Mustang Army Tightens Up Pack To Win Boys Crown, Carroll XC Pulls Out 1-Point Victory

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The Mustang Army (Grapevine TX), led by Walker St. John, rode high as the top team in the regional for most of the fall and won the Texas 5A state title two weeks ago. 

But there were some cracks in the armor. A 60-second gap between the team's fourth and fifth runners and state meet meant that the group finished behind 6A champion Carroll XC (Southlake Carroll) in an overall state meet merge. 

But on Saturday, Mustang Army addressed that weakness. Fifth man Brian Guevara cut that 60-second gap almost in half and it paid off with a victory at NXR South at Bear Branch Park in The Woodlands, Texas. 

Guevara finished 34 seconds behind fourth man Alberto Rayon, which gave Mustang Army the space it needed to beat Carroll XC 66-73 for the regional title. 

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The Woodlands XC Club finished third with 127 points. 

Sahil Dodda, a prep school student at St. Mark's of Texas (Dallas), won the boys championship race in 15:15.3, defeating the Texas 6A champion Kevin Sanchez (Venom XC) by 10 seconds. St. John placed third.

Carroll XC packed up about as well as it had in the 6A boys final two weeks ago, splitting 25 seconds on its five scorers.

Shewaye Johnson, a 2020 state champion in Iowa, won the girls regional championship race in 17:45.9. Johnson, competing for Prosper RC, had finished third two weeks ago at the Texas Class 6A final. 

Despite Johnson's efforts, Carroll XC edged past Prosper RC and won the team title by a single point, 95-96. 

Prosper RC had advantages at Nos. 1, 2 and 4, but Carroll XC won the matchup at No. 5, taking 30 points to 50 to pull it out. 

Ava Bushaw, Sylvia Schwedler, Elizabeth Smits, Natalie Ng and Kaylie Cox all finished between 11th and 30th and split 34 seconds among them.