The Boerne Champion cross country program has one of the top runners in the nation in Elizabeth Leachman.
The sophomore has turned in some impressive times in Champion’s first few meets of the year and Chargers cross country coach Jonathan Tate said the sky is the limit for Leachman but only has one request of her.
“I think she can win state and beyond that, I think she can compete for a top 5 to 10 spot at Nike Nationals. In order to do those things we just need her to manage the expectations that come with being a high-profile athlete,” he said. “She is in a very unique space. The one thing I asked her is to enjoy it. She needs to make sure to have fun.”
The Champion girls have medaled at the last five state meets and Tate said he knows it’ll be hard to make it six in a row with graduation, other losses and area teams improving like they have.
“The girls lost Kendall Fallon and her sister is a freshman this year. That really hurt our depth on the girls side but it does open up opportunities for others. I think it would be unfair to place the same expectations on this team losing some really important seniors and then losing two up-and-coming stars as well,” Tate said. “We really just want the girls to develop and maybe by the end of the year we can make it to state and be competitive. The girls race may be wide open with us taking a step back. We have dominated the region for so long I’m sure some teams will be ready to take advantage of the opportunity. We won’t be giving it up without a fight though.”
On the boys side, the Champion boys are deep and have a chance to make some noise at state.
“The boys team really wants to compete for a podium spot and I think it is possible,” Tate said. “They took some lumps early last year but ended the season strong. They have continued that momentum through the spring and summer.”
Runners to watch
Tate said both the boys and girls side have some strong runners.
“Elizabeth has a chance to be one of the top girls in the country. Her 16:34 at the Westlake meet would have been the second-best time in the country last year. After Elizabeth, there are returners Kynley Albright and Jenna Koepke. They should have big seasons. Senior Emma Rice moved here from Georgia and should help the team. The 5-6-7 spots should be up for grabs,” Tate said. “Junior Luis Tovar leads a deep boys team. Fellow juniors Charlie Houck and Caleb Dehart should have big seasons as well. The rest of the boys team is full of guys that have developed into really solid runners. The boys enter the season ranked No. 6 and after the first meet, seem to be more than worthy of the ranking.”
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