It was an incredible day at the regional round of the 2026 UIL Cross Country Meet for a number of area schools, especially for the Mason Punchers and Menard Yellowjackets. The Punchers will continue on to the State Meet after winning the Region 1-2A Boys Meet in Lubbock. They finished with 56 team points as Cooper Ratliff led the way to capture the boys region title with a time of 16.10.2 with Caden Klingelhefer coming in 3rd and Irving Tavera finishing 5th. Other team qualifiers for the Punchers include Isaac Mora, Sam Wyatt, Gavin Bryan-Myers and Cayson Potter.
The Mason Cowgirls had a good outing barely missed going to State by just 9 points placing 5th overall as a team with 145 points. Qualifying for State as individuals for the Cowgirls are Olivia Langehennig and Elizabeth McFarland.
Brady’s Drew Moore competed as an individual and finished in 47th place with a time of 19.08.8 which was a personal best.
In the Region 2-1A Meet in Fort Worth, Menard’s Danni Ruiz came away with the girls region title with a time of 11.53.1 as the Lady Jackets finish 2nd overall with 79 points qualifying them for the state meet as a team. Taylor Chambliss finished in 6th place and will advance along with teammates CHanning Chambliss, Makenzie Wright, Isabelle Devine and Aerie Meddough. The Eden Bulldogs had a good outing as the boys team finished 5th and the girls team came in 6th. Individual qualifiers for Eden are Jorge Mendez, Joseph Clark and Rylinn Robinson.
The Lohn Eagles boys team finished in 11th place overall with Abel Salas finishing 26th and Levi Felipe in 45 place. The Lady Eagles finished 21st as a team.
The top four teams and the top 10 individuals (not already on an advancing team) advance from regional competition to the state meet. The 2026 State Cross Country Meet will be on November 6-7 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. The Mason girls will compete at 9:30AM and the boys at 10:10AM on Friday morning. On Saturday, the Eden and Menard girls will compete at 9:30AM followed by the Eden boys who compete at 10:10AM.
