By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The goal of qualifying for Saturday’s UIL cross country state meet for the first time has been achieved by the IDEA Frontier runners.
So what do they do now, having realized their objective?
It’s called icing on the cake, said Albert Alanis, who coaches the cross country team at the Brownsville charter school.
“Being at state will be a day of celebration for us, because getting there has been our goal all along,” said Alanis, who is assisted by Joshua Lumley. “Since the very beginning, going back to the summer, it’s been state or bust. Now it’s icing on the cake for us. I’m telling our runners to have fun and enjoy it because we finally got there (to state). They’ve earned it.”
Enjoy it, but don’t forget to compete, the coach is saying.
“It will be a tough course, and the competition will be very good,” Alanis said. “I’ve thought about it, and I think finishing in the top 10 (as a team) is a pretty good goal for our boys. That’s something they can focus on. As long as they do their best, I’m satisfied with that.”
The UIL state meet takes place Saturday at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. The IDEA Frontier boys will compete in Class 3A and are scheduled to run at 9 a.m.
Members of the IDEA Frontier boys team are Jesus Garcia, Arturo Gutierrez, Cristian Davila, Kevin Sanchez, Jose Quintero, Irving Chavirra, Bryan Estrella, Daniel Ramirez and Alex Trujillo. Ramirez and Trujillo are alternates. The Chargers qualified for state at the Region IV meet Oct. 26 in Corpus Christi. They finished third behind Luling and San Antonio Cole.
“We’ve run harder and trained harder this year,” said Quintero, a senior. “We’ve built a strong relationship between the runners and the coaches, and that’s helped us a lot.”
Added Estrella, also a senior, “This is my first year running on this team, and it’s really been an honor to be part of it. I’ve learned a lot.
“We’ve been through quite a bit (together),” Estrella said. “We’ve been dedicated and pushed each other to do our best in practice every day. We started working out in the summer, and that’s what has made a big difference (in us doing so well). We want to make a change (and history) at our school.”
Also for IDEA Frontier, Sabrina Garcia has qualified individually for state and will run in the 3A girls race at 8:30 a.m. It will be the first race of the day at Old Settlers Park.
“Since I’m the only girl (at our school) going to state, it pushes me,” said Garcia, a sophomore. “The boys are doing well, and they believe in me as well (along with the coaches), so it makes me believe in myself, too.”
Alanis said the success of the cross country team is putting the Brownsville charter school that opened in 2006 on the map. The IDEA Frontier boys are two-time District 32-3A champions and now state qualifiers.
“We’re trying to get our athletic program up there,” Alanis said. “This is definitely a step in the right direction, and it’s putting our name out there.
“I’m super proud of the hard work and dedication these runners are showing,” he added.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.