High school cross country teams from across the Rio Grande Valley traveled to Corpus Christi for the Islander Splash invitational meet, a collection of some of the best distance runners throughout the state. By the end of the meet, several Valley teams and individual runners dotted the leaderboards for every division at the meet Saturday at Dugan Stadium at Texas A& M-Corpus Christi.
In the top varsity gold division — which featured only the largest 6A and 5A schools in attendance — a number of local runners posted some of the best times of all participants.
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln senior Freddy Calvillo paced all Valley runners in the boys 5,000 meters, finishing third overall with a time of 16 minutes, 17.95 seconds. The mark was his second-best time of the season and put him less than 4 seconds behind the first-place finisher.
Edinburg Vela senior Jeremy Nino and McAllen High junior Hunter Herrera both placed inside the top 10 individual finishers too, coming in fifth and eighth places with times of 16:23.52 and 16:32.30, respectively. Mission High’s Felix Perez Castillo also clocked in at 16:36.75 — good for 10th. He was joined by fellow Eagles runner Rogelio Aguirre, who finished 16th (16:43.45), among the top 20.
Weslaco High junior Amity Ebarb and Weslaco East senior Tessie Garcia were the only two girls area runners to land inside the top 10, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Ebarb (19:38.52) edged out Garcia by 0.8 seconds at the finish line to earn bragging rights over her cross-town rival.
Other notable times in the varsity gold girls 5,000 meters belonged to a pair of sophomores: Sharyland High’s Danielle Salinas and Edinburg Economedes’ Dayan Lozano. Salinas finished 14th overall (19:59.21) and clocked her third consecutive time under the 20-minute mark.
Lozano, meanwhile, earned a 17th-place finish and registered a new personal record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 20:05.03. She shattered her previous best by nearly a minute and a half.
Three RGV cross country squads cracked the top 10 team scores in both the boys and girls races in the 5,000 meters.
On the boys’ side, Edinburg Vela placed third overall with a team score of 228, while McAllen High (289) and Donna North (335) also had good showings, finishing in sixth and 10th places, respectively.
In the girls’ event, Sharyland High finished fourth overall with a score of 160. The Rattlers girls were joined in the top 10 by Edinburg Economedes in seventh (241) and Weslaco East in ninth place overall (287).
McAllen Rowe arguably had the best day overall of any of the RGV cross country teams in attendance in the varsity large school division, with the Warriors boys earning eighth place (310) and the girls notching a fifth-place finish (197).
Juarez-Lincoln (133) and Edcouch-Elsa (144) also notched top 10 scores among boys teams in the large school division — finishing third and fourth, respectively — while no other Valley girls teams cracked the top 10 in that division.
Laurynn Garcia (21:07.48) anchored the Rowe girls en route to a sixth place finish. She was joined in the top 20 on the leaderboard by Rio Grande City’s Joselynn Rodriguez (11th), Edcouch-Elsa’sTeresa Gallegos (15th), Edinburg North’s Isabella Garcia (16th) and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s Nancy Maldonado (17th).
Valley runners dominated the top 10 in large school division 5,000 meters. Edcouch-Elsa seniors Dominik Medrano (16:32.18) and Albino Rodriguez (16:43.13) earned first and third, respectively, while Medrano set a new personal best for the season.
VALLEY HS XC RESULTS
Islander SPLASH MEET (CORPUS
Saturday’s Meet
Non-District
BOYS 5,000 METER VARSITY GOLD (TEAM)
Northside Brandeis, 150; San Antonio Johnson, 216; Edinburg Vela, 228; Del Rio, 239; Dripping Springs, 244; McAllen High, 289; New Braunfels, 301; Lockhart, 314; Comal Canyon, 319; Donna North 335.
BOYS 5,000 METER VARSITY GOLD (INDIVIDUAL)
Victor Zuniga, 16:14.16, San Antonio Johnson; Ricardo Garcia, 16:16.89, Eagle Pass Winn; Freddy Calvillo, 16:17.95, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln; Tristan Galvan, 16:21.13, Northside Brandeis; Jeremy Nino, 16:23.52, Edinburg Vela; Taj Lee, 16:23.75, San Antonio Johnson; Caleb Lopez, 16:29.46, Dripping Springs; Hunter Herrera, 16:32.30, McAllen High; Benjamin Hecht, 16:35.15, Northside Clark; Felix Perez Castillo, 16:36.75, Mission High; Kevin Hernandez, 16:37.99, Donna High; Andy Hamilton, 16:39.14, Comal Canyon; Itzcoalt Vazquez, 16:39.42, Del Rio; Samuel Martinez, 16:39.62, Donna High; Christian Gonzales, 16:41.75, Corpus Christi Carroll; Rogelio Aguirre, 16:43.45, Mission High; Michael Herrera, 16:44.86, Northside Holmes; Cody Fountain, 16:45.00, Gregory-Portland; Elijah Cunningham, 16:48.90, South San Antonio; Cesar Ramirez, 16:50.94, Sharyland Pioneer.
GIRLS 5,000 METER VARSITY GOLD (TEAM)
Austin Westlake, 80; Comal Canyon, 96; Dripping Springs, 147; Sharyland High, 160; Austin Lake Travis, 186; College Station, 206; Edinburg Economedes, 241; New Braunfels, 252; Weslaco East, 287; Georgetown, 305.
GIRLS 5,000 METER VARSITY GOLD (INDIVIDUAL)
Ozlynn Urias, 19:05.71, Del Rio; Faith Dasso, 19:14.19, Comal Canyon; Maddie Livingston, 19:18.46, Dripping Springs; Elise Smoot, 19:22.70, Austin Westlake; Lyda Martin, 19:25.53, San Antonio Lee; Emme Odonnell, 19:33.62, Port Lavaca Calhoun; Amity Ebarb, 19:38.52, Weslaco High; Tessie Garcia, 19:39.32, Weslaco East; Karsten Bobb, 19:44.72, Dripping Springs; Katie Crider, 19:49.46, San Antonio Reagan; Kennady Fontenot, 19:51.28, New Braunfels; Lauren Williams, 19:56.15, Comal Canyon; Maddie Dawson, 19:57.15, Austin Westlake; Danielle Salinas, 19:59.21, Sharyland High; Evan Biles, 20:01.96, Austin Westlake; Ava Jeckell, 20:02.71, Comal Canyon; Dayan Lozano, 20:05.21, Edinburg Economedes; Cassidy Beard, 20:08.30, Austin Westlake; Mckenzie Bailey, 20:10.13, Georgetown; Lily Morrill, 20:10.22, Cibolo Steele.
BOYS 5,000 METER VARSITY LARGE SCHOOL
Eagle Pass, 69; Laredo Nixon, 79; La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 133; Edcouch-Elsa, 144; Laredo United South, 206; Laredo Martin, 262; Dripping Springs, 270; McAllen Rowe, 310; San Antonio Madison, 327; Laredo Cigarroa, 402.
BOYS 5,000 METER VARSITY LARGE SCHOOL
Dominik Medrano, 16:32.18, Edcouch-Elsa; Alex Canales,16:39.71, Rio Grande City; Albino Rodriguez, 16:43.13, Edcouch-Elsa; Edgar Reyes, 16:52.46, Laredo Nixon; Daniel Lopez, 16:58.40, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln; Diego Davila, 16:58.75, Eagle Pass; Derek Rodriguez, 17:01.78, Weslaco High; Jesse Rodriguez, 17:06.78, Laredo Martin; Dylan Legg, 17:07.53, San Antonio Madison; Oscar Ruiz, 17:09.27, Eagle Pass; Tonatihu Gonzalez, 17:19.63, Edinburg North; Renato Byrd, 17:21.25, Laredo United South; Marquel Garza, 17:24.90, Laredo Nixon; Diego Quinones, 17:25.27, McAllen Rowe; Gilbert Garcia, 17:29.10, Laredo Cigarroa; Noah Gonzalez, 17:32.23, Eagle Pass; Margarito Benavides, 17:32.82, Laredo Nixon; Leonardo Leal, 17:36.67, Laredo United South; Giovanni Perez, 17:37.66, San Antonio Madison; Jorge Aguilar, 17:40.10, Eagle Pass.
GIRLS 5,000 METER VARSITY LARGE
Eagle Pass, 94; Austin Bowie, 150; Laredo United South, 167; Austin Lake Travis, 173; McAllen Rowe, 197; Austin Westlake, 239; Northside Stevens, 259; Northside Holmes, 281; Harlan, 285; San Antonio Madison, 330.
GIRLS 5,000 METER VARSITY LARGE
Samantha Gonzalez, 19:51.45, Laredo Martin; Paige Oldham, 20:11.49, Austin Bowie; Giselle Aguilar, 20:30.97, Laredo United South; Sydney Holmes, 20:55.67, Harlan; Maria Chavez, 21:04.80, Northside Holmes; Laurynn Garcia, 21:07.48, McAllen Rowe; Itzel Rojo, 21:09.62, Laredo Cigarroa; Savannah Flores, 21:10.69, San Antonio Madison; Alexa Reyes, 21:13.55, Laredo Cigarroa; Grace Rinehart, 21:14.48, Austin Lake Travis; Joselynn Rodriguez, 21:19.98, Rio Grande City; Isel Garza, 21:21.64, Eagle Pass; Morgan Kos, 21:22.98, Austin Bowie; Kayla Bocock, 21:25.48, Austin Westlake; Teresa Gallegos, 21:25.48, Edcouch-Elsa; Isabella Garcia, 21:27.24, Edinburg North; Nancy Maldonado, 21:28.93, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln; Ana Cristina Alvarez, 21:30.17, Eagle Pass; Andrea Garcia, 21:30.96, Eagle Pass; Karina Fernandez, 21:34.62, Eagle Pass.
BOYS 5,000 METER VARSITY ME
Progreso, 55; IDEA Edinburg, 117; La Feria, 170; Carrizo Springs, 181; Lytle, 196; Huffman Hargrave, 201; Zapata, 227; Brownsville Frontier College Prep, 279; Hondo, 327; La Vernia, 344.
BOYS 5,000 METER VARSITY
Hudson Bennett, 16:52.48, Burnet; Peyton Pluenneke, 16:57.15, Huffman Hargrave; Adan Jonjuitud, 17:00.60, Zapata; Hector Perales, 17:23.73, Progreso; Jonathan Vega, 17:27.38, Progreso; Gerardo Gallardo, 17:34.52, Progreso; Hugo Chavarria, 17:40.96, IDEA Edinburg; Jose Suarez, 17:41.73, IDEA Edinburg; Braeden Cardenas, 17:42.16, Carrizo Springs; Abraham Morales, 17:48.63, Brackettville Brackett; Daniel Stout, 17:54.12, Vanderbilt Industrial; Zaine Leal, 18:02.85, Pearsall; Jose Carlos Hernandez, 18:06.23, Lytle; Jose Dominguez, 18:09.48, La Feria; Alex Pecina, 18:09.94, Progreso; Christian Herrera, 18:11.34, Brownsville Frontier College Prep; Xavier Garza, 18:13.39, Devine; Fabian Garcia, 18:14.39, IDEA Edinburg; Aaron Wilfert, 18:15.97, Vanderbilt Industrial; Guadalupe Garcia, 18:22.89, Agua Dulce.
GIRLS 3,200 METER VARSITY ME
Yoakum, 114; Bandera, 119; Huffman Hargrave, 128; Devine, 192; San Antonio Cole, 226; Rockport-Fulton, 233; Comfort, 246; Gonzales, 248; Zapata, 315; Skidmore-Tynan, 324.
GIRLS 3,200 METER VARSITY
Ellie Albrecht, 12:14.57, Goliad; Cassidy Davis , 12:30.15, Huffman Hargrave; Morgan Cole, 12:31.36, Bandera; Finley Hunting, 12:45.18, San Antonio Cole; Melody Del Real, 12:53.66, Dilley; Aaliyah Charo, 12:56.29, Cotulla; Caeli Taylor, 12:57.31, Tilden McMullen County; Nikko Monita, 13:04.58, Stockdale; Jada Johnson, 13:06.41, Beeville Jones; Bailey Petras, 13:07.64, Yoakum; Lauren Lee, 13:09.86, Llano; Emmy Nolte, 13:13.30, Huffman Hargrave; Raelynn Butler, 13:14.43, Bandera; Marina Villanueva, 13:21.42, La Feria; KC Hinojosa, 13:21.93, La Vernia; Rose Flores, 13:25.43, Burnet; Yaneli Aguilar, 13:27.27, Skidmore-Tynan; Veronica Moreno, 13:31.73, Gonzales; Crystal Agredano, 13:34.43, Comfort; Riley Parker, 13:34.59, Rockport-Fulton.