The Carroll Dragon boys’ and girls’ cross country teams are set to defend their Class 5A state titlesSaturday in Round Rock.

Both teams earned the Region I championships last Saturday at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock as they dominated the three-mile course. The state meet will be held Saturday, Nov. 10 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. The 5A girls’ race begins at 9 a.m. and the boys’ race starts at 9:30 a.m.

“I’m very proud of both, the boys’ and girls’ teams,” Carroll cross country coach Justin Leonard said.  “They really stepped up today and came out to the course here in Lubbock and punched their ticket to the state meet.  They have been waiting for this week for a year now.”

With nearly 200 regional competitors, the Lady Dragons won the title with 39 team points, followed by Marcus with 99 points and Hebron with 103. The Carroll boys brought home the first-place finish with 35 team points, followed by Marcus with 111 points and El Paso Eastwood with 113. The top runners for the boys was Joe Sansone, who finished third. Nate Sullivan took fourth overall, Conner Hendrickson was seventh and Trevor Gilley was eighth as the team produced four runners in the top 10.

Courtney Kriegshauser led the Lady Dragons with a second-place finish, Shelby Chapin was third and Tig Archer was ninth rounding out the top-10 finishers for the team.