DONNA — Losing the district title last year didn’t sit well with the Edinburg Economedes girls cross country team.
So, they did something about it at the District 31-6A championship Friday at Donna North by reclaiming it.
Senior Dayan Lozano led the way for the Jaguars as she finished third overall with a time of 19 minutes, 48.9 seconds. Weslaco High’s Amity Ebarb won the individual title at 18:42.5, and Weslaco East’s Tessie Garcia finished second in 19:10.5.
“It was up to us if we wanted to take it or leave it, and we took it,” Lozano said. “We knew what we had to do, and we did it.”
Edinburg Economedes won the girls race with 42 points. Weslaco High finished second with 47 points. Wesalco East came in third with 60 points. Those three teams, plus the top 10 runners, will advance to regionals Oct. 28 in Corpus Christi.
Lozano said the team fought hard during the race to reclaim their title from Weslaco High.
Lozano raced at the front of the pack as she followed behind Ebarb and Garcia most of the race. Lozano’s teammates trailed just behind her and close enough to earn the top score.
Lozano said even though she was tired and thought about quitting during the 5,000-meter race, she decided to push herself harder, finish the race for the team, and to cap her senior year with the district title.
“We knew it was possible,” Lozano said.
Three Economedes runners finished in the top 10. And the last four runners — Destiney Martinez, Jennifer Almanza, Leslie Treviño and Audrey Chavez — rounded out the teams score in the top 23.
After the race, Weslaco High head coach Pablo Almaguer congratulated the Economedes team for their win and told the girls he appreciated their competition.
The top three teams and top 10 runners from the girls and boys district championship advance to the regional meet.
Economedes runner Dianette Garcia could be heard celebrating with her team after the official results announcing the Jaguars district champions were said over the loudspeaker.
“District champs, baby,” Garcia said proudly, as the girls ran to their coach and embraced her to celebrate their accomplishment. “We did it.”
DONNA NORTH BOYS EDGE VELA IN ‘OT’
Edinburg Vela’s Jeremy Niño made the sign of the cross while running in full stride just before he crossed the finish line to capture his first district title.
His teammate, Ramsey Moreno, followed him in second place, just seconds behind him.
The next two runners were Donna North seniors Jesus Mora and Jorge Ponce.
Edinburg Vela’s Mark Salas trailed Ponce by five seconds to round out the top five runners in the District 31-6A boys cross country championship.
The race ended up being a thriller as Donna North’s sixth man the 45-point tie between Donna North and Edinburg Vela and gave Donna North the boys District 31-6A team title.
When Javier Venegas edged Edinburg Vela’s sixth man by eight seconds, it was enough to clinch the district title for Donna North.
In the event of a tie in cross country competition, the winner is based of which team’s sixth man finishes higher.
Donna North, Edinburg Vela and third place Edinburg High will advance to the regionals, along with the top 10 individual runners.
“It was a pretty tough race,” Donna North head coach Basilio Mendoza said. “Unfortunately, it comes down to just one race.”
Mendoza described the district championship as the scariest race between district, regional and state championship races because of the low number of runners; in this case, just 49 competed.
“Your room for error is very small,” Mendoza said about the district championship race. “The kids responded and were able to win back-to-back in our second year in 6A competition.”