NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
The long runs and Saturday morning competitions all led up to the biggest race of the season, and many Valley runners had a day to remember on Saturday. The top RGV finisher at the UIL State Cross Country Meet at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock was Progreso’s Lizbett Rivera, who came in third.
The senior ran her personal best 2-mile time of 11 minutes, 41.23 seconds on her way to the podium finish in Class 4A.
Rivera’s coach, Gloria Guerrier, said she had an idea coming into the race that Saturday could be a strong day. The key was following through on the course.
“She had an excellent run. She ran very smart and ran a tough race,” Guerrier said. “I think mentally, she was prepared to do her best, and hopefully the outcome would put her there. She knew what she was capable of, and we told her what her chances were, and she ran with it. What she likes to say is she finished on empty.”
PSJA Memorial’s Cruz Gomez finished fifth in the 6A boys race with a time 15:13.51. The junior set a new personal record, improving on his 25th-place finish from a season ago.
His coach, Lee Roy Perez, said that a late, light start to the season gave Gomez the energy he needed as the year went and allowed him to hit his peak on Saturday.
“We purposely started the season later, because he had such a great summer,” Perez said. “Everything was geared toward the beginning of November, which is the state meet.”
Gomez finished fifth in the 1,600-meter run at the state track meet in May.
“When he was a freshman, we took care of him. As he gets older and stronger, he does a little bit more,” Perez said. “God blessed him with a good cardiovascular system. We’re really blessed to have such an athlete representing our school and the Valley.”
Beth Ramos of Edinburg North had a strong day. She finished in 11th place with a time of 18:03.
“Her goal was to get a top-10, and she missed it by one, but she worked hard for it,” Cougars coach Homer Martinez said. “We’re very pleased with the performance considering she hasn’t done much training the past month (due to injury).”
Edinburg North’s Tristan Pena finished 29th with a 15:43.34. He represented the next best RGV 6A runner after Gomez.
Progreso’s boys entered the 4A race as regional champions and finished in second place as a team, behind San Elizario.
Everardo Esparza and Omar Anguiano finished eighth and 10th, respectively, with times of 16:29.91 and 16:32.26.
“I think the boys ran with a lot of confidence. I think they knew how talented they were and that they could finish top-three at state,” Progreso boys coach Margarito Jimenez said. “I believe (Esparza) stepped it up. He was 14th at state last year. This year, he improved and finished in the top 10.”
Brownsville IDEA Frontier and Edinburg IDEA Quest had standout runners in the 3A girls division. Brownsville Frontier’s Sabrina Garcia finished fifth with an 11:56.12, and Valery Tobias of IDEA Quest finished 11th with a 12:07.44 on the 2-mile course.
In 5A boys, both Rio Grande City’s Brandon Gracia and Mercedes’ Dominic Cavazos finished in the top 10. Gracia came in 7th with a 15:32.24, and Cavazos was 10th with 15:39.50.
In the team standings, Mercedes edged out Rio Grande City for fourth place. Tigers coach Pete Martinez said his group was out to run a strong team race.
“The key was our guys just going out there and being able to perform on the biggest meet of the year,” Martinez said. “Every week, we’re just working to try to be ready and peak at the right time. At district, our team started coming together.”
VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
UIL State Cross Country Meet
Saturday, Nov. 4
Old Settlers Park, Round Rock
6A Boys
Team Results
1, Conroe The Woodlands, 88; 2, Southlake Carroll, 94; 3, El Paso Eastwood, 123; 4, Katy Tompkins, 176; 5, Comal Smithson Valley, 193
Individual Results
1, Jarrett Kirk, Lewisville Flower Mound, 15:02.56; 2, Gavin Hoffpauir, Conroe The Woodlands, 15:08.84; 3,Hatfu Knight, Tyler Lee, 15:09.89; 4, Nick Majerus, Humble Kingwood, 15:11.59; 5, Cruz Gomez, PSJA Memorial, 15:13.51; 6, Matthew Kearney, Austin Westlake, 15:13.69; 7, Max Smith, Del Rio, 15:15.41; 8, Gabe Armijo, El Paso Eastwood, 15:15.97; 9, Alec Wright, 15:21.24; 10, Daniel Figueroa, Katy Tompkins, 15:24.12
RGV Finishers
29; Tristan Pena, Edinburg North, 15:43.34; 37, Evan Williams, McAllen Memorial, 15:47.26; Trevor Williams, McAllen Memorial
6A Girls
Team Results
1, Keller 63; 2, Lewisville Hebron, 122; 3, Southlake Carroll, 130; 4, Lewisville Flower Mound, 141; 5, Houston Stratford, 163.
Individual Results
1, Halena Rahman, Montgomery, 17:16.30; 2, Julia Black, Keller, 17:25.44; 3, Ashlyn Hillyard, Plano, 17:25.65; 4, Heidi Nielson, Katy Cinco Ranch, 17:25.98; 5, Eva Jess, El Paso Franklin, 17:34.75; 6, Laura Fairchild, Lewisville Flower Mound, 17:37.61; 7, Allison Wilson, Montgomery, 17:37.75; 8, Abbey Santoro, Keller, 17:40.86; 9, Isabel Van Camp, 17:48.37; 10, Quinn Owen, Lewisville Marcus, 17:54.11.
RGV finishers
11, Ariana Beth Ramos, Edinburg North, 18:03.15; 30, Bailey Villalon , La Joya Palmview, 18:33.52; 32, Brianna Robles, La Joya Palmview, 18:36.93; 82, Oma Sanchez, La Joya Palmview, 19:33.68; 131; Yoko Gomez, La Joya Palmview, 20:30.47; 134, Karla Chapa La Joya Palmview, 20:43.59; Brittany Cano, La Joya Palmview, 21.17.62; 150, Gissel Gonzalez, 21:31.44
5A Boys
Team Results
1, Lucas Lovejoy, 69; 2, Grapevine, 91; 3, Cedar Park, 112; 4, Mercedes, 130; 5, Rio Grande City, 185
Individual Results
1, Graydon Morris, Aledo, 14:58.90; 2, Michael Abeyta, El Paso Hanks, 15:00.18; 3, Ace Castillo, CC Tuloso-Midway, 15:13.63; 4, Sergio Armendariz, Dallas Adamson, 15:18.98; 5, Nick Hendrix Frisco Wakeland, 15:25.18; 6, Bobby Holt, Dripping Springs, 15:30.33; 7, Brandon Gracia, Rio Grande City, 15:32.24; 8, Cameron Kleinman, Austin Johnson, 15:33.30; 9, Aaron Gilliam, El Paso Irvin, 15:37.12; 10, Dominic Cavazos, 15:39.50
RGV Finishers
25; Alejandro Lopez, Rio Grande City, 16:01.15; 34; Marcos Garza, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:08.24; 39, Julian Fuentes, Mercedes; 47, Gudalupe Reyes, Mercedes, 16:15.32; 55, Alex Canales, Rio Grande City, 16:25.20; 61, Rudy Aranda, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:28.56; 75, Eduardo Trevino, Mercedes, 16:36.86; 75, Wilberth Soberanis, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:36.86; 78, Marco Jimenez, Mercedes, 16:38.70; 85, Cesar Ramirez, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:45.80; 104, Efrain Palacios, Rio Grande City, 16:52.76; 105, Angel Avila, Sharyland Pioneer, 16;53.26; 107, Juan Rodriguez, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:53.83. 114; Jose Carona, Rio Grande City, 16:59.34; 130, Jose Rodriguez, Sharyland Pioneer, 17:19.31; 136, Frank Gonzalez, Rio Grande City, 17:29.55; 143, Guillermo Villarreal, Rio Grande City, 17:57.95; 151, Jose Bocardo, Mercedes, 18:59.18, 152, Jason Ledesma, 19:25.67
5A Girls
Team Results
1, Frisco Liberty, 122; 2, Canyon Randall, 126; 3, Burleson Centennial, 135; 4, Frisco Wakeland, 154; 5, Grapevine, 157
Individual Results
1, London Culbreath, McKinney North, 16:55.95; 2, Carrie Fish, Frisco Liberty, 17:29.48; 3, Gracie Morris, Aledo, 17:46.45; 4, Harli Woosley, Burleson Centennial, 17:59.71; 5, Binta Ka, North Richland Hills, 18:01.28; 6, Daphne Pate, Canyon Randall, 18:02.90; 7, Amelia Juaregui, Frisco Liberty, 18:05.93; 8, Sabbatha Taylor, Hereford, 18:06.80; 9, Colleen Stegmann, Frisco Reedy, 18:07.46; 10, Zoe Hensley, Denton, 18:12.68
RGV Finshers
27, Valeria Diaz, Sharyland High, 18:46.21; 49, Ana Hernandez, Sharyland Pioneer, 19:23.17; 83, Vanessa Verda, Edcouch-Elsa, 19:53.58; 86, Yanelly Garza, Sharyland Pioneer, 19:55.72; 91, Andrea Gallardo, Sharyland, 20:00.79; 101, Nadia Gutierrez, Sharyland Pioneer, 20:12.01; 109, Delilah Vega, Sharyland, 20:22.25; 118, Arianna Gomez, Sharyland, 20:35.49; 121, Gabriela Ramirez, Sharyland Pioneer, 20:39.20, 132, Haley Villalpando, Edcouch-Elsa, 21:05.62, 134, Nydia De la Garza, Sharyland Pioneer, 21:09.42; 138, Sidney Bravo, Sharyland High, 21:31.03; 141, Krystal Cantu, Sharyland Pioneer, 21:41.75; 145, Samantha Guerrero, Sharyland High, 22:06.46; 148, Kayla Aul, Sharyland Pioneer, 22:48.41
4A Boys
Team Results
1, San Elizario, 53; 2, Progeso, 73; 3, Kaufman, 103, 4, Melissa, 135; 5, Bridgeport, 176.
Individual Results
1, Edwin Gomez, San Elizario, 15:36.16; 2, Christian Rivera, Kaufman, 15:38.40; 3, Judson Greer, Melissa, 16:08:56; 4, Eli Ortiz, Taylor, 16:08.88; 5, Rene Arambula, San Elizario; 16:10.91; 6, Sloan Lewis, Burkburnett, 16:14.48; 7, Aaron Sevetlecic, Alvarado, 16:18.70; 8, Everardo Esparza, Progreso, 16:29.91; 9, Rudy Gallegos, Carrizo Springs, 16:31.60; 10, Omar Anguiano, Progreso, 16:32.26
RGV Finishers
17, Gerardo Gallardo, Progreso, 16:49.19; 34, Anthony Vasquez, 17:09.2; 49, Jonathan Vega, Progreso; 17:21.00; 51; Reyes Rodriguez, La Feria, 17:24.03; 74, Juan Villeda; La Feria, 17:38.99; 86, Samuel Cerda, Progreso, 17:49.45; 105, Santos Botello, La Feria, 18:19:59; 107; Anthony Cepdea, 18:19.82; 115; Mario Aleman, La Feria, 18:26.14; 123; Victor Velazquez, La Feria, 18:39.64; 134, Curtis Rodriguez, 18:58.75; 152, Greg Rangel, Progreso, 21:02.94
4A Girls (3,200 meters)
Team Results
1, Bandera, 73; 2, River Oaks Castleberry, 105, 3, Alvarado, 124; 4, Kaufman 149; 5, Decatur, 167
Individual Results
1, Emily Garcia, Alvarado, 11:28.65; 2, Caitlin Buendia, River Oaks Castleberry, 11:33.47; 3, Lizbett Rivera, Progreso, 11:41.23; 4, Emma Stauber, Boerne, 11:51.26; 5, Tatum Fish, Bushland, 11:52.31; 6, Kaytlyn Kuta, Huffman Hargrave, 11:52.91; 7, Jaci McGregor, Salado, 11:53.29; 8, Rachel Allen, Midlothian Heritage, 11:54.15; Alia Henderson, Banera, 11:54.63; 10, Dariana Vasquez, La Feria, 11:54.75.
RGV finishers
81, Miranda Torres, La Feria, 13:03; 92, Analiza Rodriguez, 13:20.74; 96, Marina Villanueva, La Feria, 13:22.52; 109, Katrina Villarreal, La Feria; 13:31.15; 121, Annabelle Rodriguez, La Feria, 13:38.77; 127, Briana Reyes, 13:47.12
RGV Finishers (Sub-4A)
3, Kristen Aleman, Santa Maria (2A), 12:11.43
11, Valery Tobias, 12:07.44; 100, Desiree Guerra, Santa Rosa(3A), 13:26.02
17, Robbie Sue Espericueta, La Villa (2A), 12:36.98
17, Refugio Montelongo, La Villa (2A), 17:18.40