Harlingen boys win regionals, five more Valley runners advance to state

Harlingen High won the UIL Region 4-6A Cross Country meet Tuesday morning at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and five other Valley runners advanced to the state meet in Round Rock in two weeks.

PSJA North junior Hector Solis was the highest-placing runner, boy or girl, grabbing third place in 16 minutes, 4.97 seconds, just 10 seconds behind winner Taj Lee from San Antonio Johnson and four seconds away from second-place finisher Skyler Roper. Solis is the second boy runner from the PSJA school district to finish in the top three at regionals this week. PSJA Memorial’s Willams Macias finished second during the 5A meet on Monday, less than a second from claiming his second straight regional title.

Harlingen High placed two runners in the top 15. Junior Geovany Cisneros notched ninth place in 16:17.97 while senior Ivan Montante was 14th in 16:31.68.

Juniors John Abrego, of Brownsville Hanna, and Rogelio Aguirre, of Mission High, also qualified for state, crossing the finish line in 12th and 15th place, respectively. The top three teams advance along with the top 10 runners not on those teams.

Junior Dianett Garcia captured seventh place in the girls’ race with a time of 19:23.17 and will be joined by Weslaco High’s Amity Ebarb, who came in ninth in 19:28.92.

Edinburg High junior Mia Guillen, who was making her second trip to the regionals after missing last year due to her successful battle with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma, finished 36th out of the 142 runners in today’s competition, with a time of 20:38.68. Guillen finished 88th at the regional meet as a freshman.

Check back later today for more on this story.

hmiller@themonitor

Results from the UIL Region 4-6A Cross Country Championships. Top three teams advance and the top 10 runners not on those teams.

BOYS

Team results

1. Harlingen High 107; 2. Round Rock 119; 3. San Antonio Johnson 123; 4. Austin Vandergrift 130; 5. Eagle Pass 150; 6. New Braunfels 165; 7. Austin Lake Travis 172; 8. San Antonio Brandeis 175; 9. Donna North 175; 10. Laredo Alexander 184; 11. Cibolo Steele 207; 12. Buda Hays 220; 13. San Antonio Holmes 306; 14. Edinburg Economedes 392; 15. Edinburg Vela 421; 16. San Antonio Brennan 453.

Individuals (all qualifiers for state meet)

1. Taj Lee, San Antonio Johnson, 15:54.22; 2. Skylar Roper, San Antonio Brandeis, 16:00.33; 3. Hector Solis, PSJA North, 16:04.97; 4. Michael Herrera, San Antonio Holmes, 16:08.67; 5. Kevin Sanchez, Austin Vandergrift, 16:10.51; 6. Damon Gutierrez, San Antonio Jay, 16:14.20; 7. Sebastian Martinez, Round Rock, 16:15.40; 8. Will Powers, Austin High, 16:16.22; 9. Geovany Cisneros, Harlingen High, 16:17.97; 10. Pablo Lomeli Lluis, Round Rock Westwood, 16:19.48; 11. Tate Underwood, San Antonio Johnson, 16:20.79; 12. John Abrego, Brownsville Hanna, 16:20.89; 13. Rogelio Aguirre, Mission High, 16:26.97; 14. Ivan Montante, Harlingen High, 16:31.68; 15. Ivan Ward, Austin Lake Travis, 16:36.54;

GIRLS

Team results

1. Austin Vandergrift 50; 2. Smithson Valley 91; 3. New Braunfels 114; 4. Round Rock 138; 5. Buda Hays 155; 6. AustinWestlake 209; 7. Del Rio 218; 8. Laredo United 220; 9. Edinburg Economedes 237; 10. San Antonio Churchill 255; 11. San Antonio Warren 262; 12. Harlingen South 264; 13. Harlingen High 303; 14. San Antonio O’Connor 314; 15. San Antonio Johnson 321; 16. Edinburg North 445.

Individuals (all qualifiers for state)

1. Amalie Mills, Smithson Valley 18:28.39; 2. Kennedy Fontenot, New Braunfels, 18:42.27; 3. Sara Scott, Smithson Valley, 18:52.63; 4. Emma Saia, AustinVandergrift, 18:59.67; 5. Emerson Francis, San Antonio Brandeis, 19:14.58; 6. Kellis Hein, Round Rock, 19:18.42; 7. Dianett Garcia, Edinburg Economedes, 19:23.17; 8. Gemma Goddard, Austin Vandergrift, 19:26; 9. Amity Ebarb, Weslaco High, 19:28.92; 10. Deepti Choudhury, Round Rock Westwood, 19:29.00; 11. Jordan Ledington, Round Rock Cedar Ridge, 19:29.20; 12. Abigail Parra, Buda Hats, 19:34.52; 13. Sanai Robinson, San Antonio Warren, 19:34.52; 14. Valerie Garcia, Laredo United, 19:40.55; 15. Ozlynn Urias, Del Rio, 19:44.15.