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The cross-country teams of Colorado County are preparing for another season with big dreams at the start. After each team had strong seasons last year that resulted in some regional qualifiers and even state-level competitors, the teams for Columbus, Weimar and Rice will be looking to repeat their success from a season ago with many runners returning this season.
One impact runner who will not be returning this season is Rice alum Kejun Wilson who took his talents to the collegiate level this season after his graduation in the spring. Wilson helped lead the Raiders to one of their best seasons after becoming Rice’s first district champ and helping the Raiders claim their first district championship as a team. While the Raiders will miss his contributions to the squad, the returning boys have confidence that has grown since their regional performances. Payton Englebrecht, Jael Valles Serrano, Hayes Dingler, Noah Lujan, Aaron Drlik and Angel Rico each contributed to the team’s success as they claimed the school’s first district championship. The young runners hope that last season set the foundation for success this season as well as the upcoming seasons until their own graduation.
Columbus has a few returning regional runners as well after strong seasons by a trio of competitors that had a strong fall season last year. Chloe Ross led all the runners after qualifying for the state meet last season with a strong performance in the regional meet. Going into her junior year, she hopes to continue her success along with her cousin Kaylea Foster who made major contributions to the team in her freshman season. Foster enters her sophomore year after just missing out on a state berth of her own. With an added year of experience for both girls, they are hoping to become the first pair of Lady Cards to reach the state meet in the same season. The boys were represented by Will Fitzgerald in the regional meet last season as he hopes to continue his personal success with the team.
The Weimar runners have plenty of reasons to have hope for the season as they look to match their regional-qualifying performance from last season. Last year’s Ladycats had a lot of success as the entire team earned a berth in the regional meet. Brooke Ohnheiser, Emily Guzman, Karen Martinez, Katharina Chaloupka, Maya Fain, Alazay Moreno and Maritza Garay helped the Ladycats reach their potential during the season and claim a spot at the regional level. This season, Weimar is hoping to have even stronger performances and return to the regional meet for a chance to reach the state meet.
The Rice Raiders get their season started on Aug. 12 in the home-hosted Rice 3000 meet to kick off their year. Columbus and Weimar hit the starting line on Aug. 23 in El Campo.
