By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
East Valley runners competed in the Region IV cross country races Monday and Tuesday in Corpus Christi, and many punched their tickets for the state meet to be held Nov. 23-24 in Round Rock.
The Harlingen High boys team continued its highly successful 2020 season by winning the Class 6A Region IV team title Tuesday with a score of 107. Junior Geovany Cisneros once again led the Cardinals, following up his District 32-6A title-winning run by finishing ninth in the region with a time of 16 minutes, 17.97 seconds. Ivan and Abel Montante finished 14th and 28th, respectively. Dominic Luna (38th place) and Carlos Marchand (62nd) also contributed to Harlingen High’s winning score.
“Honestly, our whole goal was to make it to state. Not that we didn’t think we could win it, but that wasn’t the No. 1 thing,” Cardinals coach Efrain Ambriz said. “Winning a regional title says a lot about our program and the direction we’re going. We don’t want to set a limit at just getting to state. We want to make some noise when we get there, and we’re going to do our best to represent the Valley and Harlingen High School.”
Brownsville Hanna junior John Abrego qualified as an individual for the 6A state meet by finishing 12th with a time of 16:20.89. The top three teams and top 10 individuals not on a qualifying team advance from the regional meet in each classification.
In the girls 6A race, the Harlingen South Lady Hawks (264 points) finished 12th in the team standings and the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals (303) were 13th. The Lady Hawks’ team was comprised of Aliyah Fonseca (31st), Alexis Fonseca (37th), Arianna Rodriguez (79th), Alex Perez (90th) and Annalea Cano (123). Harlingen High’s scored runners were Victoria Scarberry (35th), Ayianna Olivas (61st), Annabel Reyes (87th), Stephanie Suarez (112th) and Brianna Rivas (116th).
San Benito’s Roy Gomez (49th) and Harlingen South’s Pedro Cervantes (50th) competed as individuals in the boys meet, and Los Fresnos’ Jasmine Ponce (66th) and Brownsville Hanna’s Brissa Stinson (114th) ran in the girls race.
On Monday, the San Perlita boys team and two Lasara girls runners earned their spots in the Class 1A state meet.
The Trojans finished third with a score of 138, putting together another strong performance after their second-place finish at the District 32-1A meet. James Herrera came in 16th with a time of 20:38.78 and was followed closely by 32-1A district champion junior Diego Ortiz, who was 18th. Jose Lozano (30th), Ely Terry (46th) and Samuel Conde (83rd) contributed to San Perlita’s score.
San Perlita had some top runners choose to sit out due to COVID-19. After falling one point short of winning a fifth-straight district title, the Trojans were looking to “bounce back” at the regional meet, and coach Nataniel Garza said the mission was accomplished.
“We’ve been challenged so much this year, my group specifically. They deserved every ounce of this,” Garza said. “Kids that were called upon stepped up in the short practice time. I can’t put into words how proud I am of them. Seeing them celebrate was just pure joy. We might not have won district, but we’re going to state, and I’d rather take that because we’ve won four district titles but we’ve yet to make state. This is huge.”
Lasara juniors Victoria Velazquez and Selissa Gonzales finished sixth and 12th, respectively, to qualify for state. Lasara placed eighth as a team, aided by Ximena Ventura (54th), Bianca Gonzalez (82nd) and Mia Tamez (91st).
The La Feria girls and boys teams narrowly missed qualifying for state in Class 4A on Tuesday. The Lionettes finished fourth with a score of 126, two points behind third-place qualifier Wimberley. Freshman Liana Navarro will be competing in state as an individual after finishing third. Freshmen Mia Trevino (32nd) and Lindsey Cantu (40th), sophomore Leandra Fernandez (47) and freshman Zaida Manzo (57th) contributed to the Lionettes’ score.
The Lions also finished fourth with a score of 135. Julian Dominquez (24th), Joshua Marquez (29th), Ethan Torres (35th), Tomas Navarro (37th) and Ryan Vela (42nd) were the scored La Feria runners.
Raymondville’s Jaqueline Mendez (80th) and Rio Hondo’s Mia Zuniga (120th) competed as individuals in the girls race, and Rio Hondo’s Jonathan Ayala (92nd) and Raymondville’s Nathaniel Fuentes (105th) ran the boys race.
Also Tuesday, Santa Maria freshman Mia Picazo finished 35th in the girls Class 2A race.
Class 5A and 3A ran Monday. The Brownsville Veterans Memorial girls were the eighth-place 5A team with a score of 272, comprised of scored runners Sofia Ramirez (39th), Loren Averyt (54th), Valeria Gamez (66th), Cynthia Ramirez (69th) and Angela Garcia (103rd). Brownsville Veterans boys James Puckett (46th) and Christian Solis (58th) competed as individuals.
In the 3A boys meet, Brownsville Frontier finished sixth with a score of 187 behind scored runners Carlos Zavala (22nd), Jose Blanco (36th), Edgar Ortiz (62nd), Alejandro Maldonado (76th) and Santos Zuniga 86. Santa Rosa was 15th with a score of 376. Jose Guzman (68th), Derek Guerra (87th), Cristian De La Torre (119th), Jose Ortega (125th) and Julius Olmedo (129th) represented the Warriors.
Santa Rosa’s girls team was 12th with a score of 356, comprised of Alyssa Garza (74th), Katlyn Montemayor (93rd), Ximena Gonzalez (96th), Jessica Gonzalez (101st) and Anita Monroy (109th). IDEA Riverview scored 448 to finish 16th behind Isabella Llamas (79th), Daniela Reynua (119th), Grecia Hernandez (122nd), Lluvia Arellano (124th) and Ariada Jimenez (128th).
Brownsville Jubilee’s Diego Araujo (109th) competed as an individual in the boys 3A race. Girls individual racers were Brownsville Jubilee’s Sandra Garza (77th) and Lyford’s Nancy Correa (80th) and Katherine Loredo (88th).