Georgia Giesinger leads Nolan Catholic girls cross country to state title
A gold medal-winning performance by junior Georgia Giesinger lifted the Fort Worth Nolan Lady Vikings to the Class 6A team championship at the TAPPS cross country state meet Monday at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
Giesinger’s time of 11 minutes, 47.07 seconds, was well ahead of Dallas Ursuline’s Presley Andras, who captured silver, running a 12:02.13 over the two-mile course. Getting out to a quick start to “set the pace” was a strategy that paid off for Giesinger.
“I wanted that fast start. This course presents a lot of challenges, and I was able to meet those,” she added, noting that the course has a lot of hills and climbs. “Able to gain some speed coming down the hills.”
Placing first individually and for the team to win gold was “really awesome,” an excited Giesinger said.
Nolan head coach Henry Lynn said he was “so happy for the team and so happy for Georgia”.
“They fought to the end,” said Lynn. “So very proud of these girls.”
“Georgia ran a great race today,” continued Lynn. “She won gold at district and now here at state. Amazing.”
Keyed by a senior trio finishing 10th through 12th — Ava Talabock, Emma Cordova and Claire Perales — Nolan captured first place with 57 points.
“That was huge for us,” Lynn said. “That really boosted our team score.”
Dallas Ursuline took silver with 62 points, while Houston St. Agnes earned bronze with a 100 team score. The team title was Nolan’s third overall TAPPS cross country girls crown, and first since 1999.
The Lady Vikings also claimed the team championship in 1996. Freshman Amabel Giesinger — younger sibling of Georgia — had a solid 23rd-place showing to round out the top five Nolan runners to count toward the team total.
“Running with my sister is great,” said Georgia, who finished fifth last year. “We push each other to run harder.”
Georgia Giesinger became just the third Nolan runner to win gold in TAPPS state meet competition. Elizabeth Havenhill and Beck Mauk garnered the top spot in 2011 and 1996, respectively.
Also a track standout, Giesinger will turn her focus there, where she has enjoyed tremendous success. She won silver and bronze in the 3,200 meters and 1,600 meters, respectively, this past spring at the TAPPS state meet, while finishing sixth in the 800.
As a freshman in 2024, Giesinger won track gold in the 800 and captured silver in the 1,600.
“I enjoy both cross country and running track,” Giesinger said. “But I actually prefer running track.”
Other notable performances from area squads
Junior Sophia Belcher of Grapevine Faith Christian earned silver in 5A girls, running a 12:00.89 time. Belcher won gold in the 800 and silver in the 1,600 at the TAPPS state track meet last spring.
Arlington Pantego Christian junior Elizabeth Hamblin took silver in 4A girls, missing out on gold by one-tenth of a second with a time of 12:58.36. Fort Worth Covenant Classical senior Gwenyth Elizalde claimed silver in 3A girls in 13:09.30.
Combined with teammate junior Caroline Schroeder’s 14th-place individual finish, Covenant took bronze in the team competition with 99 points.
As for the boys, Fort Worth Bethesda Christian senior Atticus Giere earned all-state honors with his seventh-place finish (18:21.97) in 2A over the 5,000-meter course.
Granbury Cornerstone Christian earned team bronze in 1A boys with 105 points. To be considered for team titles, a school must enter a minimum of five and a maximum of seven runners, with the five best scores counting toward the team totals.
The top 10 individual finishers in each classification earn all-state accolades.
Meet notes
There was a triumvirate of double gold winners as San Antonio Christian (5A), Spring Providence Classical (3A) and Spring Founders Christian (1A) each finished atop the team standings in boys and girls. San Antonio Antonian took gold in 6A Boys.
Plano Coram Deo won top honors in 4A girls, edging Dallas Covenant by two points. Emma Goetz of Tyler Grace Community claimed her second straight 5A girls gold, with San Antonio Christian edging Grace Community by one point in the team standings.
Dallas Covenant, with 46 points, continued its dominance in boys cross country, winning the 4A title with 46 points, 41 points ahead of second-place Midland Classical. It was an unprecedented 10th consecutive TAPPS state championship for Dallas Covenant.
Shiner St. Paul claimed the 2A girls team title with 41 points, its second straight championship and 14th overall. Freshman twins Lindsey and Lauren Boss finished 1-2 for Greenville Christian in 2A girls, but did not have enough runners to qualify in the team scoring.
Lubbock Southcrest Christian won team gold with 49 points — its seventh TAPPS cross country championship overall — in 2A boys, and Waco Valor Prep senior Ethan Locke captured his third straight individual gold medal (15:22.56).
Locke smoked the field at this past spring’s TAPPS state track meet, winning gold in the 1,600 and 3,200. He set TAPPS state records in both races and also eclipsed a 43-year-old Central Texas record in the 3,200, clocking in at 8:55.19, an astonishing 80 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. He ranks third nationally and No. 1 in Texas among high school track athletes in the 5,000 meters (14:05.06), according to athletic.net.
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 7:38 PM.