Cougar XC Teams Shine at Mike Darby Invitational and Texas A&M XC Invite

September 15, 2025 – The Cougars were excited to return to competition this weekend after an extended weather-related break, and they made the most of it with strong performances across two meets.

Most of the team competed at the Pine Tree Mike Darby XC Invitational, where the boys team placed 5th out of 21 schools in the varsity 5K. Roe Gaddis led the way with a time of 16:56.1, followed closely by Chris Alexander, who posted a season-best 17:24. Clayton Bock continued his comeback from early-season injury with a personal best of 18:00, rounding out the team’s top three. Ayden Serrato also ran a PR, finishing in 19:43—a 30-second improvement over his previous best.

On the girls side, the Lady Cougars secured a 2nd place team finish, highlighted by three top-15 individual finishes. Casey Goetz placed 3rd overall, followed by Addison Mathews in 11th, and MJ Hanson in 13th. Aragon Tanner and Rebecca Dai completed the scoring five, helping the team lock in their impressive runner-up placement.

Meanwhile, Emma Goetz had the opportunity to represent Grace at the highly competitive Texas A&M XC Invitational on Saturday. She placed 8th out of 203 runners, finishing the 5K in 18:29.3 against a strong collegiate and high school field.

The Cougars are gaining momentum as the season progresses, with racing fitness and confidence building week by week. This Friday, both teams head to Texas A&M once again—this time for the Nike South XC Invitational, where many of the top teams in Texas will gather to preview the course that will host a major national meet later this season.

We’re proud of the athletes’ continued growth and look forward to another exciting weekend of competition!