Friendswood has been a staple at the University Interscholastic League cross country state meet and the Mustangs will trot to Round Rock next month once again.
Both the boys and girls teams from Friendswood finished top four in the team standings of the Region III-5A meet Monday morning at Kate Barr Ross Park in Huntsville.
After making huge improvements since last year, the Foster Falcons boys team is also heading to state for the third time in program history and first since 2006.
Georgetown won the boys regional championship with 65 points and three runners to the top 10. Friendwood was second with 119 points, Foster was third with 129 and College Station also reached state with 149 points, just one better than Barbers Hill, which finished fifth. Montgomery was sixth with 164 points.
In the girls race, Georgetown took 54 points to sweep the regional championship with the boys team. College Station was second with 67 points, A&M Consolidated was third with 101 and Friendswood was fourth with 121. Lake Creek finished fifth with 162 points.Â
The ten top times in each race that aren’t attached to a state-qualifying team also advanced to the state meet, which takes place Nov. 3 at Old Settler’s Park.
The Friendswood boys, which is headed to state for the 27th time in program history, finished second for the second straight year and were once again led by Zade Kayyali. Kayyali, a senior, took the silver medal with a time of 15:52.91, behind regional champion Nolan House of Georgetown (15:43.97).
Last year, Kayyali finished 3rd in 15:42.72 and he was 11th in 2021. Kayyali was 16th last year at the state meet as Friendswood finished fourth as a team.
Sophomore Aiden Fitzgerald finished four seconds behind teammate Kayyali with a bronze-medal time of 15:56.18. Fitzgerald was 12th at regionals last year.
Rounding out Friendswood was Aiden Lowery (33rd, 17:15.59), Cooper Thompson (44th, 17:28.46) and Teddy Fudge (49th, 17:40.32).
Foster bounced back from a 12th place finish at last year’s regional meet and the 2021 team was 17th place.
Grant Currier improved on his 41st place finish last year to pace the Falcons in 18th place with a time of 16:47.56. Brody Sullivan was 20th (16:51.62), Brady Lamothe was 21st (16:58.85), Will Davis was 27th (17:05.83) and Cohen Amos was 63rd (18:03.95).
Fulshear junior Ibrahim Dawelbeit finished ninth in 16:23.32 to qualify for state. Texas City junior Amisadai Yanez in 11th (16:27.73), Barbers Hill junior Aiden Faz in 13th (16:33.95) and Terry junior Michael Perez in 14th (16:42.38) all qualified for state.Â
Manvel senior Christian Rivera was 16th (16:45.09).Â
College Station senior Delaney Ulrich won the regional championship in 18:47.61.
Friendswood was paced by Addison Sapp who finished 14th in 20:06.28. The sophomore improved on her 27th place finish last year.Â
McKiney Thai (21st, 20:19.57), Charlie Tran (31st, 20:48.89), Kennedy Rhodes (32nd, 20:52.77) and Reagan Rudolph (39th, 21:10:60) rounded out Friendswood, which reaches state as a team for the 19th time. The Mustangs were 16th last year in Round Rock.
Magnolia West senior Valerie Haros is now a four-time state qualifier after finishing sixth in 19:30.12. Haros qualified with her team as a freshman in 2020 and has now qualified individually the past three years.
Although Lake Creek missed the cut as a team, the Lions have two state qualifiers. Junior Brooke Marshall was 9th in 19:43.99 and junior Emma Bass was 11th in 19:44.16.
La Porte senior Penolope Rios qualified for state for the second time in her career. Rios went in 2021 with her team. She finished seventh Monday in 19:30.56.
Angleton senior Sam Clarke (17th, 20:13.85) and Montgomery junior Lauren Semeniuk (19th, 20:16.30) also qualified for state.
Boys team standings (points)
(Top 4 teams advance to state)
1. Georgetown (65)
2. Friendswood (119)
3. Foster (129)
4. College Station (149)
5. Barbers Hill (150)
6. Montgomery (164)
7. Fulshear (179)
10. Lake Creek (264)
11. Manvel (282)
14. Goose Creek Memorial (353)
16. La Porte (433)
18. Lamar Consolidated (442)
20. Baytown Lee (611)
21. Carnegie Vanguard (641)
23. Galena Park (713)
24. Houston Austin (766)
Boys individual results
(Individual state qualifiers bolded)
1. Nolan House, Georgetown – 15:43.97
2. Zade Kayyali, Friendswood – 15:52.91
3. Aiden Fitzgerald, Friendswood – 15:56.18
4. Joseph Wienen, Georgetown – 16:03.13
5. Ethan Carranza, Killeen Ellison – 16:08.10
6. Braic Ybanez, Belton – 16:08.98
7. Alejandro Ruiz, Bastrop Cedar Creek – 16:09.44
8. Zachary Mangum, Georgetown – 16:15.95
9. Ibrahim Dawelbeit, Fulshear – 16:23.32
10. Javier Mora-Ortiz, Pflugerville – 16:26.67
11. Amisadai Yanez, Texas City – 16:27.73
12. David Herring, Austin McCallum – 16:33.92
13. Aiden Faz, Barbers Hill – 16:33.95
14. Michael Perez, Terry – 16:42.38
15. Jude Sparkman, Georgetown East View – 16:43.48
16. Christian Rivera, Manvel – 16:45.09
17. Vance Ballabina, College Station – 16:45.21
18. Grant Currier, Foster – 16:47.56
19. Noah Benn, College Station – 16:48.77
20. Brody Sullivan, Foster – 16:51.62
Girls team standings (points)
(Top 4 teams advance to state)
1. Georgetown (54)
2. College Station (67)
3. A&M Consolidated (101)
4. Friendswood (121)
5. Lake Creek (162)
9. Manvel (268)
10. Foster (296)
11. La Porte (319)
17. Barbers Hill (408)
18. Fulshear (475)
19. Lamar Consolidated (588)
21. Galena Park (613)
23. Carnegie Vanguard (728)
24. Waltrip (771)
Girls individual standings
(Individual state qualifiers bolded)
1. Delaney Ulrich, College Station – 18:47.61
2. Morgan Campbell, Port Neches-Groves – 19:14.04
3. Dennis Decker, Georgetown – 19:21.12
4. Ava Sieckmann, Georgetown – 19:23.05
5. Melia Flowers, Georgetown – 19:26.04
6. Varlie Haros, Magnolia West – 19:30.12
7. Penelope Rios, La Porte – 19:30.56
8. Katherine Brunson, College Station – 19:35.51
9. Brooke Marshall, Lake Creek – 19:43.99
10. Alexandra Staacky, A&M Consolidated – 19:44.01
11. Emma Bass, Lake Creek – 19:44.16
12. Olvia Brillhart, Belton – 19:57.05
13. Cassie Rivera, Pflugerville Hendrickson – 19:58.93
14. Addison Sapp, Friendswood – 20:06.28
15. Jadyn DeVerna, College Station – 20:08.76
16. Lizzy Gregory, A&M Consolidated – 20:12.06
17. Sam Clarke, Angleton – 20:13.85
18. Ella Mecom, Nederland – 20:15.31
19. Lauren Semeniuk, Montgomery – 20:16.30
20. Madison Black, A&M Consolidated – 20:19.00
