The Seven Lakes boys’ cross country team showed why it is ranked in the Top 10 teams in Class 6A in the state, as Spartans runners took first, second, third and fifth, respectively, at the Spartan Showcase on Aug. 31.

Thirty-two teams competed at the annual meet hosted at Seven Lakes High. Varsity teams ran a 5K.

The Spartans scored 26 team points with the dominating effort, 52 points ahead of second place Cinco Ranch. Senior Carson Slater led the way with a time of 16:02.19, followed by sophomore Ruben Rojas Betanzos (16:04.00) and senior Corbin Brescher (16:06.41). Right behind the trio was Spencer Seale, who took fifth place with a run of 16:19.78. Fernando Hernandez was Seven Lakes’ fifth finisher, at 16:44.34 for 15th place.

The closeness extended after the race, as the gang laughed and joked with each other. They stressed that the team’s success was due to how closely they trained with one another and pushed one another.

“We always run as a group, and I knew we could execute that same thing out in the race, so that’s just what we did,” Slater said.

Betanzos agreed with him, and noted that when they’re running together, even in a competitive meet, they don’t need to speak with one another to have an effect on one another.

“I felt like we were all silently communicating,” he said. “If someone surged, then we all knew we could keep going with them. It was a group effort.”

Asked if they had a goal for the season, Slater said they didn’t think the team had a limit, as long as they trained together and stayed healthy.

“We have to keep dropping time down, and I think we’ll be a top-three team in the state, because we’re all together,” he said.

Brescher added, “We’re all competing with each other all the time. We’ve just got to stick together in workouts and keep together, because obviously it’s working.”

Cinco Ranch also placed a pair of runners in the top 10 of the boys’ race. Kassem Karouni finished sixth (16:20.47) and Sam Flusche took eighth (16:30.85).

In the girls’ races, Cinco Ranch’s star duo of Heidi Nielson and Sophie Atkinson continued their impressive seasons, finishing 1-2. Nielson set a course record of 17:55.9, besting the mark of Kingwood’s Sandy Raines from 2012 (17:56.2), and Atkinson’s time of 18:18.59 was the third-fastest mark.

If Nielson knew she was running at a record pace, she didn’t show it as she crossed the line in the same quick rhythm she ran the rest of the race.

“It kind of depends on the race,” Nielson said of her thought process, laughing. “Sometimes it just kind of goes, and it’s done, and I don’t realize what happens, but sometimes I’m thinking the whole time.”

Atkinson said that following this race, she wanted to work more on her endurance, and contrasted her thought process from Nielson’s.

“These races for me, as soon as I start I’m thinking about finishing,” she said. “This course is really flat, and it’s supposed to be fast, but for me it always feels like a grind because of how twisty it is and how monotonous it is with the loops.”

While Cinco Ranch finished 1-2 individually, the team placed fifth overall. Coach Dana Mathis said they’re still working on developing depth and dealing with an injury to a preseason top five runner.

“Right now, I’m pretty proud of the way it’s going, and I’ve seen a change in the way they race,” she said. “Once that happens, it becomes easier, because they see where they need to be. They’re racing faster than they were last year, so you can’t really ask for anything more.”

Also in the top 10 girls were Seven Lakes’ Molly Humes (sixth, 19:07.57), and Tompkins’ Hayden Gold (seventh, 19:07.80) and Grace Kohout (ninth, 19:11.47).

In contrast from Cinco Ranch, Tompkins showed the strength of depth, finishing second with 73 points to meet winner Kingwood (91 points). Tompkins’ top five consisted of Gold, Kohout, Addison Stevenson (13th, 19:32.94), Katie Wiley (26th, 20:18.74) and Paula Guevera (36th, 20:38.77).

Tompkins coach Amy Pitzel said she was happy with a strong second place finish early in the season.

“We work a lot on pack running, and I make them hold each other accountable as a group,” she said. “I’m also lucky because we have so many strong girls. Sometimes you don’t get a team like this until you get to college, but they have each other and it’s very competitive.”

Pitzel said the varsity runners, all juniors, have a bond that’s helped by having common experiences.

“I try to stress how special it is to have a group of strong girls like this,” she said. “Our sport hurts. When you put yourself on that line, you know you’re going to hurt at the end of the race, and you have to have a higher purpose than just yourself.”