Plano East senior Meena Mulford, pictured in previous action, finished 18th with a time of 18:34.5 at the Region II-6A cross country meet on Monday. Photo by David Wolman / C&S Media
By David Wolman
One second.
That was all that separated Plano East senior Meena Mulford from qualifying for the Class 6A state cross-country meet.
With seven of the 10 individual state qualifiers from nonqualifying teams finishing among the top 10 overall at Monday’s Region I-6A meet at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock, the competition for the three remaining berths was tight.
Despite a strong effort, Mulford finished 18th with a time of 18:34.5, just one second behind Denton Guyer sophomore Anneliese Hull, who claimed the final individual qualifying spot.
Hull placed 17th in 18:33.5.
Senior Brooke Tierney posted Plano East’s second-fastest girls time, finishing 74th overall in 20:01.
Senior Kate Salyer placed 92nd in 20:23, followed by junior Louisa Christensen, who finished 101st in 20:31.3.
Junior Sophia Nguyen took 109th in 20:41.4, junior Reagan Diggs placed 140th in 21:29.7, and freshman Taylor Chu rounded out the Lady Panthers’ lineup with a 144th-place finish in 21:38.9.
Plano East finished 13th in the girls team standings with 343 points.
Flower Mound captured the regional championship with 55 points, followed by Keller (103), Southlake Carroll (127) and Byron Nelson (129). All four teams earned berths in the state meet.
On the boys side, senior Isaac Updike led Plano East in his final high school cross-country race, placing 81st with a time of 16:42.2.
Sophomore Alex Castillo finished 114th in 17:19.4, while senior Michael Sharp placed 118th in 17:22.5.
Senior Deyan Bhakta took 123rd in 17:24.7, followed by sophomore Levi Rowe, who finished 129th in 17:32.5.
Sophomore Grant Updike placed 145th in 17:41.1, and junior Trinabh Madadi completed the Panthers’ lineup with a 159th-place finish in 18:03.
Plano East finished 19th in the boys team standings with 494 points.
El Paso Eastwood won the regional title with 48 points, followed by Southlake Carroll (53), Keller (113) and Flower Mound (154). All four teams qualified for state.
Although Plano East did not advance any runners to the state meet, the program enjoyed a productive season.
The Panthers qualified both their boys and girls teams for regionals in the same year for the first time since 2017.
The Lady Panthers also captured their second consecutive district championship, while the boys team made its first regional appearance since 2019.
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