Introducing the 2021 Star-Telegram boys and girls cross country all-area teams
Boys
Runner of the Year
Walker St. John, Sr., Grapevine
St. John, who signed his letter of intent with North Carolina, defended his UIL Class 5A state championship and won the race by nearly four seconds. St. John ran the race in 15:06.6. He also won the 5A Region 1 meet by five seconds.
Team of the Year
Grapevine
The Mustangs won the 5A Region 1 meet by 22 points and had four runners in the Top 10. At state, they won by 51 points and had three runners in the Top 10 to claim the program’s second straight state title.
Coach of the Year
Justin Leonard, Southlake Carroll
Led the Dragons to their third straight UIL Class 6A state championship, beating runner-up The Woodlands by 31 points. It’s also the 12th consecutive year where the Carroll boys have finished either first or second place at the state meet.
All-Area Team
Walker St. John, Sr., Grapevine
Trey Leathers, Sr., Grapevine: Leathers came in fourth place at state and less than two seconds from third, but helped the Mustangs to a championship.
Josue Granados, Sr., Grapevine: The third-leading runner for the Mustangs finished in ninth place at state. He was fifth at the regional meet.
Isaac Hernandez, Sr., Aledo: The Bearcats reached the state meet as a team and Hernandez was the team’s leading runner finishing in 11th place.
Mason White, Sr., Argyle: White finished in the Top 10 in both the 4A state meet and 4A Region 1 meet. He finished sixth at state in a time of 15:57.4.
Noah Richardson, Sr., Boyd: Richardson finished in fourth place at the 3A state meet. He came in second place at the 3A Region 2 meet.
David Fisher, Jr., Southlake Carroll: Fisher was the leading man for the state champion Dragons finishing the 6A race in 15:39.2. Fisher finished in eighth place at the regional meet.
Alberto Rayon, Jr., Grapevine: Rayon finished in the Top 15 at the regional and state meet for the Mustangs.
Jude Alvarez, Soph., Southlake Carroll: After coming in 25th place at the regional meet, Alvarez improved his finish and time at state, going 20th to help the Dragons to a state title.
Angel Sanchez, Soph., FW Diamond Hill-Jarvis: Sanchez ended in fourth place at the 4A state meet with a time of 15:53.4, and 11 seconds out of first place. Sanchez finished runner-up at the 4A Region 1 meet.
Girls
Runner of the Year
Allie Love, Sophomore, Colleyville Heritage
In only her second year, Love is quickly putting her mark as one of the all-time best runners this area has seen. She added to her trophy case this season as district champ, regional runner-up and state runner-up at the 5A meet.
Team of the Year
Southlake Carroll
The Dragons finished in fourth place at the 6A state meet and had three runners in the Top 25. It was the 25th straight season that the girls program reached the UIL state meet. Carroll won the district title and came in second at the regional meet.
Coach of the Year
Justin Gretzinger, Haslet Eaton
The Eagles made program history by reaching the UIL girls state cross country meet for the first time. The Eagles finished in ninth place with three runners in the Top 50. Eaton went second at the district meet only behind Southlake Carroll with all seven runners in the Top 25. Eaton had four runners in the Top 50 at the regional meet to finish in fourth place.
All-Area Team
Kaylie Cox, Sr., Southlake Carroll: The Arkansas bound runner was the Dragons’ leading runner at district, regional and state (1, 9, 19).
Kyla Lochtefeld, Sr., Haslet Eaton: Lochtefeld led the way as the Eagles made program history. She finished in the Top 50 at state and Top 20 at regional.
Jaclyn Turner, Sr., Colleyville Heritage: Turner shaved nearly a minute off her time from the regional meet to the state meet. She was the second-highest Panther at regional (18) and third highest at state (27).
Tania Ramirez, Sr., Boyd: Ramirez finished in 14th place at the 3A state meet and won the 3A Region 2 championship.
Ava Bushaw, Jr., Southlake Carroll: Bushaw was District 4-6A runner-up, 10th at regional and 39th at state.
Kylie Himes, Jr., Grapevine: Himes finished as the second highest runner in the Fort Worth-area at the 5A state meet (16th). She was the Mustangs’ best runner as the team finished in seventh.
Gabbie Love, Jr., Colleyville Heritage: Love finished in 21st place at the state meet with a time of 18:57.8.
Allie Love, Soph., Colleyville Heritage
Sylvia Schwedler, Soph., Southlake Carroll: Schwedler finished third in district, 13th at regional and 26th at state, the second-highest Dragon.
Elizabeth Smits, Fr., Southlake Carroll: Smits exceeded in her first season with the Dragons. She finished fifth at the district meet, 25th at regional and 34th at state, third-highest runner for Carroll.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
