GRAND PRAIRIE — Lovejoy girls cross country coach Carly Littlefield can confirm that clutching a fifth consecutive UIL Region II Class 5A team title trophy does not get old.
“This one is special because we graduated three of our top girls from last year and we had to have younger ones step up ... and they did,’’ Littlefield said.
With individual champion Camryn Benson leading the way, Lovejoy placed five runners among the top 13 and coasted to the title by a 49-point margin Tuesday morning at Lynn Creek Park on the shore of Joe Pool Lake.
Benson, a junior, covered the 5K course in 18 minutes, 26.07 seconds for a 13-second victory.
“Our culture is so amazing,’’ said Benson, commenting on the cross country dominance of Lovejoy’s 57-member team. “The push and encouragement we get from teammates makes so much difference.’’
Benson, second at regional last year and fourth at state, said she always employs an attacking strategy from the opening gun. When she finds herself with a big lead as she did Tuesday, she does not look behind.
The top four teams and top 10 individuals not already on an advancing team qualify for the UIL state meet that is Nov. 1-2 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. Class 5A will compete that Saturday.
The Lovejoy girls are going for their fourth consecutive state title.
“It will be a dogfight, but I think we have a great shot,’’ Littlefield said.
Deep roster: With Lovejoy returning five of seven runners from last year’s Class 5A boys state champion, a ninth consecutive Region II title seemed all but assured.
But the season turned into a “roller coaster’' with injuries and a family relocation, forcing coach Logan Kelly to turn to his depth.
The Leopards’ bench produced yet again on Tuesday, placing five runners among the top 17 finishers for a comfortable 69-point margin and regional title No. 9.
Sophomore Tristan Arceneau finished fifth to lead Lovejoy followed by four seniors.
“We have a special group of seniors,’’ said Kelly, in his 11th season. “They all are committed and they are close friends.’’
The coach warned that his team will have to improve over its regional performance if it is to defend its state title next week.
In the wake: Frisco Wakeland put together a strong performance in the girls and boys divisions, finishing second to Lovejoy.
“We are in a really tough region but it is fun trying to compete,’’ said Braegan Enright, the coach since 2006.
Sophomore Presley Robertson led the Wakeland girls, earning the bronze individual medal with a time of 18:40.70 and Enright said No. 5 runner Ariel Hartwell ran a perfect race.
Highland Park, dropping from 6A this season, placed third in the girls and boys team standings and the Frisco Reedy girls grabbed the fourth-place state qualifying berth.
McKinney North placed fourth in the boys team standing.
DISD qualifier: Mia Oliver, a senior at W.T. White, will carry the banner of the Dallas ISD to the state meet after finishing seventh with a qualifying time of 18:53.08. An injury kept Oliver out for two of her team’s six meets this fall. She qualified for state last year, finishing 40th in a field of 150.
“It means a lot to get the chance to go back to state,’’ said Oliver. She has room for improvement because her time Tuesday was 43 seconds off her best.
Randy Jennings
Region I
Birdville’s Sofia Phillips continued her remarkable freshman season by winning the Class 5A Region I girls race in Lubbock with a five-kilometer time of 18:18.1. Phillips has won seven of her nine races, and she placed second in the other two.
Phillips ran her best time of the season and beat runner-up Molly Garrison from Aledo by four seconds after those two broke away from the rest of the field.
Colleyville Heritage sophomore Natali Velasquez finished fifth in 19:09.8 to return to the state meet. Velasquez was the No. 2 finisher among freshmen at state last year, placing 11th overall in 5A in 18:24.30 to lead Colleyville Heritage to a fourth-place team finish.
Colleyville Heritage had four runners finish in the top 22 on Tuesday and finished second as a team, 34 points behind Aledo. Amrita Thiru finished 16th, Clara Deweese placed 20th and Olivia Sandoval took 22nd.
The Grapevine girls were the fourth and final team to advance to state. Their top finisher was Geneva McCreight in 24th.
Birdville senior Isaiah Cox was the top Dallas-area finisher in the 5A Region I boys race, placing seventh in 16:19.1. Grapevine’s Andrew Deyoung was eighth in 16:21.5 and Mansfield Summit’s Eduardo Estrada took 10th in 16:23.3.
Grapevine had all five of its scoring runners place in the top 28 and won the boys team title with 83 points, while Colleyville Heritage was second with 109 points. Heritage finished fifth as a team at state last year, while Grapevine won team state championships in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and took second at state in 2019.
Greg Riddle
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