Lady Mustangs runners claim first title in 22 years

The Grapevine girls cross country team accomplished something it has not done in 22 years last Saturday when it won the Division 5A state cross country championship.

The Lady Mustangs ran in muddy conditions following torrential rains in Central Texas last week and brought home a state championship, beating out second-place Hereford by 20 points.

Grapevine coach Rick Miller said he could not be more happy with how his girls ran on Saturday.

“The girls ran an amazing race,” Miller said. “After finishing second last year, they were determined to turn silver to gold and win state. They let that goal drive them through the race.”

The Grapevine boys finished third overall at the meet as well, and Hayden Murphy (16:33.20) was the top runner on the boys side, taking second individually.

“The boys did a fantastic job this season,” Miller said. “They made a serious commitment and really worked hard to earn their place on the medal stand.”

Miller said that Murphy’s effort was certainly to be commended.

“Hayden Murphy was aggressive and showed tremendous heart today,” Miller said on Saturday. “He has really matured and improved. I love the confidence he has in his ability.”

Lauren Ewards (19:43.90) was the top runner on the girls side, finishing ninth overall for the Mustangs.

Dragons teams claim silver

Things did not quite go as planned for the Carroll cross country team at the state meet, but the Dragons still took second place as a team on both the boys and girls side.

Coach Justin Leonard said that he is proud of his runners’ effort, but said the teams are still a little disappointed, as the standard of excellence at Carroll dictates that the goal each season is to bring home a state championship for the boys and the girls.

“Our boys and girls ran as hard as they possibly could today and came up a little short of our goal,” Leonard said. “Even though we didn’t reach our goal, I’m still proud of the way they competed and that’s the way life is sometimes.”

Reed Brown (16:28.30) finished fourth overall for the top spot on the boys side, and Kayli Jones (19:18.80) was the top runner on the girls side for Carroll, finishing 12th overall in the 6A division.

Defending state champion in the 6A division, David Strome of Colleyville Heritage, finished third individually with a time of 16:24.40 at the meet.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Lady Mustangs runners claim first title in 22 years."