The Brentwood Christian School cross country team brought their A-game to the state meet on Oct. 27 in Waco. The Lady Bears placed fifth overall, and the Bears placed 10th.

It was a positive showing and completion to the season, as both the boys and girls had better finishes than in 2024.

“Having moved up to (TAPPS) 5A, the competition got better and stronger,” said head coach Katie Smith. “I’m very happy with how our team placed this year…the team worked hard and earned their spot.”

In the girls two-mile race, senior all-state runner and Harding University commit, Harper Counts, was fourth place with a time of 12:22. She closed out her career, which includes both an individual state championship and a pair of runner-up medals, with another impressive performance.

Senior and Harding University commit Hailyn Counts, junior Lynden Worley, and freshman Darla Harlan all placed in the top 50 for the Lady Bears.

In the boys 5K, senior Nico Napper placed 17th with a time of 18:20, and juniors Evan Berger and Xavier Parra ended in the top 60 with times around the 20-minute mark.

“We all ran to the best of our ability and pushed ourselves to our limits,” said Berger. “We all had a very fun experience.”

The team has strengthened themselves by leaning on each other, encouraging one another, and building each other up. Juniors Worley and Berger stepped into leadership roles this year, helping lead their team to state by pushing themselves to get better each day and pushing their teammates as well.

“This year has been a year of teaching and training, but also building on the skills the runners already had,” Smith said. “It was nice to see the experienced runners taking care of and training our newer runners…they pushed each other to be better and built each other up every step of the way.”

“I pushed myself to keep up with Nico and the better runners,” Berger added. “They kept me on track and gave me a goal. Keeping up with them made me grow as a runner in so many ways.”

Smith always preaches the importance of every runner, and this year’s boys finish at state was fully representative of what she preaches. Freshman Nathan Johanson was the tiebreaker between Brentwood and St. Michael’s for 10th in the team standings.

Although Johanson was fifth among BCS runners, he beat the fifth-place runner from St. Michael’s by 10 places, which is the TAPPS tiebreaker procedure.

The team has not only grown in their strength, but they have also grown their bonds with each other.
“We are so goofy around each other, which always makes running so much fun,” said Berger.

“We all try to encourage each other to grow in not just our running but our faith as well,” added Hailyn Counts.

Never taking more than a few days off, the team always strived for excellence. This hard work paid off for both Hailyn and Harper Counts, as they are now committed to Harding University. The school had a signing ceremony for both on Dec. 10.

The team will miss Napper and the Counts sisters next year, but are eager for new leaders and runners to emerge as the journey begins again next August.