Cross Country

Aledo once again sending two teams to state

Ladycats win regional, Bearcats second

Posted Thursday, October 23, 2025 12:11 pm

In what is becoming an annual tradition, the Aledo Ladycats and Bearcats cross country teams have extended their season as far as a team possibly can. For a third consecutive season both teams will compete at the Class 5A State Meet at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock on Oct. 31.

It comes as a result of yet another strong performance at the Class 5A Region I Meet at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock on Monday, Oct. 20. There, the Ladycats completed a trifecta by winning a third straight regional championship, while the Bearcats had their best regional performance ever, finishing as runner-up.

“That’s second with two freshmen running,” Aledo head coach Mike Pinkerton said of the boys. “They’re going to be great again next year.”

Concerning the overall success of the teams, he said with a chuckle, “It never gets old. I get old, but it doesn’t.”

This is the fourth consecutive season the Ladycats will compete as a team at state. They were third last season and second in 2023.

Individually, Molly Garrison captured the regional championship after placing second a year ago. She clocked a time of 18 minutes, 6 seconds over the 5-kilometer course.

Tyler Connelly captured the boys regional championship with a time of 15:28 over 5K. He was fifth last season.

“It was a tremendous day,” Pinkerton said, adding about the Lubbock course, “Never an easy place to run.

“I’m extremely proud of all our runners. Their hard work, dedication, and early mornings are paying off.”

From regionals, the top four teams and top 10 individuals qualify for state. The Ladycats had a second top-10 finisher with Mykel Murry, who was seventh.

This is the ninth consecutive year Aledo will be represented at state. Pinkerton, who is in his ninth season as head coach, has now led the Bearcats to state as a team in 2019 and 2021 and 2023-25, along with the Ladycats in 2023-25. The program also had individual qualifiers in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

The Ladycats enter this season’s state meet ranked fourth behind defending champion Comal Smithson Valley, 2023 champions Lucas Lovejoy and Dallas Highland Park.