Dragon Boys Victorious at Southlake Invitational

Walsh Wins Girls’ Gold Medal for Second Consecutive Year

Southlake, TX – The Southlake Carroll boys cross country team began its quest for a fifth consecutive state title with a dominating victory at the Southlake Invitational at Bob Jones Park on Saturday morning. The girls’ team, the reigning state runner-up, finished second, falling by just two points to Lucas Lovejoy.

“This was a great way to start the season,” Head Coach Justin Leonard said. “There’s always a lot of excitement for the opening meet, especially when it’s on your home course. Our young men and women handled their emotions – and the heat – well and ran hard.”

In the varsity elite boys’ race, sophomore Caden Leonard finished second in 14:32, leading Carroll to an 88-point victory over second-place McKinney Boyd. Junior Blake Bullard finished fourth with a time of 14:34, followed by seniors Jude Alvarez (12^th, 14:51), Ryan Van De Berghe (14^th, 14:53) and Zach Troutman (15^th, 14:54).

In the varsity elite girls’ race, senior Alexandra Walsh finished first for the second year in a row (17:01), nearly leading the Dragons to a team victory. Junior Elizabeth Smits finished third in 17:25, followed by sophomore Vanessa Vezga (9^th, 17:52), junior Sarayu Veluri (12^th, 18:03) and senior Sylvia Schwedler (26^th, 18:26).

In the varsity open races, junior Ryan Krasinski paced the Dragons in the boys’ competition, finishing 9^th overall with a time of 16:21. He was followed by junior Jett Jones (23^rd, 16:44), freshman Grant Norgart (26^th, 16:47), sophomore Dylan Torres (30^th, 16:52) and freshman Adhavan Palanivelrajan (35^th, 16:56).

In the girls’ varsity open race, junior Katie Hurrell finished 8^th in 19:47, followed by sophomore Lilah Gornell (20^th, 20:22), freshmen Landry Lambert (22^nd, 20:26) and Bella Severson (25^th, 20:34), and junior Ashley Cusick (37^th, 20:56).

In the JV two-mile races, junior Kelsey Walton led the girls with a 28^th-place finish (12:27). Freshmen Quinn Salstrand (12:28) and Annalise Bell (12:32) rounded out the top three for the Dragons. In the boys’ race, sophomore Madhavan Bosemani paced Carroll with a 20^th-place finish (10:12), followed by sophomore Armaan Dhillon (10:22) and freshman Colin Van De Berghe (10:29).

The Dragons return to action next Saturday, running in the Coach T Invitational at North Lakes Park in Denton.

Southlake Carroll Individual Results for Varsity Elite Races