and Principal Chris Mayfield even presented our Leopards with their medals on the podium.
Despite the Friday racing, many of the JV runners (and their parents) made the trip.
The weather was perfect, and the course in excellent shape due to recent rains that greened
everything up and softened the ground.
For years we have been talking about the importance of the #4 though #7 finishers on a team as well
as minimizing the #1 to #5 split time. Both 5A races underscored this importance. The Grapevine boys
have been touted as a once-in-a-decade team. Today they placed their top 4 in the top-10 in scoring
which put them at a mere 21 points with only their #5 to finish. And then there's that wait for #5
to come in. For Grapevine, that was 32nd place which knocked their score up to 52 points. A score of
50 or below is considered excellent at State and quite hard to achieve.
Contrast that with the Lovejoy Boys. No finishers in the top 10, but because they ran a relatively
close pack they ended up some 40 points ahead of 4th place finisher Wakeland and on the podium with
medals and a trophy.
The 5A Girls Championship race turned out to be a tough one for Lovejoy. All the
prognosticators had expected a waltz for the Lady Leopards. The scoring started off great with
junior Amy Morefield (3rd in team scoring in 17:50) and sophomore Kailey Littlefield (4th in
18:08.8) — 7 points between them (last year they led off with a combined 12 points). Both Amy
and Kailey earned medals for their top-10 overall finishes.
Then came the girls' biggest strength/improvement this season: sophomores Sara Morefield (9th in
18:30.0) and Peyton Benson (10th in 18:36.2). That hugely solidified the Lovejoy score at 26 points
— ominously close to the Grapevine boys' score after 4 runners.
This season the #5 spot has been a difficult one for the Lovejoy girls. Initially senior Rachel
Malik filled that role, but then illnesses and injuries ended up keeping her out of the Varsity line
up for Championship season. Sister Hailey Malik has done well replacing Rachel on the Varisty, but
injuries of her own have slowed her.
Then sophomore Kate Carlson (45th in 19:36.8) stepped up and filled the #5 role with PR after PR.
But it's not realistic to expect a Varsity rookie to keep pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Even the
Varsity veterans have not run their best at every meet. Kate ran an 18:57.1 at the McNeil,
but fell back by about 40 seconds today.
The sport of Cross Country presumes off days, which is why the Varsity runs 7, but only counts the
top 5. For Lovejoy today that meant senior Katie Armstrong (39th in 19:28.3) coming in as the #5
while almost equaling her McNeil time. Katie had the final race that every senior wants to and
should have
— nailing down the State Championship for your team. Doesn't get much better than that.
One of the Malik sisters has run at State for each of the last 3 seasons. You can extend that to 4
seasons if you include older brother Trevor (LHS 2021). Today it was Hailey's turn (62nd in
19:52.8). A solid race in a 152-runner field, and she goes home with a championship medal (a family
first).
The dot chart below shows how far out in front of the field that Amy, Kailey, Sara and Peyton were.
Second place Boerne put themselves in a position to challenge Lovejoy by having 5 runners in the top
25. (CLICK the chart for the complete version with all 16 teams).
There's an old truism about not winning in dominating fashion.
Q: Do you know what they call the team that only wins the State Championship by 1 point? A:
State Champions
Translation: no one will remember the score, just the Lovejoy girls holding that big ol' 1st Place
trophy (and the infectious smiles on their faces). The last time the girls made podium at State was
2011
— a decade ago. Winning a State championship is hard. And special.
The 5A Boys Championship race was won by Grapevine as expected. Lovejoy had faced 2nd place
Denton at Fall Fest with Denton taking 1st behind a top-5 average time of 16:30.96 while 2nd place
Lovejoy's top 5 managed a meager 17:03.08 average. But last month at District on the same Myers
course the Leopards tightened that up and achieved a 16:33.8 average. So on paper the Leopards
looked like they could best Denton. But today Denton's top 3 finished in the top 16 which allowed
them to hold off Lovejoy.
Senior Tate Barr (12th in scoring in 15:46.4) set a PR with a nice 25-second improvement over his
16:11.88 time at State last year. Senior Rohan Sharma (17th in 16:03.0) was close to a PR. Freshman
Will Carlson (24th in 16:21.7) also had a PR and the race of the day. Then sophomore Nick Yarad
(30th in 16:35.8) came close to his PR and ahead of his McNeil time.
Finally the trio of senior Riley McGowan (43rd in 16:49.9), sophomore Joe Bluestein (46th in
16:54.2) and senior Matthew Murray (48th in 16:56.1) locked down Lovejoy's score and got the guys
back on the podium for the first time since 2018. The #1 to #5 split time of 63.5 seconds was not as
clean as at Region, but it was good enough.
The dot chart below shows a reasonably close spacing between the Lovejoy runners. As at Region,
Wakeland kept it close through the first 3 runners. But then Lovejoy gets runners #4 through #7 in
before Wakeland's #4 can finish. Game, set, and match. (CLICK the chart for the complete version
with all 16 teams).
For the past 7 years the boys have finished no lower than 5th at State. That's quite record of
excellence and quite hard to accomplish. The boys now have 8 trophies from State after only 15
seasons of being eligible (i.e., having enough runners to field a team).
I am sure all have heard by now, but this past Friday our Girls team won the 5A State Championship and
the Boys team Placed 3rd Overall! We are so proud of both teams! The work all have put in was all worth
it. This marked the first time since 2010 that we had both teams on the state podium. The only other
program in the state of Texas to do that this year was The Woodlands. We are looking forward to
continuing working with the runners through the post season, track season, and next summer to prep for a
similar outcome in 2022!
Congrats to Tate Barr on earning CCCAT All State Team Honors with his state championship
performance.
Our goal going into the meet was met. There is not a greater feeling than leaving the state meet
knowing that we were able to accomplish our program goals — State Championship for the Girls
and a podium placement for the Boys. I shared back in May, this summer in New Mexico, and last week
with the boys team on what we would need to do placement wise to be a podium team. I thought it was
a neat statistic on how our boys placed in the state meet in comparison to what the data/history
shows. I also have data on times, but the course has changed over the years as well as racing
conditions from year to year. I have found that the only thing that matters and is the most constant
determiner is placement.
Logan Kelly cell: 903-821-8399
LHS Girls Cross Country — STATE CHAMPS!
HELLO LEOPARDS!
Friday was a FUN DAY!! The Girls team won the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
and completed an undefeated season in class 5A!!! The
boys team was 3rd place and earned a spot on the podium as well!! It is a HUGE accomplishment to get
both teams on the podium; our coaching staff is SO PROUD of these kids and how they responded to the
pressure.
RACE RECAP
Going in we had a pretty solid game plan. Amy and Kailey needed to be in the top 10 with Sara and Peyton
as tight as possible to that top-10 pack. We wanted our 5-7 in the top 40 overall.
The 1-4 crew did a great job of getting out hard and getting immediately to their positions. Amy and
Kailey did a better job of hanging tough in the 2nd mile this year (than last). They put themselves
right where they needed to be throughout the entire race and were able to hold tightly to their spots.
Both put themselves in position to outkick people, and both of them DID!! Each of them passed a runner
in the last 300 meters to help keep our score as low as possible.
The DYNAMIC DUO of Sara and Peyton came through INCREDIBLY HUGE today!!! These two got GREAT
positions early on within the top 20 and worked their way up throughout the race. The way they
worked together was simply amazing to watch. They finished 12th and 13 overall ... (team score of 9
and 10!!). WOW. That gave us a very strong feeling and had us looking good on the front end. (26
points from the 4 of them).
The trio of Katie, Kate and Hailey were a little further back than we wanted and were caught in the
masses of runners which is difficult to race in having to weave in and around people the entire time
... but they were able to execute and dig down just enough to keep us where we needed to be, and
Katie stepped up BIG today running the number 5 spot and sealing the WIN for the team. Kate had her
first experience at the State meet which is very intimidating and tough. (It's a whole new level of
racing.) She handled it well and ended up just slightly behind Katie. Hailey also hit a season PR
coming in shortly behind Kate.
The fun part was waiting for the results to come in ... there were tears and hugs and crazy emotions
all over the place ... and FINALLY after an eternity of waiting ... it became official that we
bested back-to-back State Champion team Boerne Champion by SIX POINTS!!!! Ahhhhh! Close ... but we
DID IT!!!
You can see the video of the race if you have a MileSplit account HERE
MIXTURE OF EMOTIONS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE ME WHEN I TOLD THEM THEY WON.
😂
WE ARE SO THANKFUL TO ALL THE PARENTS AND FELLOW STUDENTS/RUNNERS WHO CAME TO
SUPPORT AND CELEBRATE IN THE VICTORY!!! WE HAD AN AWESOME CREW THERE!!!!
STRONGER. FASTER. TOUGHER.
STATE CHAMPIONS!!!!
Carly Littlefield
Double Region II XC Championships for Lovejoy
For only the 3rd time in program history, both the girls and the boys won their Region II Championship
races today, but today's wins were the most convincing. In 2010 and last year both squads also won
Region. The girls scored an amazingly low 27 points — a new Region low for Lovejoy —
while the boys scored 43 points. None of the competing teams were remotely close. Lovejoy's previous low
Region score was 37 points achieved by the girls in 2010 and the boys in 2018.
Both Lovejoy squads qualified for State which will be held in Round Rock a week from Friday.
This was the girls 4th Region win, and the boys 7th win and 6th in a row.
What really sets today's victories apart is how dominant Lovejoy was against Region-level
competition. We're used to seeing the Leopards mop up at District, and today felt like a District
championship except with many more teams (23 girls teams and 24 boys teams to be exact). Not
coincidentally, 3 of the top 5 boys teams came from District 10 (The Colony boys finished 4th and
Rock Hill's boys finished 5th), as did 3 of the top 7 girls teams (the Rock Hill girls finished 6th,
and North's girls finished 7th). Needless to say, District 10 is Region II's toughest (so don't take
all those District Championship wins lightly).
The weather was unpleasantly warm and humid and the sun made a partial appearance during the boys
race adding to the discomfort. The course was dry and hard and flat. But all runners faced the same
conditions. This was not a day for setting a PR, although one Leopard did.
The Lovejoy turnout was the best ever for Region especially considering today was a Tuesday. In
almost all previous years, the Region championships have been held on a Saturday making attendance
easier. About 75% of the JV runners turned out weilding signs and painted bodies. Great parent
turnout as well. Lovejoy AD Chris Ross attended his first Lovejoy XC meet. He was accompanied by
Coaches Jim Bob Puckett and Kyle Herema. Always great to have the LISD administrators out supporting
the runners.
Both races can be cut into two pieces — the top handful of teams that were competitive, and
then everyone else. In the girls race, only Highland Park provided real competition to the Lady
Leopards, and even then Lovejoy beat the Scots by 35 points. The boys had some challenges from
Wakeland, Reedy, and The Colony. But still their scores were 43-98-115-121. Very lopsided. And the
split times show even greater dominance, but more about that later.
In the Girls Region Championship race the Lovejoy girls placed 4 runners in the top 10 and
5 runners in the top 12. HP had 2 girls in the top 12, and 6 other teams each had 1 runner in the
top 12. The numbers are just nutty for a 173-runner race. Lovejoy's top 5 averaged 18:55.19 while
HP's average was 37.12 seconds back at 19:32.31. That's an eternity — the 27-62 score doesn't
fully indicate the degree of Lovejoy's dominance.
Early on the race was a 3-way competition between Brighton Mooney (1st overall in 17:51.15) of
Frisco Independence (who was running as an individual competitor), sophomore Kailey Littlefield (2nd
in 18:10.42), and junior Amy Morefield (3rd in 18:42.85). But Mooney distanced herself in the 2nd
half of the race, and Amy fell back a little in the last 1K meters. Kailey had the race we expected
shaving 31.17 seconds off her time at Region last year. Amy seemed to struggle from the start, and
even the best of runners have tough outings. But they still find a way to help their team win. Amy
put forth a courageous effort to give Lovejoy a 1-2-3 start in the scoring when sophomore Sara
Morefield (4th overall, 3rd in scoring in 18:54.27) finished close behind. It was great to see a
healthy Sara getting after it.
When your top 3 runners start you off with a perfect score of 6, that has always led to victory. And
it didn't take long for sophomores Peyton Benson (9th in scoring in 19:19.54) and Kate Carlson (12th
in 19:28.86) to close out the scoring. Peyton and Kate have been running great all year and tackling
the toughest spots in the scoring at #4 and #5.
Then the two seniors finished off Lovejoy's race quite early: Katie Armstrong (20th in 19:53.84) and
Hailey Malik (27th in 20:18.80). While finishing as Lovejoy's #7, Hailey would have been in the top
5 of every other team save HP. She finished ahead of the #1 runner for 12 of the other 22 teams. The
dot chart below shows how far out in front the Lovejoy girls were (click the chart to get the
full-sized version).
The Boys Region Championship race featured several speedy competitors, but their teams just
didn't have the depth to stay with Lovejoy. The Leopard guys prevailed by an even larger margin of
victory (55 points) than the girls did (35 points). As the dot chart below shows, only Wakeland,
Reedy, The Colony, and Rock Hill provided any real competition for Lovejoy.
Lovejoy won the championship before 7th place Mount Pleasant had its #1 make it to the finish.
Senior Tate Barr (3rd overall in 16:03.94) was duking it out early with Wakeland's Natnael Enright
(1st in 15:36.41) and Reedy's Aiden Gonzales-Rodiles (2nd in 16:02.94). But Enright kicked in the
afterburners and left the others more than 30 seconds behind. Reedy managed to get in its #2 in 6th
place before Lovejoy brought the hammer down: in a 13.55-second spurt came Lovejoy's #2 through #5
scoring pack led by Newcomer-of-the-Year sophomore Nick Yarad (8th in 16:30.46) setting a PR. Nick
was ever so closely followed by seniors Rohan Sharma (9th in 16:31.57), Riley McGowan (10th in
16:38.47) and Matt Murray (13th in 16:44.01).
So the girls locked in their score after 12 runners, and the boys took 13 runners. The boys #1 to #5
split time was only 40.07 seconds — that can definitely get you on the podium at State.
Freshman Will Carlson (17th in 16:56.84) had a nice first Region run. And finally sophomore Joe
Bluestein (27th in 17:12.30) put all the Leopards in the top 20% of the 183-runner race. Joe
finished ahead of the #1 runners for 14 of the 24 teams (including HP's #1 who finished 5 places
after Joe).
Our boys and girls teams are Region Champs! This is the 6th Regional Championship in a row for the boys
team and the 7th in our program's history. The girls won back-to-back regional championships with
yesterday's performance. In addition, this is the 4th Regional Championship for the girls program. This
also marks the 14th consecutive year that the Lovejoy boys have qualified for the State Championship and
the 7th time the girls have qualified for the State Championship.
I shared with the team yesterday after the meet, there is only one team that earns the honor of winning
the Regional Title. Our runners put in the work and time to earn that honor. There is no doubt that our
runners were prepared because they are more consistent and dedicated to their craft compared to the
other teams we competed against. We have one more mission and that is to podium at the State Meet next
Friday.
Thank you to all of our runners who attended the meet to support the team! It was awesome to have a
large crowd cheering on our runners along the course and at the awards ceremony. It was a team
effort, and I really appreciate their support!
Our girls team has a strong shot at winning the state championship and our boys team has a strong
shot at being a podium team. Moments like this do not happen every year. We would love to have each
runner's support at the state meet next week. I have been given approval from Mr. Mayfield that our
runners be excused from school next Friday if they are able to make the trip to support the team. In
order to be excused runners must do the following below:
Let Coach Doughty or Coach Benson know they will be attending by Wednesday 11/3/21. Parents
must sign.
Scan the attached Travel Release Waiver and turn into Coach Doughty or Coach Benson by 11/3/21.
Parents need to transport runners to and from the meet.
Once runners arrive at the meet they will need to check in with Coach Doughty or Coach Benson
for confirmation that they attended the state meet.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Logan Kelly cell: 903-821-8399
Boys and Girls Cross Country Regional Champions
Good Morning Leopards! Your Boys and Girls Cross Country teams have had another SWEEP! Both teams were
able to capture the 5A Region II Championship Titles yesterday! If you see these kids, please give them
a shout out! They have worked very hard for this!
Senior Rachel Malik has been battling injury but decided to run and help her team win the
District Title. We are very proud of her for hanging in there and staying strong for her team!
Senior Ashlyn Cardwell — WOW!! This girl was on a mission at the District meet on
Tuesday. She worked her way up throughout the race and got a new PR in her last cross country race
as a Leopard!! It was truly awesome and inspiring to watch her tenacity.
Senior Jordyn Caro has had a great career as a Leopard and always been in our top 10. She
earned the bronze at District to help solidify her the Team Title. She is an outstanding teammate
who has committed herself to our program.
Senior Dinah Thadikonda, like Ashlyn, ran out of her mind on Tuesday! She had a giant PR
on the challenging course to cap off an outstanding career as a Leopard runner! I love when seniors
are able to leave on a high note ... and that is what she did!
This awesome crew at Hart Elementary — Reading with the Leopards!!!
Carly Littlefield
LHS Girls XC District Results/Thoughts
Sorry ... it's a lengthy one ...
We are SO PROUD of our amazing team for their performance at the District meet yesterday!! It is a great
accomplishment to sweep all 4 divisions along with earning the 4 individual titles as well!! (Amy, Tate,
Ava, Andrew) I tell the kids each year ... it is not that we are more talented than those other teams.
It is not that we were born faster. We are no different than them. It is the hours of work that we put
in ... the countless miles ... the extra strides ...the speed work and horrible hill days. It's the
discipline in hard workouts — to keep going when your body wants to quit. It's the fact that the
majority of our kids follow the meal plans and sleep plans we discuss. (I can't tell you how many
parents have let me know that their daughters have stopped eating fried foods and drinking soda on a
regular basis.) 😀 It's when we pull for each other and care about each other. It has become an
expectation that we race with pride and put our best effort forth, and THAT is what sets us apart from
our competitors. The girls have bought into the STRONGER. FASTER. TOUGHER. motto, and it shows!! They
aren't out for a jog. They aren't just "showing up" every day and shuffling through miles. They are here
to get better. They train with a purpose and a goal. They race with heart and with meaning and with
effort. THAT is what sets us apart. THAT is why we shine in our district. And THAT is what makes us
proud coaches and parents!! Our girls have learned the importance of hard work, dedication, and
commitment to something bigger than "me." They have learned how special a team effort can be. They have
learned that when you put a lot into something, you get a lot out of it. There were several special
races yesterday, and I will talk about a few of those girls in the next few days.
Over the summer I spoke at a coaches' clinic about our team. One of the things I highlighted is
"when is winning winning?" I polled some athletes (current and former), parents, coaches, etc. and
got some really meaningful feedback. I think that our program is a true reflection of how winning is
"winning." Of course ... easy to say when we actually did win! 😀 But when you look at our
kids, they have done much more than that. It's more than trophies and medals and scoreboards. It's
who we are as people and what we do when no one is watching. It's doing the right thing. Making the
right choices. Being great teammates, siblings, daughters, and people. Our sport doesn't always get
a lot of glory ... but what our runners are gaining will take them far in life beyond social media
write-ups, newspaper articles, and fan-filled stands. Watch them help clean up after a meet is over.
(or anywhere they are) Watch them clean the bus (spotless) when we get back from meets. Watch them
give their time to work at middle school meets and read to our elementary kids. Watch them support
each other or comfort others when things didn't go their way. Watch them work together when they
race. Watch them write letters to fellow runners who have lost their coach. They are doing so many
amazing things, and they are amazing young people. That is winning. I am beyond proud of our kids
this season! We have 16 amazing seniors who will be missed greatly and have contributed their time,
talents and efforts into the team! 10 of our girls will move on to the Regional and State meet where
they will continue to represent LOVEJOY CROSS COUNTRY! Hug your runners today! They have done great
things this season!
Our boys and girls teams dominated the day yesterday at the District 10-5A Championship. All of the work
and dedication that our runners put into their running was demonstrated in full force yesterday. It
proves that our runners get to reap the rewards that other programs in our district will not because we
work harder throughout the year, summer, and season. Our boys team has never lost a District title for
Varsity or JV since Lovejoy has had a full team of runners. This marked the 15th consecutive year to win
the district title for JV and Varsity. It also marked the 15th consecutive year for the Varsity team to
qualify for the Regional Championship.
Although we only had 5 personal best times yesterday, we had a total of 39 runners that ran faster on
the Myers Park course yesterday than compared to our home meet on 9.4.21. Myers park is one of the
toughest courses in the state to compete on and our team handled it like champs.
The Varsity team will compete next at the Region II 5A Championship on Monday, October
25th Tuesday, October 26th. The meet will be held at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie, TX. The
girls will race at 12:00 PM and the Boys at 12:30 PM.
We want to have a strong showing of support for the boys and girls teams at the Regional Meet. We
will have a bus for team members wanting to come out and support our runners. It would be awesome to
have kids get painted up and order Face Cut-outs of the Varsity runners competing. The Coaching
staff will start a sign-up list for those who would like to attend and support at the Regional
Meet.
Logan Kelly cell: 903-821-8399
Lovejoy Earns All 8 District Championship Awards
The LHS Cross Country team convincingly won all 8 of the championships at today's UIL Conference 5A
District 10 Cross Country Championships held at Myers Park in McKinney TX (the Leopards' home course,
and a.k.a. "the Beast"). In addition to winning the 4 team championships (Varsity girls and boys, and JV
girls and boys), Leopards also won the 4 individual championships ...
District Varsity Girls Individual Champion — junior Amy Morefield
District Varsity Boys Individual Champion — senior Tate Barr
District JV Girls Individual Champion — freshman Ava Easley
District JV Boys Individual Champion — sophomore Andrew Poulton
Three of Lovejoy's four team scores were perfect or near perfect. The Varsity Boys had a bit more of
a challenge, but still won by a wide margin.
The weather and course were perfect — truly the best ever for District. The temperature at the
start of the first race hovered around 65°F with a cooling breeze and overcast skies. The course is
in immaculate shape due to a new and successful mowing strategy instituted by McKinney Parks &
Recreation. Historically race organizers have spent the morning before District pouring dirt into
cracks on the course. Not this year. Meet Referee Jerry Sutterfield humorously recounted an anecdote
from a few years back about a runner who had dropped her cell phone into a 4-foot deep crack in the
course.
Lovejoy coaches and administrators were on hand to cheer the runners. Coaches Jim Bob Puckett and
Kyle Herrema are perennial attendees at District. Volleyball Head Coach Natalie Puckett actually
worked the meet. And Superintendent Katie Kordel enjoyed her first Lovejoy XC meet. Since Lovejoy
was the host school (Coach Kelly and his patented organization skills), the Leopards sport medicine
staff was present to tend to athletes' issues. A big thanks and shout out to them for another
flawless performance.
The other schools were quite gracious over the results and the ensuing Lovejoy Trophy/Medal-fest.
All the schools stayed for the entire awards ceremony.
Now despite the perfect weather and course conditions, there were few PRs — this was still the
Myers course, the toughest our runners face all year. Consequently in order to evaluate
performances, you have to compare today's times to those from previous races held on the Beast.
Almost all of those comparisons are favorable.
The Varsity Girls championship race went off at 9:15 am — about 15 minutes later than
scheduled due to a late-arriving Wylie East team that had suffered a bus mis-scheduling issue.
Lovejoy defeated Rock Hill, McKinney North, The Colony, etc. by a score of 18-61-72-104-134-164-198.
Only 7 team scores (not 8) because Princeton only brought one Varsity girl. All of Lovejoy's runners
finished in the top 15 of the 48-runner race.
Junior Amy Morefield (1st in 18:11.6) won as expected and achieved something no other Lovejoy
harrier has ever done — she's 3 for 3 in District individual varsity championships. Carson
Hockersmith only won 1 of 4 Districts, Katie Ruhala was 3 out of 4 (she sat out District her junior
year due to injury), Will Muirhead won 2, and Jake Hervey won 2. No other Leopard has won more than
one District Varsity Individual Championship. We could write a couple paragraphs about Amy's
performance after every pre-District meet, but that's not very democratic, and the rest of the team
might get annoyed. But now it's Championship Season, so it's time to start talking about Amy. This
fall she has turned in her best times on the Beast — 18:10.02 at Fall Fest and 18:11.6
today.
Sophomore Kailey Littlefield (2nd in 18:22.2) was fairly close behind Amy having run equal with her
for much of the race. It's Championship Season so expect Kailey to turn it up. She ran a 19:15.22 at
Fall Fest. The #3 finisher in Lovejoy's 1-2-3 trifecta was sophomore Peyton Benson (3rd in 18:54.0)
with a 36.93-second improvement from Fall Fest.
Sophomore Sara Morefield (5th in 19:27.0) has had a spectacular fall campaign, but was feeling under
the weather today (apparently Adam and Tyler's fault). She was 46.13 seconds behind her Fall Fest
time, but that delta should go away in time for Region due to the 13-day 'rest' she'll get. Closing
out the Lovejoy scoring today was sophomore Kate Carlson (7th in 19:33.4) setting her Myers course
PR with a nice 14.88-second improvement from Fall Fest.
Senior Katie Armstrong (11th in 20:14.9) turned in a solid final run at District. Katie's best time
on the Beast was at Fall Fest 2 years ago (19:53.07), but today was her 2nd best effort. Finally,
senior Hailey Malik (15th in 20:53.5) subbing for recovering sister Rachel put all the girls in the
top 15. Over the years the Malik sisters have see-sawed back and forth over who was faster, but it
was great to see at least one of them healthy and running Varsity in their last District.
There is no secret to the Lovejoy Varsity Girls' success — they just continue to get so much
faster. To the left is the updated version of Lovejoy's top-5 scorers at District for the past 5
relevant years (2018 is excluded because it was a mud-fest and the times are fatally skewed
upwards). Every year the times go down and 2021 was a real barn-burner. Amy turned in an even better
time than 2 years ago when she handed North's all-world London Culbreath her first ever UIL loss in
10 races. (London now runs for Arkansas which is currently ranked 11th nationally). Perhaps the most
eye-opening observation is that today's #5, Kate Carlson, turned in a time (19:33.4) that is 36.8
seconds faster than the time sophomore Carson Hockersmith ran (20:10.2) in 2016 to beat the
entire Highland Park varsity and win the Individual District Championship. Yipes!
Last year the squad's biggest jump was at the #2 position when then freshman Kailey joined the
Varsity. But this year the biggest jump on the chart is at #3 and that's the Peyton Benson effect
— she has really boosted the Varsity. It's scary to think of a healthy Sara finishing ahead of
Peyton.
The girls top 5 averaged 19:04.55 only 5½ weeks ago at Fall Fest in winning the very competitive
Elite Varsity race. Today they averaged 18:53.64 without the competition pushing them.
The Varsity Boys (and the JV Boys) have now held the District Championship crown(s) for 15
years straight. Lovejoy High School has only existed for 16 years. In the first XC season (Fall
2006), the Varsity and JV Boys squads had only one runner each (freshman Conner Day for the Varsity,
and freshman Alec Parkinson for the JV), so there was no chance for team trophies that first fall.
All told the team only had 6 harriers. But ever since the guys have fielded full teams starting in
the fall of 2007, they have been the District Champions. That's an amazing accomplishment that we
sometimes take for granted, but should not.
To put it in perspective, the last and only time the Lovejoy XC boys did not win District ...
George W. Bush was President
none of the current freshmen had been born
Coach Kelly was a sophomore XC/Track runner at Texas A&M Commerce
Lovejoy High School only had about 130 students (all freshmen)
Sloan Creek IS and Willow Springs MS did not exist
Today the guys seemed to have the toughest of the 4 championship races finishing ahead of The
Colony, Rock Hill, North, Princeton, etc., by a score of 27-50-62-109-129-167-203-218. Lovejoy's 27
points were its only non-near-perfect score of the day. But the results were not as close at the
score indicates. At District, time gaps don't get exposed as much as they do at Region and certainly
not State. A better indicator is that Lovejoy's top 5 averaged 16:33.80 while 2nd place The Colony
was 26.78 seconds back at 17:00.58. That's substantial.
Today's surprise was how well The Colony boys finished. Everyone expected Rock Hill to finish 2nd
and they did put in their expected solid performance. But The Colony came up with its race of the
season.
Senior Tate Barr (1st in 16:06.1) won his first Individual District Champion. While team
championships have been the norm for Lovejoy, individual championships have been much harder to come
by. Tate was challenged by a couple of competitors (Devon Judelson of The Colony, and Gabriel de La
O of Rock Hill) throughout much of the race, but pulled ahead at the finish. Senior Rohan Sharma
(4th in 16:17.9) has been such a Varsity bright spot this year improving his times by about 30
seconds. A huge help to the team. Freshman Will Carlson (5th in 16:32.7) has locked up
Freshman-of-the-Year honors building off of his stellar middle school record. Will knocked a
whopping 34.6 seconds off of his Fall Fest time.
Sophomore Nick Yarad (6th in 16:41.2) ran a 18:23.26 at Fall Fest, so his 1:42.1 improvement today
is arguably the most consequential. Closing out the scoring was senior Riley McGowan (11th in
17:11.1). Sophomore Joe Bluestein (14th in 17:23.5) continues to round into form. Finally, senior
Matt Murray (17th in 17:40.5) put all the Lovejoy runners in the top 25% of the field.
The JV Girls championship was never in doubt as Coach Littlefield again applied the
overwhelm-the-enemy strategy with 35 runners (whereas the other schools combined had only 51
runners). And yet it could have been more lopsided: Lovejoy has 48 girls on its JV squad. But lots
of them were out for District, which is especially sad for the absent seniors.
Lovejoy won this championship by a score of 18-50-80-106-143-158 over North, Rock Hill, Princeton,
etc. Neither Denison nor The Colony brought a full JV girls squad to District and therefore they did
not register scores.
Freshman-of-the-Year Ava Easley (1st in 20:59.1) took the individual title. Senior Rachel Malik (2nd
in 21:10.1) is still nursing injuries, but put together a solid XC race. What a great career she has
had. Senior Jordyn Caro (4th in 21:52.0) turned in her best race of the year. Freshman Ineke van
Rensburg (5th in 21:53.1) had a big 74.3-second improvement over her time at Fall Fest (23:07.42).
Senior Meg Bennion (6th in 21:52.4) finished out the Lovejoy scoring. Sophomore Abigail Godfrey (9th
in 21:58.6) was the other Leopard finishing under 22 minutes.
The District JV races have a melancholy angle to them because for so many Lovejoy harriers it is
their last race as Leopards. Many have run for 5 or 6 years, and that all finished up today. Yes
there's a great group of 8th graders waiting to join in next fall. But saying goodbye to such great
seniors is always hard. Above all else, Lovejoy XC is truly a community.
The JV Boys race was Lovejoy's most dominant as expected. The guys scored a perfect 15
points over North (52 points), Rock Hill (82 points), Princeton (125 points), and Sherman (138
points). Denison, Wylie East and The Colony did not bring full JV squads and did not register team
scores.
Lovejoy was in fact so dominant that of the top 15 finishers, 12 of them were Leopards including the
first 8. Further, if Lovejoy's top 20 runners had been split them into 4 separate teams, then all 4
of those teams would have scored better than all the other schools' JVs.
Sophomore Andrew Poulton (1st in 17:24.6) comfortably won the individual championship. And the
scoring pack came in rather close behind: freshman Devin Muaina (2nd in 17:40.3), freshman Henry
Bennion (3rd in 17:53.2), freshman Jack Thompson (4th in 17:58.2), and sophomore Ethan Smith (5th in
18:02.6). This was the day's best #1 to #5 split time of only 38.0 seconds.
Then came a 0.7-second spurt of senior Caleb Beets (6th in 18:16.3), freshman Tyler Morefield (7th
in 18:16.6), and junior Logan Pedersen (8th in 18:17).
The secret to the boys 15-year winning streak is the depth and talent of the JV, which is in turn
fed by such a successful middle school program. No doubt about it, the JV (and Varsity) success has
taken years to build and maintain.
Next up are the UIL Conference 5A Region II Championships to be held on Monday, October 25th Tuesday, October 26th at Lynn Creek Park (switched venue) in
Grand Prairie.
This past week our JV Boys competed at the Ken Gaston Invitational on Thursday. We had a total of 20 PRs
at the meet! The Varsity Boys competed at the Nike South Invitational on Saturday. The course was
shortened and altered due to the rain. GPS readings read anywhere from 2.75 - 2.88. 2.88 makes the most
sense on some of the analyticals we have done covering the meet. Our boys competed hard and beat the 4th
place 5A team from last year, Friendswood.
This crew traveled to The Woodlands for the Nike South Invitational this past weekend. Due to weather
and muck and mud, the course was shortened, so times are skewed. The majority of the girls ran well, and
we were just glad we were able to get the race in! They are tuned up and ready to go for District next
week.
Senior Jessica Rockenbach is the epitome of the phrase "hard work pays off." Jess
started running her freshman year and over time has just gotten better and better. This past
week she ran a 50-second PR and broke the 25-minute barrier. We are so proud of her work ethic
and consistency over the years to get to this point!
Keira Bowling had an outstanding race on Thursday! She has been running strong all
season long and continued the trend with a 6th place finish for her team!
Rachel Wheeler is a new freshman to the program and has continued to improve this
season. She had a great race on Thursday earning a PR and a medal with a 13th place finish. She
has a big future ahead!
Peyton Benson had a big race at the Nike South Invitational this weekend. We have been
working on closing gaps between runners and hunting down opponents. Peyton has been on the
prowl, and it paid off Saturday! She earned a medal in a challenging field of 6A competitors and
ran with grit and fire! She's ready to go for Championship Season!!
STRONGER. FASTER. TOUGHER.
TRUTH HURTS!
Carly Littlefield
Nike South Provides Varsities' Final Tune-up Before District
The top-level Varsity squads travelled down to The Woodlands for the Nike South Invitational and
competed in some final races before District which begins Championship Season. The results were hard to
judge because of the shortened course (of indeterminant length) and the humid weather.
Lately the Leopards have enjoyed good to excellent weather for their races, but today's humidity was
stifling at 100%+. The air was supersaturated as evidenced by the fog and mist that permeated Bear
Branch Park where the meet was held. It felt like lukewarm split pea soup to the photography staff, and
could not have been much better for the runners.
This course is generally the worst Lovejoy will see all year. Much of it is running around soccer
fields covered with artificial turf. The areas that involve natural surfaces include a couple of
hairpin turns which are unsuitable for medium to large races (greater than 100 runners). And the
course was quite flat. Lovejoy is spoiled to have such a magnificent home course, Myers Park.
Unfortunately the NXR South in November will be run on this same course. Let's just hope the
humidity drops by mid-November.
Recent rains caused a reconfiguration of the course that noticeably shortened it. But by how much?
We're not sure. The Woodlands' coaches unofficially told Coach Kelly that the course was 2.75 miles.
But other sources indicate an official distance of 3 miles. And finally, the results use a distance
of 2.88 miles in converting to 1-mile pace times. The difference is significant in converting the
time to a 5K.
You can convert times using a VDOT
calculator, originally promulgated by legendary distance coach Jack Daniels. Looking just at
the two elite races and converting the actual times to 5K equivalents assuming a 2.75-mile course
versus a 3-mile course versus a 2.88-mile course, you get the chart below.
Using Tate Barr's time as a benchmark, if we go with the supposed official distance of 3 miles, then
Tate Barr ran a 14:37 5K in 100%-plus humidity. That seems too far off. But if we go with the
2.75-mile distance that The Woodlands coaches mentioned, then Tate's time is a somewhat more
believable 16:03. Yet Tate had his best race this season — he effectively PR'd. So finally
looking at the 2.88-mile conversion, Tate ran an effective 15:16 — so let's go with that,
i.e., the actual distance was 2.88 miles, but in 100% humidity.
The Woodlands High School earns an 'F' for not being able to run a regulation meet, especially so
close to District.
The Varsity Elite Boys race went off at 7:15 am sharp with lots of 6A heavyweights in the
field
— most of whom did not have to travel and stay overnight. We sometimes forget the toll that
traveling takes on a team, especially one that has raced at competitive meets for 4 of the previous
6 weekends. Also note that the team was originally supposed to attend the Chile Pepper in
Fayetteville for a tempo run in the Open 10K.
When the dust (or mist?) settled, Lovejoy finished behind only one other 5A team — Humble
Atascocita. The other teams ahead of Lovejoy were either from Oklahoma or 6A. Atascocita's top 5
finished in the 20-37 range (nice and tight), whereas our Leopards were a bit more spread out in the
10-78 range with a 1:15.4 #1-#5 split time. A competitive race like this exposes how fatal big split
times can be.
Senior Tate Barr (10th) had arguably Lovejoy's best race of the day. He is primed for Championship
season, and it should be great fun to watch him over the next several races. Senior Rohan Sharma
(34th) was off today at about 39 seconds behind Tate. Those two are usually much closer. Sophomore
Nick Yarad (63rd) shaved about 15 seconds off his McNeil time and gets better every week. Sophomore
Joe Bluestein (74th) continues his improvement after coming back from injury two meets ago. He
dropped more than 30 seconds off of his McNeil time.
Senior Matt Murray (77th) had a nice 15-second improvement. Close behind were senior Riley McGowan
(85th) who was slightly ahead of his Denton Guyer time, and freshman Will Carlson (88th) who was
about 15 seconds behind his McNeil PR.
So two of Lovejoy's usual top 5 had off days, but there's plenty of time before State. At District,
Lovejoy will only have Prosper Rock Hill to contend with, and the Blue Hawks' top 5 averaged only
16:53.7 at the Jesuit XC Classic this weekend. That won't come close to beating Lovejoy's average
which currently hovers around 16:20. So our guys won't get challenged until Region on October
25th.
At Region things get tougher, but remember that Grapevine is over in Region I. So it's hard to
imagine the boys not qualifying for State (the top 3 teams from Region advance). Of the top 10
CCCAT-ranked teams, only Frisco Wakeland (7th) and Frisco Reedy (10th) compete in Region II, and
Lovejoy (4th) has already faced and beaten them both.
So it all comes down to what happens at State on November 5th. The guys haven't been on the podium
at State since taking the bronze in 2018.
For the Varsity Elite Girls race, Lovejoy was looking to complete an undefeated pre-season
record, but fell short for a couple reasons. First, Amy Morefield sat out. Second, Kailey
Littlefield had an off day. And that was enough to let Flower Mound (48 points) and The Woodlands
(101 points) finish ahead of Lovejoy (140 points).
Teammates stepped up their game to cover for Amy's absence. Sophomore Sara Morefield (5th overall)
had probably her best race of the season. Sophomore Peyton Benson (18th) came in somewhat better
than expected (by about 10 seconds) and as an atypical #2. Sophomore Kate Carlson (33rd) maintained
her excellent pace from the McNeil which was her season best.
Then came in Kailey Littlefield (39th) about a full minute behind her usual. The most pleasant
surprise was senior Katie Armstrong (45th) who was only seconds behind Kailey. In fact, the
Kate-Kailey-Katie split time was only 6.6 seconds. However you slice it, that's a big PR for Katie
(estimated at 19:11), which the official/messed-up times may obscure.
Finally Rachel Malik (62nd) showed about a 20-second improvement from the McNeil — she's well
on the way to regaining her form after her ill-fated trip to Lubbock. Give her one more catch-up
race at District, and she should be back up to speed by Region. (The girls can probably win District
just doing a tempo run.)
How do the VDOT conversions for today's top-5 compare with their times at the last two meets?
So today's top-5 girls averaged roughly the same as their last two meets, and more
specifically Kailey's off-day was covered by Katie, Sara, and Peyton. But what if Amy had
raced with her usual results, and Kailey had simply repeated her McNeil
performance? Then the girls top-5 average drops to 18:19, which compares to a converted
Flower Mound top-5 average time of 18:08 (assuming a 2.88-mile course).
This analysis flips based on the assumed course length. For a 2.75-mile course today, the Lovejoy
top-5 would have averaged 18:52 compared to Flower Mound's 19:03, so advantage Lovejoy. But assuming
a 3-mile course length, then Lovejoy averages 17:50 while Flower Mound drops to 17:23. Under a
similar analysis, Lovejoy bests The Woodlands regardless of course length.
We'll see how this all plays out at the NXR South on November 20th when the girls next face Flower
Mound.
The Varsity Boys Red & Green field was split between two heats due to the number of
runners, and then the results were spliced together. Lovejoy had runners in each heat, but the split
did't match with how the boys were grouped (squaded?) in the results. The Red heat featured Lovejoy
runners Caleb Beets, Henry Bennion, Devin Muaina, Andrew Poulton, Ethan Smith, and Jack Thompson.
The Green heat featured Colin Milliken, Adam Morefield, Tyler Morefield, Jake Piccirillo, Jackson
Reid, and Aaron Wimbish. For scoring purposes, the Freshmen 7 were grouped together and the 5
non-freshman were grouped together. Kinda hard to run as a squad when the runners are split between
two heats.
The Freshman 7 finished 11th out of 40 teams in the combined results. Of the 10 teams finishing
ahead of Lovejoy, only the Woodlands also ran in the Elite race, meaning our guys were facing the
other team's #1 Varsity squads. So a nice result.
Jack Thomspon (21st) had a top-25 finish in the combined field of 312 runners. The came a tight
scoring pack of Devin Muaina (65th), Henry Bennion (69th), Tyler Morefield (96th), and Adam
Morefield (107th). The #2 to #5 split time was 25.5 seconds — nice!
Right on top of Adam came Aaron Wimbish (108th), and a bit later came Jackson Reid (162nd).
This meet featured is usual "Rising Star" race meant for freshmen, but Lovejoy's freshman boys are
considered good enough by the coaches to go head-to-head with other varsities.
The second Lovejoy squad (the 5 remaining non-freshmen) in the Varsity R+G races finished 21st.
Sophomore Andrew Poulton (60th) was well out in front of the pack by (an adjusted) 40+ seconds. The
next 4 came in as a pack (loosely speaking): senior Jake Piccirillo (111th), senior Caleb Beets
(126th), sophomore Ethan Smith (139th) and sophomore Colin Milliken (155th).
Finally for the Leopards was the Varsity Girls running in the Red heat of the R+G races. Six of the
runners were grouped, and then two were set up as a separate team. Several teams ran more than 7 as
a squad. The six-girl squad finished 13th out of 30 teams.
Freshman Ava Easley (13th out of 256 runners) had a fantastic race. Senior Hailey Malik (39th)
matched sister Rachel in her improvement since returning. The next 3 ran well together: senior Meg
Bennion (87th), senior Eliza Coit (89th), and sophomore Abigail Godfrey. Finishing for the girls
were sophomore Ineke Van Rensburg (112th), sophomore Caroline Dolberry (136th), and freshman Emersyn
Runions.
WHAT. A. DAY!!!!! Not only did we completely dominate the field, but we had 17 PR's today at the Ken
Gaston meet!! This is the new home of the Regional Course this season, and it is flat and fast; these
girls took complete advantage of that! We had perfect weather, training has been solid, and the girls
came hungry for hardware!
The team was also interviewed by Milesplit, and they rocked it! I will send the link once they get it
uploaded.
Lovejoy's depleted JV squads had solid runs at this morning's Ken Gaston Invitational at Lynn Creek Park
in Grand Prairie, TX. The weather was pleasantly overcast, but a little on the warm side and definitely
muggy (90% humidity).
Lynn Creek Park is the site of this fall's Region course, so the coaches brought the Varsity along to
get in a preview run and to cheer on JV teammates. Region has been run at the Jesse Owens Complex in
Dallas for a few seasons, but UTA has switched back to Lynn Creek Park. Too bad — the Jesse Owens
course is much more interesting and a better fit for our Leopards to showcase their skills.
The JV squads were depleted because the top 19 boys and top 16 girls are running in Houston this
Saturday at the Nike South. Coach Kelly is taking 3 squads of Varsity boys and Coach Littlefield is
taking 2 squads of Varsity Girls. Nevertheless, today's Leopards turned in great runs on the
course.
The 6A-5A Varsity Boys race featured Lovejoy's #4 squad up against some stiff competition.
Almost all the teams finishing ahead of Lovejoy were running their #1 Varsity — only Frisco
Wakeland was running its #2 Varsity.
Junior Logan Pedersen (21st in 18:04.6) almost dipped under the 18-minute mark. Then sophomore TJ
Koch (31st in 18:23.3) led in a tight scoring pack that included senior Davis Mosel (45th in
18:35.7), freshman David Groves (51st in 18:48.4), and freshman Tristan Lingenfelder (55th in
18:50.2). The #2-#5 split time was a lean 26.9 seconds. Great form.
Freshman Joseph O'Brien (70th in 19:07.5) and senior Joey Farkas (77th in 19:11.7) closed out the #6
and #7 scoring positions for Lovejoy. Close behind them were freshman Caden Gary (19:13.0),
sophomore Sonny Hignite (18:15.1), and junior Alex Sullivan (19:38.9).
For the 6A-5A JV Girls race, the Lovejoy coaching staff decided to take no prisoners and
gang-tackled the competition by running all 34 girls in this one race (248-runner field).
When you put Lovejoy's #3+ squads all in one JV race, the results get fairly ugly for the other
teams. Lovejoy rang in 1st with 47 points and only Frisco Wakeland (75 points) came in under 100.
Next in 3rd place was Arlington Martin (142 points), and it only gets worse from there.
Lovejoy had 7 top-25 finishes starting with junior Bella Landrum (4th in 22:12.6), freshman Keira
Bowling (6th in 22:31.4), and senior Sydnee Taylor (9th in 22:32.6) — all in the top-10. Then
came freshman Rachel Wheeler (13th in 22:56.2), freshman Dominique Ianerelli (15th in 22:59.9),
junior Morgan Paharik (19th in 23:09.2) and freshman Elizabeth Sanchez (22nd in 23:12.2).
A very respectable 47.3-second #1-#5 split time, and a dominating performance (again) by the Lady
Leopards.
The 6A-5A JV Boys race had the remaining 15 Lovejoy JV boys going up against everyone else's #1 JV
squads (except Wakeland's). Still the guys finished 5th and put in an admirable effort. Plano West
finished 1st with a near-perfect 17 points. The rest of the scores looked much more normal.
Freshman EJ Morrow (9th in 18:29.8) had a top-10 finish and registered Lovejoy's 3rd best time of
the day. Freshman Liam Dunleavy (20th in 19:15.7) led in the scoring pack of fellow freshmen Sean
Easley (33rd in 19:33.9), and Primo Chandrasekaran (34th in 19:34.9); and finally junior Daniel
Lamping (40th in 19:49.5). Rounding out Lovejoy's top 7 were freshman David Wise (47th in 20:02.4)
and senior Cole Paulus (54th in 20:22.3).
Next up and finally for the JV runners is the UIL Conference 5A District 10 XC Championships to be
held at the familiar Myers Park in McKinney on the morning of Tuesday, October 12th. The entire
focus of the practices that started last May, summer camp in New Mexico, and all of these pre-season
races is to prepare for District. If there is one race all season that the Lovejoy community needs
to turn out for and support, it's District. Hope to see you there.
Click
here for the meet photo album. It will be a couple of weeks before all photos are published.
LHS Girls XC RESULTS
Our Varsity girls had an AMAZING showing this weekend at the McNeil Invitational. They were able to race
top teams in the state, both 5A and 6A, and they came out on top with a commanding presence. They
outscored the second place team by 68 points! All of our top 5 girls went under 19:00 minutes!! These
girls remain UNDEFEATED so far this season and are currently ranked #1 in Texas 5A!!
Full results from the McNeil Invite can be found HERE.
Varsity Girls — senior Katie Armstrong — Had a new PR in a big race this past
weekend!! Just like Madison, Katie has been a reliable and dedicated Leopard runner for the past 4
years. She has impacted the varsity team with her team spirit, wisdom, and willingness to buy into
the training and always shoot for excellence. Her race this weekend was her best race in Cross
Country so far, and I am looking forward to seeing how she caps off her senior year!
JV Boys — freshman EJ Morrow
JV Girls — senior Madison Cinek — Never misses a practice, always gives her
best effort, and consistently encourages and inspires runners around her. She has grown tremendously
during her time in Lovejoy Cross Country, and she is one of those people who makes our team so
special.
Our Varsity Boys competed in the Gold Race at the Hoka McNeil Invitational this past weekend and placed
3rd overall. This marked our best performance of the season as a team, and I was pleased with where the
majority of runners finished. We still have some work to do and improvements to make. I am confident by
the state meet we should have most of our runners ranging from 15:30 - 16:15 for the 5K, potentially
better. So far we have faced a majority of the top 5A teams from across the state. The only two teams we
have yet to face are Amarillo and Friendswood. Amarillo is currently ranked #3 according to the CCCAT
Poll and Friendswood placed 4th overall at last year's state meet.
We are in a strong position to be a podium team at the State Championship. To do this all things need to
go in our favor: 1) Continue good training, 2) Runners stay injury free, 3) Runners stay healthy (no
covid, strep, flu, etc.) 4) keep grades in good standing, and 5) perform on race day. It will be very
important in the weeks ahead to make sure we are doing all the little things the right way with our
sleep, nutrition, hydration, hand washing, and staying away from those who are sick.
Full results from the McNeil Invite can be found HERE.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Logan Kelly cell: 903-821-8399
Solid Benchmark Results at McNeil Invitational
Lovejoy demonstrated serious strength in this morning's Hoka McNeil Invitational held at Old Settlers
Park in Round Rock TX. The Varsity girls ran away with 1st place in the Girls Gold race, while the
Varsity boys took a convincing 3rd place in the Boys Gold race. The talent was top-notch including many
of the top teams across the 4A, 5A, and 6A conferences.
The weather was perfect, the best Lovejoy has seen for a meet at Old Settlers Park ever, including for
all the UIL State Championships. The temperature of about 60°F with no perceptible wind was truly ideal.
Lovejoy ran in the day's first two races — the coolest part of the day.
[Travelers note: the drive down to Round Rock is as bad as it has ever been — substantial
stretches with road construction. So if you're planning on travelling to State, please do so when
traffic is at its lightest.]
The table below shows the ranked competitors who competed in the Gold races.
A few things about this chart, though.
Many/most of the teams were missing top (#1 to #7) runners and several didn't even run a full
slate of 7 athletes much less the 10 athletes allowed under race rules.
In a few cases (grayed and lined out on the chart) teams simply withdrew and did not compete or
dropped down to a less competitive division.
At least one team (notably Southlake Carroll — ranked #1 in 6A) did not run its top
Varsity.
As a prime example, the Highland Park girls were without their #1 and #3 runners today (Charlotte
Hudson and Grace Hathaway), and so they turned in a rather mediocre top-5 average time of 19:31.6.
With their #1 and #3 running and assuming every Scot matched her 2021 PR time, then HP would have
averaged 18:57.4
— much more respectable, but still way back from Lovejoy's 18:23.0 (more about that killer
time later).
Another notable is that Lovejoy has now competed at 4 meets in less than 30 days. That can be
draining, so PRs were not expected today, yet a few achieved them.
The course was closer to the State layout than last year's McNeil, but the signature bridge was
avoided today causing a re-route back across the dam and then into the finish. So far the State
course still includes the bridge.
The Girls Gold race was more of a forerunner of the NXR South than State — so many
top 4A, 5A, and 6A teams. The relatively high scores are an indication of the excellent competition.
Regardless the Lady Leopards still creamed the field with the only score (82 points) under 150
points. Outrageous! And the scoring-pack split time (#2-#5) is getting much tighter — 47.4
seconds. And the closest to Lovejoy's 18:23.0 average time was 6A Prosper at 18:43.6. Not very
close.
Junior Amy Morefield (5th overall in 17:40.7) had a great race and was again close to dipping below
the 17:30 mark. She was in striking distance of 6A Prosper's #1 and #2. First place was a battle
between Cedar Park's Isabel Conde de Frankenberg (17:07.6) and Georgetown's McKenzie Bailey
(17:08.2) —
both 5A foes.
Sophomore Kailey Littlefield (10th in 18:09.7) made a nice jump in her time today. Sophomore Sara
Morefield (12th in 18:20.2) was right where she was supposed to be — great reliability this
season. And then came another consistent time from sophomore Peyton Benson (25th in 18:47.2).
And then a couple of surprises. First, sophomore Kate Carlson (30th in 18:57.1) with yet another big
PR and under the 19-minute mark for the first time. Second, a re-surgent senior Katie Armstrong
(47th in 19:27.3) actually bettered her time from State last November.
Senior Rachel Malik (81s in 20:04.5) had a good first race back. Missing a few weeks definitely puts
you behind, so she'll be working her way back into form before Region. In her first top Varsity
performance, freshman Ava Easley (20:17.9) got some great experience today. Finally senior Hailey
Malik (21:08.1) is also regaining her conditioning. All the girls looked solid out on the course
today, especially considering the level of competition they faced.
The Boys Gold race was a bit of a runaway for 5A Grapevine (32 points). As dominant as
Lovejoy's girls were today, the Grapevine boys were doubly so, even against top 6A competiton. Their
top 5 all finished before any Lovejoy runners. Grapevine's boys are one of those teams that comes
along once every decade or so, at least at the 5A level.
That aside, the Leopards were extremely solid with a convincing 3rd place finish (2nd best 5A team).
Certainly podium-worthy at State (assuming they stay healthy and continue to improve). Seniors Tate
Barr (15th in 15:59.6) and Rohan Sharma (19th in 16:06.6) gave Lovejoy and a great start to the
scoring. Then came the first of Lovejoy's three freshmen: Will Carlson (37th in 16:30.6). In girls
XC it's common to have freshman spinkled into the Varsity lineup, but for boys it's rare. Will PR'd
and got oh-so close to breaking the 16:30 mark.
Sophomore Nick Yarad (43rd in 16:37.3) made his long-awaited Varsity debut today, and may be the
biggest reason for optimism in the upcoming Championship Season. Senior Matt Murray (77th in
16:56.0) snuck under the 17-minute mark and continues to improve heading into October —
another great sign for the team.
Freshman Jack Thompson (88th in 17:05.6) joined the top Varsity for the first time today and made
the most of it. Sophomore Joe Bluestein (92nd in 17:10.9) put all of Lovejoy's top 7 under the 17:15
mark.
Lovejoy finished with Freshman Devin Muaina (17:18.7) in his top Varsity debut, sophomore Andrew
Poulton (17:24.7), and senior Riley McGowan (17:35.8).
Lovejoy Confirms Its Excellence at Denton Guyer Meet
Lovejoy Cross Country enjoyed another Saturday of great racing at today's Garmin MileSplit TX XC
Invitational hosted by Denton Guyer at South Lakes Park in Denton TX. The Leopards had not previously
competed at this meet or location, but still looked like veterans out on the course throughout the
morning races.
The weather was perfect: cool with a light breeze for the Varsity races, with a bit of a warm-up once
the sun burnished the course for the JV races. Again for this meet the coaches stratified the runners
across 2 Varsity divisions (Elite and Open) and 2 JV divisions (at least for the boys). Oftentimes that
meant our 2nd or 3rd or 4th squads were going up against 1st or 2nd squads from competing schools. But
this is still pre-season, so extra challenges only help prepare the team for Championship Season.
As courses go, the park was aesthetic, but extremely flat. Combined with such agreeable weather, this
made for fast races and lots of PRs.
Since the meet was sponsored by both Garmin and Texas MileSplit, there were lots of "bells and
whistles" ...
a couple of big yellow doughnuts/arches emblazoned with Garmin logos and epitaphs which the
runners ran under/through (confusing to several of the runners)
a U.S. Marine Corps calisthenics demonstration and burger cookout (we have great respect for
our fighting forces, but the noise from 50 Marines and the smell of grilling burgers was
distracting)
21 members of the Denton Guyer band saluted/serenaded the runners as they headed into the
finish/chute: 9 drummers, 10 horns, 2 woodwinds (nice for the first couple Varsity races, but as
the morning progressed they combined with the Marines to create a very noisy spectator/finish
area)
Regardless the Lovejoy racing was excellent.
The Girls Varsity Elite race went off pre-dawn (7:00 am) with over 150 top-notch harriers.
Lovejoy's Varsity was notably short-handed today with both of the Malik sisters out sick. Rachel has
been particularly important this fall as the #5 in closing out the scoring. What's more, the race
was limited to 7 runners and Coach Littlefield chose not to replace Rachel in the lineup meaning
Lovejoy ran only 6 girls.
No matter — the Lady Leopards proceeded to crush the other teams by scoring a spry 64 points,
and defeating the next three closest teams from Bentonville (1st in 6A at Arkansas State last fall),
Grapevine (2nd in 5A at State last fall), and Colleyville (3rd in 5A at State last fall) by a score
of 64-138-142-162. The Woodlands (6A) came in 6th with 181 points. Ouch! Five Leopards came in under
the 19-minute mark.
Junior Amy Morefield (1st overall in 17:36.3) put on a dominating display throughout the race.
Sophomore Sara Morefield (7th in 18:09.6) medalled again with another top-10 finish. Sophomore
Kailey Littlefield (11th in 18:30.7) shaved almost 45 seconds off of her time from last weekend's
Fall Fest. Then sophomore Peyton Benson (15th in 18:44.5) further cemented her status as a money
runner and set up an almost unbeatable score.
But still the #5 runner has to finish in order to secure the victory, and Rachel was out today. No
worries — sophomore Kate Carlson (30th in 19:17.11) comes up with another PR! Finally, senior
Katie Armstrong (48th in 19:49.1) put all Lovejoy runners in under 20 minutes. No other team did
that.
The Leopards top 5 averaged 18:27.64. All the other teams were above 19 minutes. That average is
crazy good and better than any 6A girls team achieved at State last November, but on par with the
top-3 5A teams. Last fall the 5A girls were better than the 6A girls.
As an FYI, Highland Park ran the Myers course today at the McKinney Boyd Bronco Stampede under
weather conditions much more favorable than at last weekend's Fall Fest. The Highlanders' top-5
averaged 19:26.54, whereas Lovejoy averaged 19:04.55 last weekend. So in the past two weekends, the
Lovejoy Varsity girls have proven they match up against any 5A competitor. Now they just have to
stay healthy and keep up their conditioning until UIL State and the Nike championships. Not
necessarily an easy feat.
The Boys Varsity Elite race was loaded with 6A and 5A talent. While Lovejoy finished 8th
(254 points), Grapvine (1st with 41 points) was the only 5A team finishing ahead of the Leopards.
But by a substantial margin. All of Grapevine's top 5 finished under the 16:00 mark. Note that
Grapevine handily beat 6A The Woodlands (ranked #3 by CCCAT.org) and 6A Plano West.
This week senior Tate Barr (16th in 15:55.9) was back out front but only a second ahead of senior
Rohan Sharma (17th in 15:55.9). Freshman Will Carlson (56th in 16:41.4) showed noticeable
improvement from last weekend and is quickly setting himself up for Freshman-of-the-Year honors.
Senior Riley McGowan (70th in 16:52.3) ran with an illness today, but still delivered a good
performance slightly improving over last weekend.
Sophomore Mr. Joe Bluestein (95th in 17:09.1) was back in the lineup today after returning from
injury and turned in a nice time for his first 5K outing. Senior Matt Murray (98th in 17:10.6)
looked much healthier today, and shaved 1:42.4 off of his time from last weekend — huge
improvement. Sophomore Andrew Poulton (107th in 17:22.0) put all the Leopards in under the 17:30
mark.
Overall a good race for the guys who should be healthy and fully conditioned for District in another
31 days.
The Girls Varsity Open race had our Varsity #2 squad going up against mostly #1 squads from
the other competing schools, and all the schools (except 6A The Woodlands) that finished ahead of
Lovejoy. When you finish 6th it may not feel like a great race, but this one was great for our
girls. With 20 teams in the race, Lovejoy finished in the top third.
Freshman Ava Easley (5th in 20:08.4) chalked up her first top-5 finish and almost broke the
20-minute mark. She was way out in front of the pack again (by 84.5 seconds). Bella Landrum was out
today, but junior Chloe Schaeffer (39th in 21:32.9) paired up with senior Jordyn Caro (44th in
21:39.6) who had dropped down from Varsity Elite due to the 7-runner limit. Freshman Campbell Lester
(49th in 21:43.6) is back, and had a very fast 1st mile (6:31), but her time off and lost
conditioning slowed her down a bit by the finish. Great to see her healthy though. Senior Meg
Bennion (22:00.2) led in the scoring pack of junior Malia Bowling (64th in 22:11.0) and senior Eliza
Coit (68th in 22:21.1) putting all our girls in the top half of the race.
The Boys Varsity Open race was mostly a competition against the top teams' #2 squads (The
Woodlands, Grapevine, Plano West, Deer Creek, St. Marks). Yet Lovejoy's mostly freshman class raced
extremely well. The Woodlands (32 points) and Plano West (94 points) were well out in front as
expected, but Lovejoy was sandwiched into the mix of teams finishing 3rd through 6th. Wonderfully
edgy experience for our young Leopards.
Freshmen Jack Thompson (30th in 17:36.4), Devin Muaina (35th in 17:38.6), and Henry Bennion (39th in
17:45.6) were joined by senior Caleb Beets (43rd in 17:51.0) and sophomore Ethan Smith (45th in
17:51.7) in producing a ridiculously low 15.3-second #1 to #5 split time. Talk about an
all-time Lovejoy low. And then freshman Tyler Morefield (46th in 17:54.2) came in 2.5 seconds later.
That's a seriously tight pack. Freshman Jackson Reid (60th in 18:04.1) closed out the race for
Lovejoy which notched a #1 to #7 split time of 27.7 seconds — that's more than ideal for
State.
In a final 30-second blitz came freshman Jackson Reid (60th in 18:04.1), freshman Aaron Wimbish
(18:17.0), senior Jake Piccirillo (18:23.5), and freshman Adam Morefield (18:30.4) which put all
Leopards eaily within the top half of the 200+ runner field.
Lovejoy competed in the Boys JV Elite race, while the girls elected to sit out this
division. This was arguably our boys' best showing today with the Leopards finishing 2nd to Plano
West by a score of 31-48.
Once again sophomore Nick Yarad (1st overall in 17:02.8) won convincingly. Nick and his family moved
down to Texas from New Jersey recently, and a quirk in UIL rules has thus far limited him to JV
races. The latest update from Coach Kelly (20-Sep-2021) is that Nick has "cleared waivers" and is
now Varsity eligible. He'll join the Varsity for the upcoming McNeil Invitational. Sophomore Colin
Milliken (3rd in 18:17.3) and junior Logan Pedersen (10th in 18:38.0) also had top-10 finishes.
Logan shaved 53 seconds off of last weekend's time.
Senior Davis Mosel (13th in 18:50.4) concluded the pack with sophomore TJ Koch (21st in 19:10.9)
closing out the scoring as our #5. Freshman Tristan Lingenfelder (23rd in 19:12.0) and sophomore
Sonny Hignite (33rd in 19:43.3) put all the Leopards in the top third of the race.
Coach Littlefield decided to have 34 girls compete in the Girls JV Open race, and
effectively overran the field of about 100 other runners. The result was a near-perfect score of 18
points, which should have been 15 points, but an ill-marked/monitored course and Lovejoy's
unfamiliarity with it led our #3 astray and out of a top-5 finish. Denton Guyer finished 2nd with 93
points. Definitely showed up the host team. No other team scored under 100 points.
Freshman Ineke van Rensburg (1st overall in 21:52.9) led in the onslaught which included sophomores
Caroline Dolberry (2nd in 22:07.4) and Abigail Godfrey (3rd in 22:46.0), freshman Emersyn Runions
(4th in 22:57.7), senior Sydnee Taylor (8th in 23:16.5), freshman Rachel Wheeler (9th in 23:20.3),
and wayward freshman Keira Bowling (14th in 23:43.4). Keira gets unofficial credit for running an
extra ¼ mile.
The Boys JV Open race was another solid performance by Lovejoy — the Leopards
finished 2nd to a Pilot Point team running its #2 squad. And still the score was fairly close at
64-86-102 with Grapevine finishing 3rd amongst the 20 teams and 206 runners competing.
Freshman David Groves (3rd in 19:21.0) finished 3rd overall with junior Alex Sullivan (5th in
19:36.0
— under 20 minutes for the first time) also garnering his first top-5 finish. Alex had the
biggest jump in his PR of any Leopard today (and there were a lot of PRs). David Wise (18th in
20:23.1), Daniel Lamping (25th in 20:36.9), and Ethan Murray (35th in 20:56.3) all came in under 21
minutes.
Click
here for the meet photo album (mostly empty right now).
LHS Girls XC RESULTS
We had another GREAT Saturday of racing, so I'm going to brag on the girls a little bit here ...
The Elite Varsity group got our morning started off the right way with a BIG win over 2 of last year's
podium teams — Grapevine (2nd) and Colleyville Heritage (3rd). Junior Amy Morefield had her first
big win of the season with an intelligent and tactical race plan finishing with a phenomenal time! So
far this team is undefeated in competition this season!
The Varsity group (our top JV group) was led by freshman Ava Easley and earned a 6th place finish
overall. These ladies are racing other schools' Varsity groups, so this is impressive. When these ladies
join the rest of our JV team in the District meet ... it should be a very fun and exciting race to
watch!!
And the Grand Finale was our JV Army! We NEARLY earned a perfect score (15 points) if poor Kiera Bowling
had not taken a wrong turn — she would have been in our top 5 for that perfect score. (They made
her go all the way back around when she missed the turn.) 😞 She still earned a medal and will be one to
watch for in upcoming weeks!!
BUT — We DID go 1-4 and got 7 medals in that race!! That was probably the best showing our JV
team has ever had! AND A LOT OF PR'S as well!!!
Pictured below: The JV squad, Varsity Elite, and the Medal earners from all divisions of the
day.
Runners of the Week
The Runners of the Week had to go to this quartet who each raced to a new Personal Record. Freshman
Ineke van Rensburg won the JV division and was closely followed by teammates Caroline Dolberry,
Abigail Godfrey and Emersyn Runions for the 1-2-3-4 PUNCH!
Yesterday our teams competed in the Garmin MileSplit Invite in Denton, TX. The goal was to hopefully run
fast and the majority of our boys team was able to do just that. We had a total of 30 runners who had a
PR! The girls top varsity squad dominated the meet and have proven the past two meets that they are one
of the best 5A teams in state. Our top Varsity boys squad placed 8th overall behind defending 5A State
Champion Grapevine and other 6A and out of state programs. Our top boys team was the 2nd 5A team in the
field and beat out state contenders from last year Prosper Rock Hill and Frisco Wakeland. Our open
Varsity boys team placed 5th overall out of 25 teams. The Elite JV Boys and Open JV Boys teams both
placed 2nd overall.
This week we have a full week of training for our Varsity team and our JV team will have two weeks of
training before the next race. It will be important to make the most out of each workout so that we can
make improvements before the next race. We still have runners recovering from being sick and it is my
hope that we can still recover and get well during this off week from racing.
I apologize for getting my email later than normal. My family and I had a busy weekend! Thank you to all
who helped with the Lovejoy XC Fall Festival on Saturday! Everyone's contributions helped make the meet
a great success. We were able to host some of the top ranked 5A teams from across the state for a
pre-state meet showdown.
The girls team dominated the field with an impressive performance. The only other top ranked girls teams
that were not in attendance were Highland Park, Grapevine, and Cedar Park.
Our Elite Varsity boys team beat state runner up Boerne Champion and finished 2nd overall the 2020 3rd
Place State team, Denton High. We also beat the following top 10 teams from the state last season on
Saturday: College Station, Rockhill, Magnolia West, Dripping Springs, Amarillo Tascosa, Reedy, and
Wakeland. Friendswood was scheduled to compete, but did not show. I am not sure why. We also beat
several other great programs who traveled across the state who came to compete. We were able to beat all
of those state ranked teams with a down squad as well! Tate, Matt, and Riley all battled some health
issues the week of the meet and we also ran without Joe B in the lineup. I am really proud of the way
our guys performed despite not being at full strength. Times were slow across the board for all teams
and genders. Do not put a lot of stock into the times from this past weekend. Myers park is one of the
most challenging courses in the state.
Our Varsity Boys team placed 4th overall and our JV boys placed 3rd overall. That is very impressive
considering most of the teams in the varsity division ran their top runners and most of the teams in
the JV division ran their 2nd best squad. Despite times, this shows the depth of our team. In
addition, it shows that the work all of our runners put in over the summer pays off. We are able to
do things as a team that many teams across the state are not able to do.
Rohan Sharma — Led the Elite Boys team with a 9th overall finish.
Devin Muaina — Led the Varsity Boys team as a freshman and an 18th overall
finish.
Tristan Lingenfelder — Finished 5th overall and 2nd for the JV squad. Tristan
has been training hard over the summer and has been progressing rapidly in the process. He is
starting to show a lot of promise for a great future with the team.
Logan Kelly cell: 903-821-8399
WSMS Girls XC RESULTS
We are so proud of our middle school kids who accepted the Myers Park Challenge on Saturday! These girls
ran great — many in their first ever Cross Country meet! I am looking forward to watching them
progress over the season along with all of our WSMS XC kids!!
We had an outstanding Saturday and our Booster Club put on another unbelievable XC meet!!! I am so
grateful to everyone who pitched in to make our home meet a success! THANK YOU!!
The times weren't stellar, however, the placement and level of competition WAS! Our girls showed what
they are capable of in every division ... and the Elite Varsity group ran with a commanding presence
bringing home the GOLD over some of the State's top teams. We need to keep the girls HEALTHY and HAPPY
and keep this thing going!
Runners of the week went to these 3 incredible young ladies.
Ava Easley was a top 20 finisher in the Varsity Open division and ALMOST went sub 21!!
This feisty freshman is getting into her groove and will be one to keep your eye on for several
years to come!
Kate Carlson has been training like a maniac and it's paying off! She had her first sub 20
performance and CRUSHED her previous PR on this challenging course!!
Eleanor Koehn is a junior who has been coming along week after week. Her consistency in
training and calm demeanor in racing earned her the top JV spot on Saturday.
Lovejoy's annual XC Fall Festival went off successfully this morning in all its former glory with a
back-to-normal field of about 1,500 runners.
The weather was unpleasant especially for the first 4 (Varsity) races: hot, muggy, no wind. Combined
with the difficulty of the Myers course and a meet so early in the pre-season, no runners set course
records today although several PRs were achieved. First timers had a rough introduction to Lovejoy's 5K
home course.
The meet was billed as a 5A State preview with so many ranked teams registered to attend. But a few no
shows watered down the competition somewhat.
All Lovejoy XC Community hands were on deck to assist and cheer on the Leopards. Great execution per
usual. On a sad note, this was the first time that XC Coach Emeritus Greg Christensen was not in the
house. The Fall Festival mega-meet started out as a very modest affair as the 2006 Lovejoy Jamboree in
LHS's very first XC season. Only a handful of teams attended. Greg slowly grew it over the years before
Coach Kelly (and Coach Littlefield) kicked the whole affair into hyper-drive and a made it major
fundraiser for the program.
The Girls Varsity Elite race kicked off at 7:15 am (sunrise) and featured almost 150
runners and included several teams from last November's State Championship: Boerne, Colleyville,
Dripping Springs, Canyon Randall, Georgetown, College Station, Magnolia West (and Lovejoy). The
Leopards looked fresh in running away with their 1st place finish ahead of Boerne, Colleyville and
Dripping Springs by a lopsided score of 55-103-139-144.
Junior Amy Morefield (2nd overall in 18:10.02) looked like freshman Amy from two seasons ago. She
made a great close to the finish passing at least 6 competitors on her way in. A huge boost came
from sophomore Sara Morefield (8th in 18:40.87). Sara has taken over the chaser role, and is showing
great ferocity in attacking the course. Kailey Littlefield (11th in 19:15.22) was a little farther
back than some might expect. But this is just pre-season; count on her to turn on the after-burners
when championship trophies are actually on the line. Now comes this fall's biggest gift on the
girl's side: sophomore Peyton Benson (15th in 19:30.93). The #4 to #7 finishers make or break your
score, so Peyton fills a critical need. But now comes the typically painful wait for a #5 to close
out the scoring — we didn't have to wait long: senior Rachel Malik (19th in 19:45.70) and
sophomore Kate Carlson (20th in 19:48.28 — a PR) came in bang-bang to definitively seal the
victory.
Lovejoy had its top 6 runners finish both in the top 20 and under the 20-minute mark for an average
time of 19:04.55 — crazy good for the 5K Myers course in any weather.
Senior Katie Armstrong (31st in 20:21.94) had a solid run. Seniors Hailey Malik (21:36.79) and
Jordan Caro (22:22.22 — really!) made their last Fall Fest run a good one.
But State is still 62 days away and a lot can happen in the interim. Vigilance and health will be
important.
The Boys Varsity Elite race was a tough one for Lovejoy because the guys have been so
banged up recently with illnesses and injuries. Yet they achieved a 2nd place finish behind only #2
ranked Denton (not to be confused with Denton Guyer). Still finishing 2nd in such a competitive race
predicts good things come championship season.
Senior Rohan Sharma (8th place overall in 16:29.13) turned in another top-10 finish. Seniors Tate
Barr (22nd in 16:58.05) and Riley McGowan (23rd in 16:58.48) had a nice battle at the finish with
Riley almost besting Tate for the first time. Freshman Will Carlson (30th in 17:07.29) had a great
first 5K at Myers almost breaking the 17-minute mark. So after 4 finishers, Lovejoy was looking
solid. But then there was a 38-second wait before sophomore Andrew Poulton (68th in 17:42.44) closed
out the scoring. That delta added 38 points to Lovejoy's score, but should disappear once the team
is healthy and at full strength again. Not surprisingly the #1 to #5 split time was 73.31 seconds,
and that has to come down by District.
Freshman Jack Thompson (96th in 18:06.90) made his Myers 5K and Varsity debut. An unhealthy Matt
Murray (140th in 18:53.01) was clearly off his 17:33 time at District last October. But he'll get
well soon. Senior Jake Piccirillo (19:06.38) actually improved on last fall's District time —
a rare feat today.
The 5A-6A Varsity Girls race was populated with many schools that did not run a squad in
the elite race. In fact, all the teams finishing ahead of Lovejoy skipped the elite race. A solid
field of approximately 170 runners.
The Leopards were led by freshman Ava Easley (13th overall in 21:08.44) who greatly distanced
herself from the Lovejoy pack. Next came the sprinters — juniors Chloe Schaeffer (29th in
22:23.43) and Bella Landrum (33rd in 22:32.70). The scoring was closed out by senior Meg Bennion
(52nd in 23:00.76) and freshman Ineke Van Rensburg (56th in 23:07.42).
The 5A-6A Varsity Boys race had the same mix of top Varsity squads which skipped the elite
race. Yet Lovejoy achieved a solid 3rd place finish. The #1 to #5 split time was a much cleaner
43.28 seconds. The top 5 Lovejoy finishers were all freshmen: Devin Muaina (18th overall in
18:11.76), Adam Morefield (34th in 18:41.59), Jackson Reid (36th in 18:44.26), Henry Bennion (38th
in 18:48.03), and Tyler Morefield (46th in 18:55.04). Lovejoy's #6 — sophomore Ethan Smith
(47th in 18:55.44)
— closed out a very tight scoring pack.
A couple years ago when the current freshmen were 7th graders, Coach Kelly predicted great things
for the 2025 class. So far so good.
The Girls JV race had Lovejoy finishing behind two teams who had only run 7 runners in the
previous Varsity races compared with Lovejoy's 18 runners. If you compensate by peeling off the top
11 runners from the 1st and 2nd place teams, then Lovejoy easily finishes 1st.
Lovejoy still had 38 finishers in the race (a total of 56 for the day), making this one of the
Leopard's largest high school girls contingents ever. The top 5 scorers for Lovejoy were a balanced
mix of classes: junior Eleanor Koehn (9th in 23:22.39), sophomore Abigail Godfrey (12th in
23:37.07), freshman Keira Bowling (15th in 23:58.08), freshman Rachel Wheeler (33rd in 24:52.33),
and senior Samantha Rockenbach (49th in 25:21.09).
Lovejoy made a serious statement in the Boys JV race with sophomore Nick Yarad (1st overall
in 18:23.26) literally smoking the rest of the field: the 2nd place finisher came in 35.58 seconds
after Nick. In a race stocked with 271 finishers coming from quality schools that large of a gap
never happens. Except today. Freshman Tristan Lingenfelder (4th in 19:10.91) also had a top-5
finish. The scoring pack of sophomore Sonny Hignite (17th in 20;02.43), freshman Caden Gary (25th in
20:20.15), and freshman Joseph O'Brien (31st in 20:37.99) closed out the LHS scoring for the day.
Click
here for the meet photo album. All photos have been published.
LHS Boys XC UPDATE
We had a big week of training this past week. This week we scale back a bit to prepare for our first 5K
of the season and our home meet - the Lovejoy XC Fall Festival on Saturday! We will face some top notch
teams across the state and we want to continue to host one of the best meets in the state!
We still need parent help to make this even a success! Please sign up HERE. We need
a parent from each runner to help out with the meet in some way.
All three of these runners have been working hard over the summer and had great training sessions
this week. All three were able to hit their target times and have made great jumps in their training
this summer/fall.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Logan Kelly cell: 903-821-8399
LHS Girls XC UPDATE
We had a big week of training, and it was a GOOD ONE. Many girls saw big drops in their Threshold times,
which is a strong indicator that they are getting fit and fast! Next Saturday we will race in our first
5K of the season - our home meet at Myers Park. The top teams from across the State (Boerne Champion,
Grapevine, Colleyville Heritage, Highland Park... to name a few) will be joining us, so it will be
exciting to see where we stack up right now.
Updated Schedule
Please note the UPDATED schedule.
Throw away your old schedule! (No date changes, just location changes).
The date and times of the State meet have been added.
The Regional location has been changed. (back to the old course at Lynn Creek Park)
The Regional preview meet location has also been changed. (Ken Gaston meet)
3 SENIORS THIS WEEK!! Sydnee Taylor and Samantha Rockenbach have been making huge jumps in their
training and racing this year!! They have been members and leaders of this team for years now. They
have trusted their training, worked hard, stayed consistent, and they are seeing it pay off! Meg
Bennion came to us last semester and has been a huge POSITIVE on our team! She's always smiling and
gives her best effort all of the time! Watch for these 3 ladies this season!!
STRONGER. FASTER. TOUGHER.
Carly Littlefield
LHS Girls Hebron Results
We had a very fun Friday night! Our kids raced hard and we took 3rd overall in the Varsity division
(this was our top JV group racing other teams' VARSITY groups!!), we were 3rd in the JV division, and
our Elite Varsity girls won the team title! We still have a lot of work to do, but this was a
great start to what promises to be a fun season!
Runners of the Week
There were a lot of great races this weekend! Chloe Schaeffer had a strong, solid performance and was
our top JV runner of the evening; we are so glad to have her back in the XC program! Sara Morefield had
one of her best races to date. She ran a smart, strategic race and finished in the top 10 (6th) in a
tough field! Her training has been going very well, and it showed on Friday!
Our teams competed very well with the season opener at the Friday Night Hawk Invite. Our JV Boys placed
3rd Overall. Nick Yarad won the JV Boys race with a time of 10:55. Our Varsity Open team led primarily
by freshmen placed 5th overall. The Varsity Elite boys placed 2nd Overall behind 6A Hebron. Tate Barr
placed 3rd overall with a time of 9:54 and Rohan Sharma placed 9th overall with a time of 10:12. The
Varsity Elite team faced off against pre-season ranked #7 5A team Amarillo Tascosa. The results showed
they only had 4 runners finish (they had more than 4 at the start line) but we did beat them very
handily during the race. You can Find Full Results from the meet HERE.
Our next meet will be our home meet on September 4th. The Lovejoy XC Fall Festival will be hosted at
Myers Park in McKinney, TX. Please see sign ups below to help with this large event! You can find meet
info at www.lovejoyxcfallfestival
.com. As of now the following 5A Boys teams from last yeats state meet will be in attendance:
JV Boys — Nick Yarad: 1st overall with a time of 10:55
Varsity Boys — Will Carlson: 5th runner for the boys team in the elite race as a
freshman with a time of 10:35
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Logan Kelly cell: 903-821-8399
LHS Boys Time Trial Results
We appreciate everyone who was able to join us for the time trial and team gathering on Saturday. The
boys looked great and most improved their times from last year at this time! I am very excited to see
what they achieve this season! Click here for the results.
Huge shoutout to our first class booster club for hosting an amazing breakfast and fun morning filled
with all kinds of activities for our kids. They had a blast! Thank you to everyone for donating and
helping out!
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Logan Kelly cell: 903-821-8399
LHS Girls Time Trial Results
We appreciate everyone who was able to join us for the time trial and team gathering on Saturday. The
girls looked AMAZING and most improved their times dramatically from last year at this time! I
am very excited to see what they achieve this season!
Huge shoutout to our first class booster club for hosting an amazing breakfast and fun morning filled
with all kinds of activities for our kids. They had a blast! Thank you to everyone for donating and
helping out!
Click here for the full girls' results including a comparison with last year.
