State qualifiers prep for Round Rock
The preparations for the 2025 UIL Cross Country State Championships are underway with four area high schools—Pilot Point, Aubrey, Tioga and Collinsville—sending runners to race against the best the state has to offer in Round Rock.
The Pilot Point Lady Cats cross country team secured a spot at the meet for the fourth year in a row and 12th time in the last 15 years with a third-place finish at the 3A Regional Meet on Oct. 20.
The Lady Cats will be represented by seniors Ava Smith, Rylee LeMarr, Kaelyn Chaney and Daiyton DeLeon; junior Madison Coronado; sophomore Sophia Garcia; and freshman Emily Castillo.
“We start training two weeks after we end the school year, and I feel like a lot of other programs don’t do that,” Le-Marr said. “From the moment we start, we already have regionals on our minds, so the whole time, we’re just thinking about that goal, and I feel like that really helped push us towards getting third in the region and into State.”
A big reason for the Lady Cats’ success at the regional meet was Coronado, who was the team’s top performer in Arlington, finishing fourth overall.
“I just feel good during the race,” she said. “I was thinking about my mom and how I wanted to make her proud and make myself proud, so I locked in.”
Smith, who is a four-year member of Pilot Point’s cross country team, said she and her fellow seniors are honored to be making their fourth appearance at the state meet.
“We definitely talk about setting goals for the season, and it’s become a bit of an expectation for us over the years to go back to state, especially after freshman year, and it’s grown from there,” she said. “We’ve adapted, losing seniors and welcoming new underclassmen, and still been able to make it back every year, and it’s definitely something that we’re proud of.”
DeLeon said the team will do everything they can to run their best.
“We want to end the season on a good note, especially with us having a big group of seniors,” she said. “We want to make sure we show out and that all the work we put in pays off.”
The Aubrey Chaparrals will be represented by two state qualifiers in senior Abby Turner and sophomore Kayden Plaugher, both of whom are making their first appearance at the state meet.
Turner was one of the last runners off the starting line in her race at the regional meet but battled her way through the pack to finish 12th.
“I got to the start line a little bit later than I should have, [and] it put me in the back of the individual box, so, during the first mile of the race, I was just working, trying to get to the front where I knew I needed to be,” she said. “… It was really rewarding, though I put in all that work, not just during the race, but this season, and it paid off.”
Plaugher also got off to a slow start but powered his way through the competition to finish 10th and said he’s ready to race on the big stage.
“The race funneled really small, and I was in the back the whole time, and it took me a while to move up, but I got 10th, and I feel good about my performance,” he said. “I’m excited for state and glad about this opportunity to get out there and run.”
The Tioga Bulldogs will be represented by one qualifi er, senior Nick Oranday, who is making his first appearance at the state meet.
Oranday was the Bulldogs’ top performer at the 2A Region II Regional Meet on Oct. 21, finishing 14th out of 172 competitors.
“I think I did great for myself, and I’m really happy that I made it,” he said. “I am a little intimidated because a lot of really crazy runners that are high up there will be running, but I’m pretty confi dent in my abilities to keep up with them, like I did at regionals.”
The Collinsville Pirates boys country team finished as the champions of 2A Region II, finishing first overall in Arlington and marking the second year in a row that the Pirates will compete at the state meet.
The Pirates will be represented by seniors Isaiah Smith and Austin Caldwell, junior Fernando Perez, sophomores Jose Ramirez and Ranger Robinson, and freshmen Noah Smith and Tanner Frick.
Smith said the team felt extra motivation to run well at regionals after falling short of expectations in 2024.
“A couple of our top runners got sick last year, and we barely made it out of regionals and qualified for state,” he said. “… We’re just using that as the motivation for this year. We feel like we didn’t accomplish what we could have then, so we just got out there and pushed it as hard as we could, and we ended up walking away with the win.”
Perez added that the Pirates’ lofty goals will travel with them to Round Rock.
“We’re trying to go, race and hopefully win it all,” he said.
The 2025 UIL Cross Country State Championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday and will be hosted at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.
