College Park Opens Cross Country Season With Win at Lone Star Steeple Race

The Cavaliers sweep the top three individual places, while The Woodlands finishes second and Oak Ridge places 12th.

Friday, Aug. 21, 2026 | Burroughs Park, Tomball, Texas

TOMBALL, Texas — College Park opened the 2026 cross country season by sweeping the first three individual places and winning the boys 3,200-meter team race Friday at the Lone Star Steeple Race at Burroughs Park.

The Cavaliers scored 20 points to finish ahead of The Woodlands, which took second with 44. Houston Strake Jesuit was third with 66 points, while Oak Ridge finished 12th with 352 in the 16-team field.

Sophomore Adam Diaz gave College Park the individual victory with a time of 10 minutes, 39.80 seconds. Sophomore Joseph Kovach was just one-tenth of a second behind in 10:39.90, and junior Asher Galindo completed the Cavaliers' sweep of the first three positions in 10:42.40.

Sophomore Alexander Jones placed fifth in 10:49.10, and sophomore Austin Holt finished ninth in 11:00.40. With all five scoring runners among the first nine finishers, College Park established an early look at the depth of its lineup.

The season-opening meet also gave coaches from College Park, The Woodlands and Oak Ridge their first opportunity to evaluate runners in competition after summer training. Early meets provide a starting point for assessing race fitness, pacing, pack running and how athletes may fit into the varsity lineup as the season develops.

Friday's 3,200-meter distance — roughly two miles — was also shorter than the 5,000-meter distance runners will encounter in many later-season varsity races. A shorter opening race can provide an early competitive test without asking runners to cover the full 5K distance immediately, while still giving coaches useful information about conditioning and race execution.

College Park showed additional depth behind its five scorers. Junior Uzodimma Wittick placed 13th in 11:12.20, and junior Lawson Chapman followed in 14th at 11:16.70.

The Woodlands countered with one of the tightest groups near the front of the field.

Junior Hollis Harbin led the Highlanders with a sixth-place finish in 10:59.10. Freshman Collin Foody crossed seventh in 10:59.20, and junior Noah Dao was eighth in 10:59.40, putting three Woodlands runners across the line within three-tenths of a second.

Freshman Carter Russell added an 11th-place finish in 11:09.70, and sophomore Campbell Seely was 12th in 11:10.10. Those five runners produced The Woodlands' 44-point team score. Sophomore Brendan Smeader was close behind in 15th at 11:16.70.

Oak Ridge also used the opener to establish its first race benchmark of the season. Sophomore Jacob Cruz led the War Eagles in 24th place with a time of 11:36.70, while junior Anthony Castillo finished 36th in 11:56.30.

With one race complete, the times and team standings provide an opening snapshot rather than a finished picture. The distances will increase and lineups will continue to develop, but College Park leaves the first meet of the season with a team victory, while The Woodlands and Oak Ridge have their first competitive results to build on.

The Woodlands Student Center Staff