By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
A little history was recorded when the Rivera Raiders captured the boys team championship at Friday’s District 32-6A cross country meet at Brownsville Sports Park.
“They’re the first ones from Rivera to do that for the boys,” longtime Raiders coach Arturo Hurtado said of winning a cross country district team title. “I’m happy for them. It’s something they’ve been thinking about all season. They’ve been aggressive (running at meets).”
Hanna had won seven of the previous eight boys team titles in district, which was previously District 32-5A. The lone exception was 2012 when the boys crown went to Harlingen High.
This time, it was Rivera’s turn to shine.
“It went as well as we planned,” said Rivera’s Anthony Garza, who took third place in the varsity boys 3.1-mile race. “It went good. Everybody came out on top. As long as we got first (as a team), we’re good (with it).”
Added teammate Cristian Machuca, who led Rivera with a second-place finish, “It was important (for us to all stay together and come in among the top finishers). It feels really good.”
The boys race was won by Harlingen High senior Orser Rodriguez in 16 minutes, 11 seconds.
The next four places belonged to Rivera as Machuca was second in 16:17, Garza was third in 16:42, Johnathan Herrera was fourth in 17:01 and Emmanuel Guerra was fifth in 17:03. Ruben Chapa, a freshman, came in 18th to complete the scoring for the Raiders, who took the title with 32 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Harlingen High with 44. Hanna’s boys were third with 101 points followed by Brownsville Veterans Memorial with 110 and San Benito with 131.
The top three teams and the top 10 individual finishers qualified for the Region IV meet Nov. 1 in San Antonio.
The Hanna girls, led by the first- and second-place finishes of Mariana Sanchez and Sophia Salinas, captured their third straight district crown with 40 points, while runner-up Brownsville Veterans had 51. The next three teams were Harlingen High with 76 points, Los Fresnos with 112 and Harlingen South with 141.
“I feel dead,” said an exhausted Sanchez after winning the 3.1-mile girls race in 19:50, which was 34 seconds faster than Salinas. “I have an injury, so it made it harder for me. I had to be mentally strong. Every time I was about to give up, I thought of my team and how we wanted this title so bad. So that’s what I did, I ran hard and got what I wanted.”
Sanchez, whose goal was to win after coming in second one year ago at district as a junior, said she was able to break away from a group of runners about 1 mile into the race. She crossed the finish line unchallenged. Salinas was second in 20:24, Brownsville Veterans’ Rachel Ysaguirre was third in 20:27, Hanna’s Naomi Lucio was fourth in 20:44 and Harlingen High’s Crystal Lopez was fifth in 20:45.
Besides Sanchez, Salinas and Lucio, the other top 20 finishers for the Hanna girls were Estephania Aviles in 14th, Scarlett Salazar in 19th and Audren Pineda in 20th.
“This district title is what we’ve been working for,” said Sanchez, the winner of a meet for the first time this year after almost always placing in the top five since the season began in August. “We have a young team, and we do put a lot of high expectations on each other, but it’s only because we know everyone can do it.”
District 32-6A Cross Country Meet
At Brownsville Sports Park
Friday’s Results
Girls Varsity Division (3.1 miles)
Team Standings (top 5) — 1. Brownsville Hanna, 40 points; 2. Brownsville Veterans Memorial, 51; 3. Harlingen High, 76; 4. Los Fresnos, 112; 5. Harlingen South 141
Individual Results (top 20) — 1. Mariana Sanchez, Hanna, 19:50; 2.Sophia Salinas, Hanna, 20:24; 3. Rachel Ysaguirre, Brownsville Veterans, 20:27; 4. Naomi Lucio, Hanna, 20:44; 5. Crystal Lopez, Harlingen High, 20:45; 6. Valeria Tellez, Los Fresnos, 20:54; 7. Mya Price, Harlingen South, 20:55; 8. Jordan Rudd, Brownsville Veterans, 20:56; 9. Cheelsea Rodriguez, Harlingen High, 20:57.57; 10. Leslie Estrella, Lopez, 20:57.68; 11. Paola Villarreal, Brownsville Veterans, 21:05; 12. Brandy Endsley, Rivera, 21:06; 13. Reeanna Zamfir, Brownsville Veterans, 21:10; 14. Estephania Aviles, Hanna, 21:29; 15. Jennifer Lopez, Rivera, 21:46; 16. Mia Villarreal, Brownsville Veterans, 21:46; 17. Alice Garcia, Harlingen High, 21:57; 18. Victoria Vital, Los Fresnos, 22:02; 19. Scarlett Salazar, Hanna, 22:14; 20. Audren Pineda, Hanna, 22:18
Boys Varsity Division (3.1 miles)
Team Standings (top 5) — 1. Brownsville Rivera, 32 points; 2. Harlingen High, 44; 3. Brownsville Hanna, 101; 4. Brownsville Veterans, 110; 5. San Benito, 131.
Individual Results (top 20) — 1. Orser Rodriguez, Harlingen High, 16:11; 2. Cristian Machuca, Rivera, 16:17; 3. Anthony Garza, Rivera, 16:42; 4. Johnathan Herrera, Rivera, 17:01; 5. Emmanuel Guerra, 17:03; 6. Lorenzo Castañeda, Harlingen High, 17:06; 7. David Martinez, Hanna, 17:09; 8. Ricardo Torres, Los Fresnos, 17:10; 9. Edward Ramos, Harlingen High, 17:14; 10. Rodrigo Gamez, San Benito, 17:22; 11. Aron Adame, San Benito, 17:31; 12. Adrel Aparicio, Harlingen South, 17:33; 13. Adrian Hernandez, Harlingen High, 17:36; 14. Dominic Castellanos, Hanna, 17:38; 15. Fernando Escobar, Harlingen High, 17:42; 16. John Riner, Hanna, 17:43.06; 17. Mason Ford, Harlingen High, 17:43.78; 18. Ruben Chapa, Rivera, 17:45; 19. Adan Valadez, Harlingen High, 17:57; 20. Beto Aguillon, Brownsville Veterans, 17:59