As the two Kingwood Park athletes crossed the finish line, seniors Carson Brown and Elijah Merino embraced the moment that ended their high school cross country careers.
The runners made their third appearance at the UIL Cross Country State Championship in Round Rock on Nov. 1. After the race, they learned they placed higher at the State Meet than any other Kingwood Park runner.
“I was coming across the final stretch and I told myself, ‘Elijah, this is it,’” Merino said. “’It’s now or never. Might as well just take the risk even if I throw up at the end of the race. Take the risk and go for it.’ That’s how I decided what was going to end my season.”
Merino placed 8th with a time of 15:53.20 and Brown placed 11th with a time of 16:00.30.
The two athletes said they were proud of the way they finished the cross country season, however, their next focus is on track and field.
“Since I’m going to do track season I’m going to have to train a lot harder than cross country,” Brown said. “Maybe I’ll get to State for track, which is a lot harder than cross country.”
Merino will also run track this year before heading to run cross country next year at Sam Houston State. Merino signed his letter of intent on Monday.
“I wasn’t expecting to run in college,” Merino said. “Then, Coach [Patrick] Torres reached out to me and gave me an opportunity to. It’s exciting.”
After achieving the majority of their goals throughout the season, the seniors said they were happy with the way they ended their final season.
“I wanted to go out with a bang,” Merino said. “I want to make an impact. I wanted to leave a legacy. Especially with coach [James] Higham being a new coach, he can say he had a Top 10 runner at State.”
Both of the runners have found that their current and previous coaches as sources of influence and motivation.
With Higham being new this year, the runners said they were lucky they found a connection quickly.
“The coaches, they’ve really kept me on task mentally,” Brown said. “ I always go into a race thinking I’m not going to win, but they tell me, you’re a lot better than you think you are.”
After the race at State, former boys cross country coach Chris Elliott reached out to Merino to congratulate him on his season. Elliott was Brown and Merino’s coach from their freshman to junior seasons.
Merino said Elliott was an inspiration and helped push him to qualify for State two years in a row.
“I can remember it like it was yesterday, being a freshman and telling coach Elliott, ‘I’m going to make it to State,’” Merino said.
