Llano’s Anna Casey wins gold at state cross-country meet
Llano High School sophomore runner Anna Casey was all smiles after winning the Class 4A University Interscholastic League girls cross-country championship Nov. 2 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
STAFF WRITER JENNIFER FIERRO
Llano High School sophomore Anna Casey’s golden year competing at a Class 4A state meet ended Nov. 2 just like it did May 12 – atop a podium.
Casey won the girls 3,200-meter race at the University Interscholastic League’s Class 4A state cross-country meet at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock in 11 minutes 39.78 seconds to claim her third gold medal in 2018. The state meet had 147 runners.
At the Class 4A state track meet in the spring, Casey won the gold in the 800 meters and 1,600 meters.
Three Marble Falls High School runners competed at the Class 5A cross-country meet.
Sophomore Bailey Goggans finished 17th in the girls 5K, or 3.2-mile event, clocking 18:54.30, while junior Jaden Johnson was 72nd in 19:55.25, which was a new personal best for her by 42 seconds. The race had 149 runners.
Junior Bryer Atkinson was 85th in the boys 5K race, finishing in 16:45.63, among 150 runners.
Marble Falls head coach Chris Schrader said all of his runners are just now discovering how great they can be.
He noted the girls’ “pace upfront was very fast, and Bailey was doing great through two miles.”
The last mile was challenging, he said. That’s why he believes all she needs is more time to work on this race, and she’ll get the results she wants.
“She now knows what she can do instead of it being a race she’s afraid of,” he said. “She realizes the challenges.”
Goggans won gold in the 800 meters and a bronze in the 400 meters at the Class 5A state meet in May.
“I don’t want to take her from what she loves,” Schrader said.
The coach complimented Johnson and Atkinson on their race.
“When you get to the state level, absolutely no one backs away,” Schrader said. “That’s what made the difference. I thought Jaden did great.
“Bryer is just finding out he can run. He’s finding out he has some serious talent,” the coach continued. “If we develop it and go after it, between now and track season, he’ll be a contender to get to the state (track) meet.”