The Lady Scots blazed through their initial meets with a streak of four wins, including a dominant performance on Sept. 5 at the Coach T Marcus Invitational at North Lakes Park in Denton.
HP entered the season ranked third in the state by the Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas behind No. 1 Lovejoy and No. 2 Smithson Valley. During their 2025 campaign, the Lady Scots finished fifth at the 5A state championships in Round Rock (Lovejoy and Smithson Valley took first and second, respectively).
HP returns five runners who gained state experience in Austin a year ago: Ryan Sontag (28th), Finley Heckler (32nd), Paisley Bassett (56th), Claire Deeken (101st), and Annie Cooper (106th).
The team’s Sept. 5 showing was particularly promising given the wealth of 6A programs in action in Denton, including the host Lady Marauders, Prosper, Aledo, and Coppell.
But none could approach HP, which finished in first with 106 points, well in front of second-place Salado (155) and third-place Austin Vandegrift (170).
Individually, sophomore Adelaide Wortman — who won gold in the 800-meter run at the state track meet last spring — paced the Lady Scots with a sixth-place finish (17:57).
Senior Sontag was just one second back in seventh (17:58), with junior Heckler in 21st (18:32), junior Bassett in 25th (18:35), senior Cooper in 76th (19:44), freshman Orsella Hooks in 81st (19:48) and freshman Hadleigh Raynor in 119th (20:30).
Prior to Marcus, HP had earned first-place finishes on Aug. 15 at the Waxahachie Woodhouse Invitational, Aug. 21 at the Friday Night Hawk Invite, and Aug. 29 at the Greenhill 6-Mile Relay.
“The kids have been working hard and running great,” said Susan Bailey, HP head coach. “We’ve seen some strong competition, which we will have a lot more of in the coming weeks. And when you look at our time gap at Marcus, from one through five, it was 38 seconds. That’s pretty good … It’s actually the fastest we’ve had in a while.”
Bailey noted HP has benefited from the presence of Wortman, who didn’t compete in cross country as a freshman due to injury.
Bailey has also been impressed with HP’s current crop of freshmen.
“We usually have one or two freshmen on the varsity roster,” Bailey said. “Three of our top four runners this year were on the team as freshmen, so that’s not really unusual for us, but it’s definitely nice to have.”
HP’s newcomers have followed the lead of its veterans. Their guidance has taken on added importance this year due to the new weather guidelines designed to combat extreme temperatures.
“We usually practice in the afternoons,” Bailey said. “That’s just how it’s been ever since I’ve been here. But now, the girls are having to get out there at 5 a.m. We also used to practice for two hours and 20 minutes and have had to trim that down to 1.5 hours. They get out there and get their work in quickly. And I mean it’s pitch-black out there. Everyone out there has lighted vests on, but I couldn’t be more proud of how they’re handling it. Everyone has bought in because of the culture we have here. This team is just so connected and it starts with our older players really buying in and the younger ones following them.”
HP will continue its preparation for the postseason in the coming months, including competing in the District 12-5A Championship set for Oct. 15 at Myers Park in McKinney.
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