BY MARIO AGUIRRE | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
Even after winning three of its four meets so far this season, Edinburg Economedes girls cross-country head coach Brenda Lozano feels the team still has room to grow.
Their latest win — at the Edinburg North RGV Classic on Saturday — featured the Jaguars boasting the top four runners at the event.
Maddison Surita (19:35.1), Francesa Alvarado (19:50.9), Dianette Garcia (20:21.1) and Marbella Marques (20:30.1) claimed the top four slots, as the Jaguars tallied 27 points. They far outpaced Harlingen High (90 points), the second-place finishers, led by Ayianna Olivas (20.43.4), who finished fifth overall at the race.
“When we’re doing our practice runs, we’re focused on pack running, trying to keep everyone together as close as possible,” Lozano said. “We’re still lacking in some things. But I’m excited to see where these kids are headed.”
After winning meets in Mission and Edinburg, Economedes is gearing up for the McAllen Memorial Stampede on Saturday — one of five meets in the Valley that day.
The Brownsville Invitational, the Mercedes Invitational, Sharyland Pioneer Invitational and Port Isabel Invitational also take place this weekend.
As it stands, Economedes is on the outside looking from a regional perspective, where it ranks fourth. The top three in the region advance to state, which is why Lozano isn’t allowing her team to get complacent despite the early success.
“We have to step our game up,” Lozano said. “We can’t be too satisfied. We have to keep our eye on the prize, which is regionals.”
Behind Economedes (27 points) this past Saturday at the Edinburg North RGV Classic was Edinburg High (85), Harlingen High (90), Weslaco High (92) and Mission Veterans (100).
On the boys side, Harlingen High (34) also won by a wide margin. Edinburg Vela (64) was the runner-up, followed by Sharyland Pioneer (68), Mission Veterans (79) and Weslaco High (83).
PSJA North’s Hector Solis (16:10.1) won in the boys division. Edinburg North’s Alexis Rodriguez (16:19.0), Brownsville St. Joseph’s Pedro Cardenas (16:30.0), Harlingen High’s Geovany Cisneros (16:35.0) and Dominic Luna (16:42.0) rounded the top five.
In the Mercedes Invitational on Saturday, Donna North’s boys and Harlingen South’s girls hoisted their respective crowns.
Mission High’s Rogelio Aguirre (15:37.9) finished first in the boys division, followed by Donna High’s Kevin Hernandez (16:17.0), Donna North’s Ricardo Rubio (16:39.2), La Feria’s Julian Dominguez (16:48.8) and Donna North’s Jose Torres (16:54.7).
Edcouch-Elsa’s Rebecca Davila (19:35.5) was the top girls winner at the Mercedes Invitational. Harlingen South’s Alexis Fonseca (19:39.7) and teammate Arianna Rodriguez (20:12.8) finished second and fourth, respectively. Brownsville Veterans’ Naia Garcia (19:47.6) came in third, and Edcouch-Elsa’s Miranda Guerrero (20:18.1) finished fifth.