JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

MARBLE FALLS — Area high school cross-country teams are bracing for district meets.

On Oct. 22, Burnet and Llano travel to Lampasas High School, 2716 U.S. 281 South in Lampasas, for the District 25-4A Meet.

On Oct. 23, Marble Falls is at the District 25-5A Meet at Old Settler’s Park, 3300 E. Palm Valley Blvd. in Round Rock. The meets begins with the girls varsity race at 9 a.m.

Marble Falls head coach Anthony Torns said the Leander Vandegrift girls and the Georgetown High boys are the teams to beat in each division.

The Mustangs will only have three runners in the boys division: James Ramos, Ishmael Montoya and Fernando Luna. The Lady Mustangs will lean on Tess Johnson.

“They’re going to have to have career days,” Torns said of his boys. “If they come out and run in the 18s, it wouldn’t surprise me.”

The coach said he told his female runners they’ll have to have their best days, too, because of the strength of Cedar Park, Dripping Springs and Leander.

“We’ll have to be very strong to knock off two of those teams,” he said. “If Tess comes out and competes like I know she will, she’ll get out to regionals.”

On Oct. 25, Faith Academy of Marble Falls is at the Class 3A State Meet of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools at Waco Connally Middle School, 100 Hancock Drive in Elm Mott. The races begin at 9 a.m. with the girls.

Faith Academy’s Sophie McCannon arrives at the meet with one of the fastest times in the state.

“We have a chance to win the individual and the state,” said Faith head coach Steve McCannon, who is also Sophie’s father. “You have to be on the back nine to have a chance. If everybody competes, we’ll have a good chance.”

The Woodlands Christian, Boerne Geneva and Abilene Christian, which won the Class 2A state crown a year ago, will be among the best at the meet.

The coach said the best part about his team is the runners commitment to each other.

“Nobody wants to let anyone down,” he said. “We have that dynamic from a team standpoint.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com