Dragons Runners Finish First at Marcus Invitational

Lady Dragon runner Gillian Mortimer

The Carroll Cross Country teams ran away with big wins at the Marcus I Invitational meet in Denton’s North Lakes Park on Saturday with 5 of the 6 Southlake teams placing first. All teams stepped up to meet the challenge of their first 5k of the season. Between the boys and girls teams, 11 finished as National Elites*.

“We had some really good team and individual performances today,” Carroll coach Justin Leonard said. “Marcus I is always our first 5k race of the season and it’s an opportunity for our team to gauge their level of fitness early in the season.  We were really proud of our effort and the way our teams performed in all 8 races.  We will continue to progress, work hard and keep our on eye on the end goal.”

The Varsity Boys Elite team came out strong, beating the next closest team by 121 points. Reed Brown led the Dragons taking 1^st overall with a time of 15:14, followed by Nicholas Fernandes grabbing 7^th place at 15:40, Juan Arcila in 14^th place running 15:56, Connor Rutledge placing 15^th coming in at 16:02 and Charlie Gardner in 24^th at 16:20 to finish out the top five.

The Varstiy Boys Open team also had an impressive 1^st place finish with a score of 75 points. Garrett Gabriel took 1^st for the Dragons and 7^th overall with a time of 17:00. Jack Myers was next to cross the line with a 8^th place finish and a time of 17:07, followed by Drew Bliss coming in 15^th at 17:18, then Tyler Coleman taking 19^th with a 17:24 and Everett Kolto finishing out the top 5 coming in 28^th with a time of 17:34.

The Varsity Girls Elite team had an impressive showing as well coming in 2^nd place lead by Gillian Mortimer with an 7^th place finish and a time of 18:14. Next was Cate Tracht taking 9^th place running a 18:30, Ali White secured 12^th place with an 18:46, Ari Lopez was 26^th running a 19:20 and Angie Riera in 33^rd place with a 19:32 to round out the top 5 scoring positions.

The Varsity Girls Open team took 1^st and scored just 46 points and was lead by Sophia Santamaria taking 3^rd place with a time of 19:36, followed by Lauren Esparza taking 8^th running a 20:06, Regan Reilley snagged 12^th running a 20:17, Jenna Holland was right behind in 13^th place with a 20:19 and Kate Reppeto finished the top 5 with an 14^th place finish at 20:35.

Carroll also dominated the JV Elite division, taking 1^st place for both boys and girls. The boys scored an impressive 19 points and the girls score of 20 was equally impressive, taking the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 6^th and 8^th place spots.

The Dragons runners will be hosting the Southlake Invitational meet Saturday, Sept. 10 at Bob Jones Park in Southlake.

*National Elite Standards: Boys – 16:30 or below; Girls – 19:45 or below

-Reed Brown, Nicholas Fernandes, Juan Arcila, Connor Rutledge, Charles Gardner, Gillian Mortimer, Catherine Tracht, Ali White, Arianna Lopez, Angie Riera, Sofia Santamaria