With two weeks to go until Nike Cross Nationals, NXN South took place at The Woodlands, TX Saturday, once again seeing the Texas teams dominate the regional competition.  

On the boys side, US#11 Boerne Champion (TX) beat US#10 The Woodlands (TX) 61-81, showing why the squad may be a top five contender at nationals.  Using a strong pack, Boerne Champion simply ran away from the rest of the field, cruising to a NXN berth.  The Woodlands once again qualified for the national meet.  

Coming in a close third was Cedar Park (TX), finishing a mere three points behind The Woodlands, making their case for an at-large bid.  Rounding out the top four was Klein Oak (TX), scoring 154 points.

Individually, Ryan Dohner (Sr., Klein Oak, TX) pulled off a big upset, smashing the strong field, crossing the finish line in 15:38.9.  Dohner, who Dyestat currently ranks as the US#20 runner, beat US#5 runner Craig Lutz (Jr., Marcus, TX) and Parker Stinson (Sr., Cedar Park, TX).  Stinson finished second in 15:51.8, while Lutz was third in 16:01.8.  Rounding out the top five and qualifying individually for NXN were Texas athletes Mark Pinales (Jr., Round Rock Stony Point, TX) and Jeff Arnier (Sr., Arlington Lamar, TX).

In the women's race, Sarah Andrews (Sr., The Woodlands, TX) dominated the field, running away to victory on her home course.  Andrews used a lightning quick early pace to win by 32 seconds in 18:14.8.  Texas runners Rachel Johnson (Jr., Plano, TX), Amanda Russell (Sr., CP Vista Ridge, TX), Regan Tindell (Sr., Belton, TX) and Aly Nielson (Jr., Colleyville Heritage, TX) also booked their individual tickets to Portland.

In the team race, Southlake Carroll (TX) proved once again why they are never to be overlooked in regional competition, qualifying yet again for NXN.  The team beat a strong Kingwood (TX) squad 77-91 for the team title.  Kingwood Park (TX) placed third with 94 points and College Park (TX) came in fourth with 117 points.

NXN South Regional Results