Grace Cross Country Sweeps Team Titles at Willie Wildcat Classic

August 31, 2026 – Grace Cross Country had a strong showing at the Willie Wildcat Whitehouse CC Classic this weekend, with both the boys and girls teams claiming team championships and turning in numerous personal records along the way.

Before the weekend’s results, one accomplishment from the Aug. 22 Tyler Legacy meet stood out further. Senior Emma Goetz, who won that meet with a 17:41 5K, was later found to have run the third-fastest girls 5K time in Texas that weekend across all classifications — UIL, TAPPS and SPC — among more than 1,500 girls who competed. Nationally, her time ranked seventh among all girls, all divisions, who ran a 5K that weekend.

The boys race got underway at 7 a.m. Senior Ayden Serrato finished third overall in 18:18, a 65-second personal record. Senior Dylan Small followed in seventh with a personal best of 20:01, and senior Gabe Vasquez, competing in just his second 5K this season, finished 10th and shaved another 24 seconds off his previous best. Ethan Foreman, Titus Bearden and Aaron Sepulveda rounded out the scoring, finishing 11th, 12th and 24th, respectively, with personal or season bests of their own. The performances were enough to secure the Varsity Boys 1-4A 5K Team Championship.

On the girls side, Grace split its roster across races because of a condensed schedule. In the Girls Varsity Open 5K — combined with the JV boys and girls races — Goetz and her sister, Casey Goetz, set their sights on the field’s top boys and delivered. Emma won the race outright in 17:55, outsprinting the top-placing boy and posting her second sub-18 5K in as many races this season. Casey finished second with a 56-second personal record of 18:54, ahead of the second- and third-place boys. MJ Hanson finished fifth with a 55-second personal record of 21:23, Rebecca Dai finished ninth in a personal-record 22:25, and Aragon Tanner rounded out the scoring five in 13th with a season-best 23:20. The results earned Grace its second consecutive Varsity Girls Open 5K Team Championship.

In the Varsity Girls 2-Mile, senior Addie Mathews led Grace with a ninth-place finish, followed by freshman Lydia Martinez in 10th with a season-best time. Cora Castle finished 23rd, freshman Ambry Knorr finished 25th, Natalie Jenks finished 27th and freshman Sadie Velten finished 33rd.

Grace’s schedule will slow down in September to allow more focus on training, with the team’s next full competition set for Sept. 18 at the Hallsville Invitational.