This past weekend, some of the area’s top cross country runners and programs came to Kingwood for the annual Andy Wells Invitational on a wet, muddy Saturday.
The meet was highlighted in part by the wet conditions, plus the accomplishments of several area athletes and one program in particular.
On the individual side, some local athletes turned outstanding performances.
Atascocita sophomore Avery Clover, for example, won the girls’ 4000 meter run, defeating a number of tough runners from both Kingwood and The Woodlands. She won the race with a time of 14:52.90.
In that race, Kingwood juniors Rachel James and Daniela Wisniewski both took top five finishes, finishing third and fifth, respectively.
Team wise, the visiting Woodlands Highlanders had a very good meet; they won every single team race, except for the girls junior varsity race, where they finished second by a mere two points.
In the hotly contested girls varsity race, which was one of the closest races The Woodlands competed in through the course of the day, Kingwood put four girls in the top 11 of the race.
Wisniewski and James were joined by sophomore Macy Brown, who finished eighth and senior McKenzie Clark, who took 11th.
The difference in the race was that The Woodlands had all of their top five runners in the top 15, while Kingwood’s fifth best runner finished 28th.
This allowed The Woodlands to edge Kingwood by a single point, while Clover’s first-place finish helped catapult Atascocita into the top five.
In the boys’ three mile varsity race, Kingwood senior Carter Storm and junior Nick Majerus paced the Mustangs by finishing seventh and ninth.
The Mustangs finished fourth in the race, behind The Woodlands, Strake Jesuit and Katy Seven Lakes. Summer Creek finished 11th team wise, with Humble at 15th.