On September 28, Jesuit hosted the annual XC Classic at the Polo Grounds in Oak Point. This year, the Classic Hosted a total of 8 races spanning between high school to middle school, with a total of more than 2,800 runners spread between the events, making this the largest meet in all of North Texas.
Jesuit’s Performance
Jesuit’s varsity team raced in the 5A Varsity Boys 5k consisting of 282 runners. Placing 89th overall, Brayden Higginbotham ’26 led the varsity with a time of 17:29. A mere two seconds behind Brayden, Ethan Speer ’27 finished in 94th with a time of 17:31. Next up, Maddux Click ’28 finished with a 17:38, placing 100th. Henry King ’27 finished at 18:10, followed up by Ethan Irrobali ’26 coming in at an 18:14. Behind them, Jaxon Tanner ’26 finished at 18:21, Alex Shomin ’26 at 18:31, Ryan Lopez ’27 at 18:40, Sam Loh ’25 at 18:42, and finally Kevin Nazareth ’26 at 18:49.
The junior varsity race consisted of a total of 528 runners. Jesuit’s JV was led by Oscar Gooden ’28, capturing second place clocking an impressive time of 17:33. Gabriel Leal ’25 followed closely behind, securing 14th place with a speedy finish of 18:07. Not far afterwards was Jacob Guyette ’28, finishing 34th with a time of 18:54 and only one second behind was Joaquin Lopez ’27, who came in at 18:55. Then, not long afterwards, Sebastian Espinoza ’27 finished 45th with a time of 19:04. Next came Jack Golembeski ’25, crossing the finish line at 19:58, followed by Sawyer Cole ’28 in 19:59 and Luke Deshotels ’25 at 20:03. Aidan McGuire ’27 finished strong at 20:14, just ahead of Dylan Wagner ’28 (20:15). Rounding out the team were Carson Melkus ’27 (20:52), Miles Keith ’28 (21:29), Layton Wolf ’28 (21:57), and Ned Golembeski ’28 (22:36). These athletes’ efforts won them silver in the event.
Overall Performance
- Keller took first in the 5A/6A Varsity Boys Championship with a combined total of 95 points, followed by McKinney Boyd winning second, scoring 107 points, and Prosper claiming third with 170 points.
- For 5A/6A Varsity Girls, Smithson Valley won gold with a nice even score of 50, Prosper took silver with 102, and Cedar Park Vista Ridge claimed bronze with 154 points.
- In the JV Boys event, Grapevine took first with an impressive 34 points, with Coppell getting second, and Jesuit placing third.
- JV Girls was won by Highland Park, followed by Smithson Valley, and Keller.
- 4A and under Varsity Boys was won by John Paul II, while 4A and under Varsity Girls 2 Mile was won by Dallas Covenant.
- Finally, for the Middle School Events, the boys’ and girls’ 2 Mile events were won by the Home School Athletic Association.
Summary
This was the last meet before Districts, where Varsity will have a chance to move up and compete at Regionals, and then State. This acted as a dress rehearsal, the District Meet also being hosted on the same course. This meet was a great opportunity for the Varsity and JV teams to experience running with so much competition, the classic being one of the biggest XC meets in all of Texas. In competition, athletes will have the opportunity to push themselves and to put everything on the line. In a race, all runners experience that moment where they must decide whether to keep pace and continue running steadily or to push, putting it all on the line and taking a risk. A runner who demonstrated this tenant of a runner this week was Senior Gabriel Leal. He started the race fast and never backed off, setting a new personal record of 18:07, a whole two-minute improvement from his previous meet. Coach Robinson perfectly captures the idea that individuals improve by challenging and supporting one another saying:
“Iron sharpens iron.”
Coach Robinson often reminds the XC team of this. Although XC is usually thought of as an individual sport, in reality, it is undeniably a team sport. Teammates push each other every day during practice and races. JV runners Jacob Guyette, Joaquin Lopez, and Sebastian Espinoza perfectly demonstrated this quote, running together for the majority of the race. When one started to slow down, the others encouraged them to endure and preserve. When one increased pace, the others matched him. “This is how we win district,” Coach Robinson said in response to their performance. These three pushing each other beyond there limits was what won our JV the silver medal.
Mark your calendars and wish the team luck for October 9, the day of the XC District meet!
Tune into The Roundup for news and updates on XC’s postseason!
