Cardinals girls finish fifth at state, right where their ranking had them

Melissa's girls cross country team arrived at the UIL Class 5A state meet ranked fifth. The Cardinals left Round Rock with a fifth-place finish to match.

Melissa scored 174 points Saturday at Old Settlers Park, according to official UIL results, finishing behind New Braunfels (65), Dallas Highland Park (86), Lucas Lovejoy (117) and A&M Consolidated (128). The margin behind them was thin. Boerne Champion scored 177, three points back, and Comal Smithson Valley was seventh at 181.

Looking up the standings, Melissa finished 46 points behind fourth-place A&M Consolidated and 57 behind Lovejoy, the last team on the podium.

A young group up front

The district's state-qualifying roster, released after regionals, listed one senior, three sophomores and two freshmen, and the underclassmen carried much of the load in Round Rock.

Freshman Addison Hanshaw led Melissa again, finishing 19th in 18:49.0 after posting the team's best time of 18:40 at regionals, Melissa ISD reported. Nineteenth put her among the top 20 runners in a field of roughly 150. Sophomore Grace Vuong was the Cardinals' second runner in 18:58.1, giving Melissa two finishers inside the top 30.

Senior captain Diem Casselberry ran 19:31.0, followed by freshman Emmy Burns in 19:50.1 and sophomore Alex Holguin in 20:01.2. Sophomore Vanessa Intrieri, the sixth Cardinal listed on the regional roster, also ran.

How Melissa got here

The state race went off at 8:15 a.m., the first of six races on Saturday's UIL program. Lubbock's Amelia Anderson won it in 17:47.1, and New Braunfels took the team title by 21 points over Highland Park.

The Cardinals placed third at the UIL 5A regional meet on Oct. 20 to qualify as a full team, Melissa ISD announced. The district said the team entered state ranked No. 5 in 5A after a fall that included meet titles and a long list of personal records.

"I couldn't be more proud of these girls," head coach Zachary Hernandez said in the district's announcement before the meet. "They have worked so diligently and maintained such a strong focus throughout the entire season."

He called the team "a testament to what happens when talent meets commitment" in the same announcement.

Casselberry, the team's lone senior, said in the district release that reaching state was "a huge honor" and that doing it with the full team made it better than her previous trip.

Where it leaves the program

Fifth place in the 16-team field put Melissa ahead of Prosper Richland (196), Georgetown (186) and Argyle (288). With only one senior among the regular top six, most of the Cardinals' state-meet group is eligible to return next fall.

The state meet ends the cross country season. Melissa's distance runners move next to the spring track and field schedule.

Sources

uiltexas.org

melissaisd.org

uiltexas.org