With the 2026 cross country season rapidly approaching, area athletes are ready to get out on the trails and show why southern Denton County seems to be breeding ground for some of the strongest distance runners in the state.
The 2025 season saw multiple area athletes qualify for the regional and state meets, and this season should be no different.
The Liberty Christian cross country program had a solid showing last season, finishing second on the girls side and third on the boys side at the district meet.
While that was not the result LCS was hoping for, coach Jake Powers said it gave the returning athletes a lot of motivation heading into this season.
“We followed that up with an outstanding track season this spring, with several of our runners setting personal bests and gaining valuable championship experience,” Powers said. “Our summer training has gone extremely well, and I believe this group is much stronger, more experienced, and more confident than they were a year ago.”
Strong returning runners on the girl’s side include juniors Camille Taylor and Molly Wilson, whom Powers said “give us one of the strongest one-two punches” in TAPPS 6A.
“Both have finished in the top 10 at the district meet and in the top 20 at the TAPPS 6A State Championship during each of their first two high school seasons,” Powers said.
On the boy’s side, Sawyer Jones returns after an outstanding freshman campaign.
“He finished as the district runner-up in cross country before carrying that momentum into an exceptional track season,” Powers said. “Sawyer captured the district championship in the 1,600 meters, finished runner-up at the regional championships in the 1600 meters, and ultimately placed fourth in the 1600 meters at the TAPPS 6A State Championship.”
Down the road at Argyle, the boys and girls teams finished third in the district 6-5A meets last season, and boys coach Will Carter said things are shaping up well early on.
“From our summer training, we are seeing state and region standards being hit by junior Stiles Deneault and sophomore Jaxen Siqueiros,” Carter said. “We’ve had a year or two with some thin classes, but our numbers are rebounding back up and we’ll have contributors from all four of our classes. So don’t be surprised with some healthy performances from other sophomores and some incoming freshmen.”
Carter said the objectives for this season mainly revolve around one competition.
“Here at Argyle, one of our beliefs is the state meet,” he said. “So a successful season would be qualifying for the state meet, being in the top five at the state meet, medaling at the state meet, and winning the state meet.
“We can see the training from this summer really start to turn a corner and reaching the standards of those levels of competition of the state meet are coming into focus and becoming more tangible.”
On the girls side, coach Devin Sterenberg said things are shaping up well for her team as well.
“We have had a really good summer so far,” Sterenberg said. “The team chemistry is great, and everyone has been working exceptionally hard. They have all been disciplined, encouraging and have shown continual improvement from week to week.”
Sterenberg said AHS has a number of varsity returners this season, which will be “really good in terms of experience.”
These include Madison Chapman, Morgan Castleberry, Everlee Muckensturm, Addisyn McNatt and Tiana Noshin.
“Our goal as a team is to progress from year to year, and work towards competing at the state meet in November,” Sterenberg said. “Last year we finished third at District, and seventh at the Region 1-5A Championships, so we will be looking to improve on our previous performance.”
Up in Denton, the Guyer cross country team is looking to rebound from a tough 2025 season, and coach Trenton Phelps said things are shaping up well early on.
“We did not have the finish we wanted at the district championships last year as both teams had goals of qualifying for the regional championships and were just short of that goal,” Phelps said. “Outside of the district championships, the 2025 team had a historic season as both teams were ranked in the top 25 all year long.
“This season is looking promising as all varsity girls are returning and five of seven varsity boys returning. We have also added some freshman that will make immediate impacts on our varsity squads.”
State returners from last season include Ruel Newberry, who finished second, and Anneliese Hull.
Key varsity returners include Colton Rodgers, Angelo Tortellini, Ethan Brown and Jake Bridges on the boys side, and Malika Abeyratne, Heidi Williams, Olivia Hernandez and Elle Lassen on the girls side.
Phelps said that both teams expect to qualify for the regional championships and finish the season as top 10 teams in the state.
Over in Flower Mound, the Jaguars are coming off of another strong season, where both the boys and girls teams claimed district titles.
Coach Andrew Cook said both teams return strong junior and senior classes this season and both have specific objectives heading in.
“The boys’ primary goal is to qualify for state after coming up one spot short last year,” Cook said. “The girls’ goal is to return to the top of the podium at the state meet after placing second last year by three points.”
Keep an eye on Owen Dunham and Elliot Carrier, who finished first and second respectively at last year’s district JV meet for Flower Mound.
The girls team will be led once again by seniors Adeline Bennett and Liana Cluley Garza.
“It’s important our team continues to focus on consistency, having a good attitude and being good teammates,” Cook said.
Across town at Marcus, coach Andrew Reinberg said he was pleased with how 2025 unfolded and said 2026 looks like it could be another strong season.
“We are looking forward to a great season,” Reinberg said. “Many of our varsity girls are returning, and we have a young strong boys team. At district last year the girls finished second and boys finished third. Both boys and girls teams returned to regionals in Lubbock.”
Reinberg said he has several strong returning runners.
“Our girls team as a whole will be very strong this upcoming season,” Reinberg said. “All but one of our varsity girls is returning. We’re looking forward to the return of Taryn Elmer, with seniors Kinsley Tracy, Elise Schwendinger, Lana Libby and Maria Godinez. They will be backed up by juniors Olivia Williams and Tinsley Potter.
“Our boys team graduated a few seniors last year, but we will have a very strong young presence. Varsity returners are Andrew Parrish, Oliver Miller, Sam Johnston, Brody Regan, Luke Griffin and Albert van der Wal. Young hopefuls like Greyson Potter, Odin Charles and Luke Finfrock will add to this group.”
Reinberg said a successful season in 2026 is both of his teams advancing to the state meet.
“Our strength is in our pack,” Reinberg said. “In order to see success this season we will need both boys and girls to trust each other and find a way to the front of every race.”
Down in Trophy Club, Byron Nelson won a district championship as a team in 2025, and incoming senior Elena Sather won an individual district championship.
Lyla Calaway finished fourth at district and Talia Ramirez was eighth.
All three runners return this season to try to help the Lady Bobcats try to defend their title.
On the boys side, Nelson finished third at the district meet last season on the boy’s side but lost its top four runners to graduation.
Look for Drew Holland to have a strong season for the Bobcats in 2026 on the boy’s side.
Over in Justin, coach Christopher Capeau’s team finished fourth out of nine teams at the district meet in 2025, and he is encouraged by how his athletes are preparing for 2026.
“We’ve had a lot of good work by the kids in town this summer,” Capeau said.
Strong returning runners for the Texans this season include Zoe Banis and Ava Maldonado on the girl’s side, and Chandler Sprouse, Owen Finney and Winston Burris.
Unfortunately, the Texans lost superstar Cooper Lutkenhaus, who has found great success at the professional level after signing with Nike at just 17 years old.
Still, Capeau said his goals for his team are run faster than last season and compete to their full potential and said to advance past district, it will take something big.
“We would need to upset some teams,” Capeau said. “It’s the best district in the state.”
