Peter Rasmussen | Staff Writer
The Edinburg Economedes girls cross country team has not missed a beat with new coach Brenda Lozano, who moved over from Valley View during the summer to take over for the retired Selena Brown.
In recent years, Brown helped turn Economedes into a competitive program. If the first two meets of the season are of any indication, Lozano has picked up where Brown left off. The Lady Jaguars have won both races they have competed in, winning the Harlingen Invitational this past weekend.
Lozano said she knew she had “big shoes to fill” when she arrived at Economedes.
“Coach Brown is a really great coach,” Lozano said. “I had to come in a really be motivated and gets these girls to work hard. I told these girls that whatever we work for is going to happen at the end. These girls have pretty much been working hard all summer.”
The hard work has paid off with back-to-back wins to start the season. The Lady Jags have notched the wins without their full varsity squad. Two weeks ago one of their runners was injured and this past weekend one of their runners could not make the meet.
“Battling the injuries, these girls are really tough,” Lozano said about her team. “I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls. These girls really believe in the system, and that is all I can ask for.”
The Lady Jags are led by seniors Emily Suarez and Ana Ochoa. They were the team’s top finishers at the Harlingen Invitational, finishing third and fourth, respectively.
Suarez has been one of the team’s top runners since her freshman season.
“She’s my leader,” Lozano said of Suarez. “She really motivates the team and gets them to understand with the purpose of all of this is.”
Team Effort
The Mercedes boys cross country team had an impressive showing at the Harlingen Invitational last weekend, placing five players in the top 13, all of which finished within 31 seconds of each other.
Victor Gonzales was the Tigers’ top finisher at No. 5 in 16 minutes, 25.15 seconds. Dominic Cavazos finished No. 13 in 16:56.66.
If the Tigers can consistently accomplish what they did Saturday, they will be tough to beat.
“To maintain that injury free, that would be great,” Tigers coach Pete Martinez said.
Another positive sign for Mercedes is that this happened in the first meet of the season. As is usually the case in cross country, teams build up to the district, regional and state meets. On Saturday, the Tigers looked like they were in mid-season form, knowing their times should get even better.
“The guys really put in a lot of work over the summer,” Martinez said. “This was their first real race that they had and they ran pretty well.”
Although none of his runners took home the top individual prize, Martinez wouldn’t be surprised if any of his runners finished first at any given meet. Besides Gonzales and Cavazos, the Tigers also have strong runners in Matthew Peynado, Manuel Gonzales and Jonathan Reyes.
THIS WEEK
Mercedes is hosting an invitational on Saturday at its high school. Martinez expects approximately 26 teams to compete. Edinburg North is hosting the Rio Grande Valley Cross Country Classic at Monte Cristo Golf Course in Edinburg.
In a rare evening meet, Donna North is hosting a meet that starts at 6 p.m. Thursday at Donna North. The varsity races will be 2.5 miles.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
September 4
Donna North Invitational
September 6
RGV XC Classic at Edinburg North
Falfurrias Invitational
Mercedes Invitational