The Woodlands High School boys cross country team landed at No. 7 in the state in MileSplit's Week 4 Texas rankings, published Monday, Sept. 28.

Senior Elton Martin powered the Highlanders' climb. He finished second at the Nike South XC Invitational on Sunday, Sept. 27, in College Station, clocking 14:45.2 over 5 kilometers. Only Austin Vandegrift sophomore Avinash Dewagan beat him, crossing in 14:44.6. MileSplit called the 0.6-second margin a genuine duel rather than an exhibition.

Martin's Nike South performance followed a third-place finish at the Woodbridge Invitational Sweepstakes the week prior, where he ran 13:40.7 over 3 miles. DyeStat now ranks him 25th nationally, noting that he and Dewagan were the only two runners in the national top 30 who started the season outside the top 100.

Behind Martin, the pack compressed. Bo Breed, a senior, was the team's second scorer in 23rd place at 15:51.7. Sophomore James Clary placed 30th in 16:04.0. Senior William Bishop finished 33rd in 16:06.9. Junior Santiago Gonzalez closed the scoring five in 40th at 16:15.2.

That 23.5-second spread from Breed to Gonzalez is the number that matters most for team scoring. MileSplit identified the season-long question for The Woodlands as whether the runners behind Martin could compress enough to win team competitions. The Nike South result, the outlet wrote, gives a partial answer.

The Woodlands posted a team score of 128, good for second behind Vandegrift's 70 and 19 points clear of Round Rock's 147.

The full Week 4 top 10: No. 1 Carroll (Southlake), No. 2 El Paso Eastwood, No. 3 Austin Vandegrift, No. 4 Bridgeland (Cypress), No. 5 Keller, No. 6 Round Rock, No. 7 The Woodlands, No. 8 Flower Mound, No. 9 Prosper Walnut Grove, No. 10 Lucas Lovejoy.

The Highlanders' girls team also made noise at Nike South, winning the meet with 85 points. Senior Naomi Weller led the way in third place at 17:55.3, and four Woodlands runners finished under 19 minutes in warm, humid conditions, according to DyeStat.