A Harvest Worth Celebrating: Grace Cross Country Finishes Strong at State

November 2, 2026 – Grace Community School’s varsity cross country teams wrapped up their seasons at the TAPPS State Meet in Waco, where senior Emma Goetz defended her individual title, the girls finished second as a team and the boys placed seventh.

Goetz crossed the finish line first to win her third individual state title in four years. Junior Casey Goetz placed fifth to earn First Team All-State honors. Senior Addie Mathews finished 18th, freshman Lydia Martinez 30th, junior MJ Hanson 32nd, senior Aragon Tanner 39th and senior Rebecca Dai 52nd. Every girl who had run the state course before set a personal best, and the Lady Cougars took home the state runner-up plaque and medals.

“While we certainly wanted to bring home the team championship, these girls gave everything they had,” said Andrew Plentl, head coach for cross country.

The boys’ seventh-place finish was the program’s second-best at State in the last seven years. Senior Ayden Serrato led the Cougars, placing 34th in 18:53, nearly three minutes faster than on the same course last year. Freshman Isaac Jenks was 38th in 18:58, and sophomore Asher Wickliffe was 40th in 19:06. Senior Dylan Small set a personal best of 19:34 to finish 55th, and sophomore Ethan Foreman rounded out the top five in just over 20:22. Titus Bearden and Gabe Vasquez placed 100th and 104th. Every returning runner who had raced the state course before recorded a personal best.

The night before the race, the Cougars found unity away from the course. After dinner and a team meeting, Grace athletes took a guitar outside the team hotel to worship together. Before long, athletes from two or three other schools staying there joined in, and by curfew coaches found competitors for the next morning singing side by side.

“Regardless of what happened the following morning, I knew our season had been successful because these athletes understood there was something much bigger than a race, a finish place, or a championship,” Plentl said.