DONNA — Weslaco High’s Amity Ebarb shot out of the pack of runners in the girls’ elite race at the Meet of Champions and she never let off the gas.

Ebarb went on to win the individual part of the 12th annual event in a personal record 18 minutes, 41.3 seconds.

Weslaco East’s Tessie Garcia made her move past Sharyland High’s Danielle Salinas to end the race in second with a time of 18:48.9. Salinas finished third with a time of 18:58.9 overall and led the Rattlers to the team title.

Sharyland (41 points) captured first overall, while Weslaco High (79 points) finished second and Edinburg Economedes (97 points) placed third. The top 21 runners are invited to a Meet of Championship banquet and could leave with a scholarship.

“We knew we were going to win today, but we were just looking for better times,” Sharyland head coach Melissa Dearth said. “We’re getting ready for regionals and we knew our fifth man had to get under that 21-minute mark and she dropped it down to 20:12 today, and our seventh man had a 20:37.

“Our main focus was dropping times for regionals,” Dearth said. “We are trying very hard to keep the girls motivated. We are doing that by making sure the girls are beating their personal best times.”

Salinas crushed her previous best time of 19:36.

“My training for this meet was a lot different. We were doing intervals with less breaks,” Salinas said. “Coach also had me practicing with the boys to prepare for this meet. Running with the boys, I feel, gave me an advantage in this run. It made me want to work harder and it was different trying to pace myself with someone else.”

The Rattlers made their mark as four of the girls placed in the top 10. Ana Hernandez was sixth in 19:29.2, Caroline Tudor was seventh in 19:30.8, and Andrea Gallardo finished eighth with a time 19:36.3. All four girls earned personal-best times for the season.

Ebarb won the individual event in 18:43, beating her previous best of 19:04 by 21 seconds.

“I was really hoping to place high for my team and show everybody what Weslaco has,” Ebarb said. “I was inspired to run by my family. My uncle actually ran for Weslaco, so coming out here and getting first means a lot.”

“I want to focus on the championship meets. I know that all these big meets are going to be very competitive,” she said. “I want to focus on racing rather than just training.”

As a team, Weslaco High placed second with 79 points and an average time of 19:52.4. Last season, Weslaco advanced into district and regionals and took first in both.

Helping Weslaco High along with Ebarb was Destinee Longoria in fifth with a time of 19:52.

Garcia also blew past her personal best of 19:13 by 25 seconds.

“Coming into this race, my coach and I had a strategy of keeping pace with the top runners,” Garcia said. “I feel like I followed my game plan very well considering I placed second.

“From last year to this year, I have definitely come a long way. My personal best last year was around the high 19-minute mark,” she said. “As a team, we were only two points away from district, so coming into this season we all have a stronger mentality and look to capitalize.”

Weslaco East placed fifth overall with a team score of 166 and an average time 20:31.3.

Edinburg Economedes placed third. Helping her team was Dayan Lozano as she placed 10th overall with a time of 19:39. This was her first sub-20-minute mark finish, breaking her personal record of 10:03. Edinburg High finished fourth.

As the season comes to an end, the girls start to prepare for the district championship Oct. 17, the regional championship Oct. 28, and the state meet Nov. 9.

Monitor staff writer Raul Garcia contributed to this story.

Meet of Champions

Girls Top 21 Runners

1.Amity Ebarb, Weslaco High, 18:41.3; 2. Tessie Garcia, Weslaco East, 18:48.0; 3. Danielle Salinas, Sharyland High, 18:58.9; 4. Gissel Gonzalez, La Joya Palmview, 19:20.1; 5. Destinee Longoria, Weslaco High, 19:25.2; 6. Ana Hernandez, Sharyland High, 19:29.2; 7. Carolyn Tudor, Sharyland High, 19:30.8; 8. Andrea Gallardo, Sharyland High, 19:36.3; 9. Laurynn Garcia, McAllen Rowe, 19:38.2; 10. Dayan Lozano, Edinburg Economedes, 19:39.1; 11. Destiny Quintanilla, La Joya Palmview, 19:41.6; 12. Victoria Scarberry, Harlingen High, 19:48.5; 13. Francesca Alvarado, Edinburg Economedes, 19:51.6; 14. Mel Marroquin, Edinburg High, 19:54.0; 15. Estrella Medellin, Brownsville Porter, 19:54.0; 16. Alexa Mendoza, McAllen Memorial, 20:03.4; 17. Anna Vela, Weslaco High, 20:04.5; 18. Faith Cruz, PSJA High, 20:08.9; 19. Sidney Bravo, Sharyland High, 20:10.1; 20. Teresa Gallegos, Edcouch-Elsa, 20:11.5; 21. Nancy Maldonado, La Joya Juarez Lincoln, 20:12.5;

Girls Team Results

Team Score

1. Sharyland High 41; 2. Weslaco High 79; 3. Edinburg Economedes 97; 4. Edinburg High 160; 5. Weslaco East 166