FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 6, 2025
Dragon Cross Country Hosts Top Talent at
Southlake 5K Invitational
Southlake, TX – A magnet for the top harriers in the region, the Southlake 5K Invitational at Bob Jones Park on Saturday September 6th did not disappoint. On the boys’ side, the meet attracted 9-time Arkansas state champion Bentonville High and local powerhouse, CCCAT 9th ranked Flower Mound High School. On the ladies’ side, DyeStat nationally ranked #13 Rogers (Arkansas) and defending Texas state champion Flower Mound High School came to town to take on the Dragons.
Though the Carroll boys rested many of their varsity team including nationally ranked Caden Leonard and Kia Gutierrez, breakout Senior Micheal Fuller (7th, 15:21) lead the team to an impressive 23 second 1-5 spread for 2nd place behind Bentonville High in the Elite Boys Race. Junior Jaxon Glenn (16th, 15:28), Junior Grant Norgart (26th, 15:39), Junior Adhaven Palanivelrajan (32nd, 15:42), and Junior Claudio Auns (38th, 15:44) rounded out the scoring five. The remaining top seven posted impressive marks with Junior Evan O’Donnell (16:02) and Senior Gavin Folkerts (16:13) making big moves to close out the race.
The Dragon ladies had a 3rd place finish just mere points away from 2024 state champion Flower Mound High School. Lead by Senior superstar Luna Gutierrez (7th, 18:05), the women also delivered a stellar 1-5 time spread of 43 seconds which is key to team achievements in cross country. Senior Lilah Gornell (18th, 18:36) had one of the standout performances of the day followed by teammates Junior Abigail Perez (21st, 18:39), Junior Megan Bergman (23rd, 18:42) and Junior Grace McIlivain (33rd, 18:48).
Carroll Head Coach Justin Leonard noted, “We are very proud of the way our athletes competed today. For several of our varsity runners, this was their first 5K of the season, providing a valuable benchmark to gauge their progress. For some of our younger runners, it marked their second 5K, an important step in their development and in gaining race experience. We are encouraged by the direction of the program and confident that we will be prepared for championship season.
In the boys’ open 5k race, Senior Dylan Torres scorched the home course in 16:16 for 5th place followed by standout Freshman Cameron Perez (7th, 16:21). Sophomore Reed Dodson (9th, 16:23) is showing good form leading the next pack including Sophomore Hasan Rauf (13th, 16:27) and Sophomore Ryan Kovach (20th, 16:34). The Dragons took 2nd place overall.
In the girls’ varsity open race, Sophomore Eberle Goode (20th, 20:27) led the way for the Dragons as they took 5th overall. Junior Gwendolyn Asher (26th, 20:37), Annalise Bell (28th, 20:39), Freshman Sophie Mahendra (20:51), and Sophomore Megan Saban (20:57) rounded out the top 5.
While the varsity Dragons distance crews has next week off, they will be heading to compete against stiff competition at the Nike South Invitational (Nike South 2025 - Meet Information) at Texas A&M on Friday September 19th. Others will compete in Denton at the Braswell Invitational (Braswell Little D Invitational FULL 2025 - Meet Information) on Thursday September 18th.