By ROY HESS/Staff Writer
The arrival of October brings renewed awareness of upcoming cross country district meets in the Rio Grande Valley.
For many teams, there’s sometimes a chance a few weeks ahead of time for them to run on the same course that will be used for a district competition later in the month. Teams welcome such an opportunity.
That’s the case for District 32-6A teams on Saturday as the Harlingen Invitational will be competed at Harlingen Sports Complex on Wilson Road, the same site as the 32-6A meet scheduled there Oct. 14.
“”Just about everyone (from 32-6A) should be there,” Rivera coach Arturo Hurtado said.
This is believed to be the 42nd year for the annual Harlingen cross country meet.
“”Yes, I’m hoping all the district teams are there,” Harlingen High coach Efrain Ambriz said. “It’s a great preview of where the teams stack up prior to the district meet. The competition for the district championship is the exciting part at this time of the season.”
Saturday’s meet will start at 8:30 a.m. with the girls varsity 3.2-mile race followed by the boys varsity race over the same distance.
Rivera is the defending team champion for the boys. Records were not immediately available to indicate which team is the meet’s defending champion for the girls.
OTHER MEETS
One week after the Meet of Champions in Edinburg, it’s a fairly light schedule of activity in the Valley this weekend. Besides the Harlingen Invitational, the only other meet that appears on the Valley schedule for Saturday is the 28th annual La Feria Invitational.
At La Feria, the meet starts with the varsity girls running two miles at 8 a.m. and will be followed by the varsity boys running three miles at 8:20 a.m.
Some Valley teams are expected to run Saturday at the Nike Invitational at The Woodlands or at the Round Rock McNeil Invitational at Old Settlers Park, site of the UIL state meet Nov. 12.
LOOKING AHEAD
Besides the 32-6A meet set for Oct. 14 in Harlingen, other conference meets that are coming up involving area teams include the District 32-5A meet on Oct. 21 at Donna High and the District 32-4A meet on Oct. 15 at Raymondville.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess