The Aledo Bearcat athletic program has its first state medal in Class 6A.
Senior cross country runner Tyler Connelly finished seventh at the UIL State Cross Country meet Friday morning, Oct. 6, at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.
The top three team finishes were all from Aledo’s Region 1 as El Paso Eastwood took first place, Southlake Carroll took second place, and Keller took third place.
Connelly ran 15 minutes, 0.3 seconds over the 5,000-meter course and was 26 seconds behind the first-place runner from Denton Guyer. The top five runners all finished within seven seconds of each other, between times of 14:36 and 14:43. The sixth-place runner ran 14:52.
Despite the achievement Connelly was not pleased with his performance. His best time this season came Sept. 5 at the Marcus Coach T Invitational, where he ran 14:35. He has also run under 15 minutes in two other races this season, including the previous race at the regional meet.
“In all honesty I know that I’m a lot better than how I performed at state so the medal just reminds me of what could’ve been,” Connelly said.
It is Connelly’s fourth trip to state and his second individual medal after finishing third last year competing in the 5A meet. His two previous years he placed 14th and 117th. Connelly was also competing with his Bearcat team the first three years where he helped them finish 10th in 2023, 12th in 2024 and fourth in 2025.
Even with the state meet over, his cross country season is not over which he is using as motivation for himself.
“I race them all again on Nov. 22nd at Nike Cross South Regionals so I have more chances to prove myself,” Connelly said. “This just wasn’t a good representation of what I’m capable of.”
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