NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
She might be a freshman, but McAllen High runner Charlotte Beck held her own at Saturday’s Patriot Invitational in Mission.
Beck won the girls’ individual 3-mile race with a time of 19 minutes, 16 seconds, which was 50 seconds ahead of Edinburg North’s Isabella Garcia in second.
“Charlotte’s really coming around,” McAllen High girls cross country coach Sarah Smith said. “She’s a great athlete. Once she gets into her comfort zone, she goes for it. She looked really relaxed today. I think it’s the best run she’s had.”
Saturday was Beck’s first individual win in high school after she previously won a district title at Morris Middle School. Because she is still new to varsity running, Beck is going through a learning curve.
“She’s still growing through the process,” Smith said. “She’s getting used to everything. She hasn’t had to do all the runs that we have the girls do in practice. I feel like she’s coming out of it and doing a lot better now.”
Smith, who is in her first season coaching the Bulldogs, is in the process of installing expectations for her team each week.
“I’ve stressed to them that we need to work as a team,” Smith said. “They need to stick to each other and talk to each other when they run. And if they feel good, they go. With Charlotte, I always tell her, ‘If you feel good, you need to go. Get your teammates going and get them motivated. Once you do that, you’ve got to go,’ because they need to play their part and come right behind her.”
The McAllen High boys captured first place as a team with a score of 32. Donna High wasn’t far behind in second place (48).
McAllen High placed four runners in the top 10 of a small field.
“Our goal is to have five guys as close to our top guy, Hunter Herrera, as possible,” McAllen High boys cross country coach Luis Cantu said. “We wanted to get them all within 30 seconds of Hunter’s time today.”
McAllen High placed five finishers in the race’s top 20, not including Herrera. Herrera finished second (15:36) behind Weslaco High‘s Tony Sanchez, who posted a 15:34.
Herrera and McHi’s Carlos Juarez, who finished 16th (16:16.5), were separated by 40.5 seconds.
“That’s something that our fourth and fifth guys really need to push to, but that’s going to come in time,” Cantu said. “They’ll be more mature and have more race experience later in the year, because I’ve got five sophomores, one freshman and a junior on the roster.”
VALLEY HS CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
Patriot Invitational
Saturday, Sept. 8
At Kenneth White Junior High, Mission
Boys
Team Results
1, McAllen High, 32; 2, Donna High, 48; 3, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 81; 4, Sharyland High, 95.
Individual Results
1, Tony Sanchez, Weslaco High, 15:34; 2, Hunter Herrera, McAllen High, 15:36; 3, Eric Chavez, Donna High, 15:42; 4, Joe Rios, McAllen High, 16:03; 5, Ismael Hernandez, McAllen High, 16:05; 6, Anthony Calvillo, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 16:06; 7, David Johnson, Sharyland High, 16:07; 8 (tie), Adan Jonjitud, Zapata, 16:08; 8 (tie), Ernesto Salinas, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 16:08; 10, Julio Alanis, McAllen High, 16:09.
Girls
Team Results
1, Corpus Christi King, 68; 2, Mission Veterans, 93; 3, Mission High, 110; 4, McAllen Memorial, 117; 5, Zapata, 124.
Individual Results
1, Charlotte Beck, McAllen High, 19:16; 2, Isabella Garcia, Edinburg North, 20:06; 3, Emily Hu, Corpus Christi King, 20:11; 4, Lauren Ramirez, Corpus Christi King, 20:16; 5, Isabella Garza, Corpus Christi King, 20:20; 6, K.K. Gonzalez, Zapata, 20:25; 7, Janie Delgado, McAllen Rowe, 20:31; 8, Lauren Garcia, McAllen Rowe, 20:32; 9, Leila Arriola, Mission High, 20:37; 10, Jocelyn Mora, Mission Veterans, 20:41.
Stock Show Invitational
Saturday, Sept. 8
At Livestock Show Grounds, Mercedes
Boys
Team Results
1, Rio Grande City, 66; 2, Progreso, 84; 3, Sharyland Pioneer, 123; 4, Harlingen High, 161; 5, La Joya High, 181; 6, La Feria, 243; 7, San Benito, 267; 8, IDEA Edinburg, 287; 9, Brownsville Lopez, 297; 10, Brownsville Hanna, 308.
Individual Results
1, Joaquin Medina, San Benito, 16:33; 2, Lupe Reyes, Mercedes, 16:47; 3, Alex Canales, Rio Grande City, 16:51; 4, Alex Lopez, Rio Grande City, 16:54; 5, Julian Fuentes, Mercedes, 17:00; 6, Jorge Sepulveda, La Joya High, 17:02; 7, John Vega, Progreso, 17:17; 8, Efrain Palacios, Rio Grande City, 17:18; 9, Gerardo Gallardo, Progreso, 17:24; 10, Julian Tavares, Brownsville Rivera, 17:26.84.
Girls
Team Results
1, Sharyland High, 38; 2, La Joya Palmview, 133; 3, Rio Grande City, 189; 4, Brownsville Hanna, 197; 5, Harlingen High, 219; 6, Harlingen South, 249; 7, Edinburg Economedes, 256; 8, Weslaco East, 265; 9, Edinburg Vela, 347; 10, Port Isabel, 379.
Individual Results
1, Andrea De La Rosa, Brownsville Rivera, 19:42; 2, Samantha Guerrero, Sharyland High, 20:16; 3, Robbie Sue Espericueta, La Villa, 20:31; 4, Arianna Gomez, Sharyland High, 20:38; 5, Soledad Cruz, Mercedes, 20:42; 6, Andrea Gallardo, Sharyland High, 20:53.96; 7, Bailey Villalon, La Joya Palmview, 21:06.05; 8, Tessie Garcia, Weslaco East, 21:06.58; 9, Karla Chapa, La Joya Palmview, 21:09; 10, Danielle Salinas, Sharyland High, 21:13.