By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
The Brownsville IDEA Frontier cross country program has had plenty of successful seasons, but none compare to what a young group of Chargers is doing this year.
Frontier’s team — comprised of Carlos Zavala, Juan Jimenez, Aaron Aguirre, Alejandro Maldonado, Jose Blanco, Jose Medina and Edgar Ortiz — will be competing in the Class 3A state meet in Round Rock at 10:30 a.m. today.
The Chargers won the District 32-3A championship Oct. 13 with a perfect score, claiming the top seven places. It was the program’s fifth consecutive title, but the first perfect score and 1-7 finish. They built on that momentum to win the program’s first Region IV-3A championship Nov. 5 with a score of 74, with four runners clinching top 25 overall finishes.
Now, the Chargers are feeling like legitimate state title contenders as they prepare to make their state debut.
“We’re coming,” Juan Jimenez said. “We’ve stayed strong, and now for state we’re going in stronger. We proved a lot of people wrong. We made history for the school, and it’s a really good feeling to be a part of this team.”
Jimenez, one of five sophomores on the team, earned 11th place at the regional meet and sixth at district. Aguirre, Maldonado, Medina and Ortiz comprise the rest of the 2024 class that coach Alberto Alanis knew would be “a special group of runners.”
“That group’s been running together since seventh grade. When they got to eighth grade, they were winning a lot of the local meets. … Then COVID hit,” Alanis said. “They came (to varsity) a little out of shape, and we didn’t do as well as we wanted to (last year). But I knew coming into this year, as long as they put in that work starting right after track, they were going to be fine.”
With juniors Zavala and Blanco providing the veteran leadership, the Chargers did get to work throughout the summer. They put in countless hours and strengthened their team bond, leading to the historic season.
“The summer’s really important for cross country. It really builds you up as a team but also as an individual. It sets you up for the season,” Jimenez said. “This team has gone through a lot, but we’ve gotten through those hard moments. Through the season, we’ve grown as a team.”
Zavala echoed that running together in the summer made the team closer and stronger. It’s a supportive yet competitive bunch that takes turns coming out on top. Zavala has been the team’s top finisher during the past three races, including winning the individual district championship with a time of 18 minutes, 39.13 seconds, then trimming his finish to 17:47.44 to finish eighth at the regional meet.
“It was amazing (winning at the regional meet),” Zavala said. “We went in not planning to win, we were just trying to get a spot at state. The excitement on everybody’s face brought tears to our eyes, all of us. We’re seen as more of an academic school, so us being able to make it to state and be district and regional champs helps people to see that we’re the real deal.”
Alanis is in his ninth year coaching Frontier cross country. This is the fourth team he’s taking to state. The Chargers had a strong week of practice before their state departure with a lot of personal bests at the three-mile course on campus. But they’ll be attacking the course at Old Settler’s Park blind.
“It’s been raining a lot over there, so they’re not going to let us walk or jog the course. None of these kids have seen the course, so it’s going to be very exciting,” Alanis said. “I’m very, very proud of this group. The work ethic they have is amazing. The academics here are very tough, so having them balance it is such a huge thing. They don’t get enough attention on how difficult it is to be an athlete at a college prep school.”
The Chargers will have former Frontier state-qualifiers in attendance to support them at the meet. Zavala hopes to show them and everyone across the state what he and his team are capable of.
“I want to make a lot of noise at state and be able to get a good placing for our school,” Zavala said. “It’s definitely nerve-wracking knowing that it’s our first year running there, but we’ve made a name for ourselves. … We’re all coming back next year, and I hope people know we’re going to be there then, too.”