A few months ago, not long after many schools had their graduation ceremonies, cross country teams across East Texas and beyond started training for the upcoming season. For most teams, that season of competition started in August.

Boys and girls high school teams are trying to get in their best shape for their respective district meets.  Most of those meets will occur in mid-October, with the Regionals and State Competitions in line a few weeks after that.

Several times during the season, the Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas (CCCAT) releases their top ten rankings for the different divisions statewide. Several East Texas teams are represented in the latest polls.

In Class 2A, the boys' teams from Tenaha, New Summerfield, Douglass, and Groveton are ranked 7th through 10th, respectively. All four of those teams are hoping to repeat their successes of 2021 when they all advanced to the state cross country meet in Round Rock.

In Class 4A, the boy's team from Hudson has made their first appearance in the top ten rankings this season.  The Hornets Cross Country Team has used their strong results to leap over several teams into the 7th position in the top ten.

Senior Austin Ponder and Junior Connor Graves have been finishing in the top five in almost every meet that they have run in this year.  In fact, Graves has finished first in all his starts including a 5K personal best of 15:28 at the Hudson Invitational Meet.

This week, Connor Graves has been nominated by Mile Split TX as the boys performer of the week.  You can vote for him here. You'll be asked to provide your phone number for the opportunity to win a free subscription.

Other East Texas teams that made the polls include the Quitman girls in northeast Texas and the boys from Huffman Hargrave in southeast Texas.

Here's a look at the current CCCAT rankings

Class 1A Girls

  1. Jayton
  2. Roby
  3. McMullen County
  4. Buena Vista
  5. Sands
  6. Miller Grove
  7. Eula
  8. Spur
  9. Borden County
  10. Priddy

Class 1A Boys

  1. Jayton
  2. Saltillo
  3. Slidell
  4. Fayetteville
  5. McMullen County
  6. Miller Grove
  7. Sands
  8. Eula
  9. Texline
  10. Blum

Class 2A Girls

  1. Christoval
  2. Gruver
  3. Farwell
  4. Goldthwaite
  5. Wellington
  6. Shiner
  7. Wink
  8. Hamilton
  9. New Deal
  10. Falls City

Class 2A Boys

  1. Plains
  2. Poolville
  3. Hamilton
  4. Wolfe City
  5. Port Aransas
  6. Christoval
  7. Tenaha
  8. New Summerfield
  9. Douglass
  10. Groveton

Class 3A Girls

  1. Holliday
  2. Whitesboro
  3. Poth
  4. Lytle
  5. Canadian
  6. Lorena
  7. Quitman
  8. Jim Ned
  9. McGregor
  10. Crane

Class 3A Boys

  1. Eustace
  2. Lytle
  3. Crane
  4. Jim Ned
  5. Boyd
  6. McGregor
  7. Brownsville IDEA Frontier Prep
  8. Whitesboro
  9. Tornillo
  10. Holliday

Class 4A Girls

  1. Celina
  2. Canyon Randall
  3. Canyon
  4. Fredericksburg
  5. Salado
  6. Sanger
  7. Kaufman
  8. La Feria
  9. Bandera
  10. Boerne

Class 4A Boys

  1. Canyon
  2. Big Spring
  3. Giddings
  4. San Elizario
  5. Kaufman
  6. La Feria
  7. Hudson
  8. Kennedale
  9. Sanger
  10. Huffman Hargrave

Class 5A Girls

  1. Lovejoy
  2. College Station
  3. Boerne Champion
  4. Colleyville Heritage
  5. Georgetown
  6. Comal Canyon
  7. Grapevine
  8. San Antonio Brackenridge
  9. Aledo
  10. Abilene

Class 5A Boys

  1. Lovejoy
  2. Georgetown
  3. Argyle
  4. Grapevine
  5. Amarillo
  6. Georgetown East View
  7. McAllen
  8. Comal Canyon
  9. Sharyland
  10. College Station

Class 6A Girls

  1. Flower Mound
  2. Southlake Carroll
  3. Klein
  4. Vandegrift
  5. El Paso Franklin
  6. Prosper
  7. Highland Park
  8. The Woodlands
  9. Kingwood
  10. Northwest Eaton

Class 6A Boys

  1. Southlake Carroll
  2. Coppell
  3. The Woodlands
  4. Prosper
  5. El Paso Franklin
  6. Atascocita
  7. Round Rock
  8. Wylie
  9. Vandegrift
  10. Strake Jesuit

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