Under the leadership of Coach Austin Yaeger and Coach Katrina Adams, the East Broncos Cross Country teams sprinted to victory at the Middle School State Championships held in Houston on Nov. 9 with both the boys' and girls' teams crossing the finish line as 1st place champions. In the girls' 3k Championship race, Anusha Patki set the pace with a strong 26th-place finish, followed closely by teammates Hannah Stumm (29th), Rachel Stumm (31st) and Bishakha Sinha (38th), with Marin Melton and Shrriya Bedse rounding out the top 50. The team's 7th grade girl in the mix of this 8th grade team, Sabrina Wright, finished 59th.
The boys kept up the momentum with Alesh Khowala running into 8th place and All-State honors, joined by Tyler Kim (18th) and Rigved Nehere (20th) in the top 20. Team runner and 7th grader Colten Karstendiek placed in the top 50 and John Jaquish finished the team score in 56th. Baron Schott and the team's 2nd 7th grader Jake Terry finished with the same time and both right next to each other in place, were off their personal bests by 10 seconds.
In the Rising Stars division, the 7th grade girls raced ahead, with Bridget Brassfield and Avery Arthur clocking in at 19th and 20th, with 8th grader Michelle Kencono not far behind in the 22nd spot. Ahan Kothalkar sprinted to a 14th-place finish for the boys, with 8th graders Nikhil Pande and Vihaan Chodisetti took 21st and 23rd overall. The East Broncos truly went the extra mile this season. Congratulations on their well-earned championship!