MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — When it comes to experience, the Harlingen South Lady Hawks cross country team doesn’t have a lot of it.
The team boasts just one senior, two juniors, two sophomores and a pair of freshmen.
So far, that group has run well this year and even has a meet win under its belt after winning the Mercedes Stockshow Invitational earlier this month.
It’s a confidence boost and it has head coach Renee Bennett thinking that this team can come out of District 32-6A as a regional qualifier.
“I had about only three returners from the varsity team a year ago. This year we’ve been to five meets and have done very well, especially at Mercedes where they won first place,” Bennett said.
“We got a couple of new freshmen in late July and they were put on varsity because they have a lot of talent. The entire team’s times have been improving meet after meet.”
Bennett’s top runner is, once again, junior Mya Price, who qualified for the regional meet the past two years and is aiming for a third straight.
At the Meet of Champions this past weekend in Edinburg, Price finished 37th with a time of 21:07.9. That was her best time of the season, topping her fourth- and sixth-place finishes at the Stockshow Invitational and the Brownsville Encampment meets, respectively.
Despite the junior’s individual accolades, her team’s closeness and its success is what matters most to Price as the season unfolds.
“I really love my team. We’ve gotten really close and we really encourage each other throughout our runs,” Price said. “It’s nice running with people you love because it makes for a greater experience.”
The camaraderie is not the only thing that has benefitted the group. According to Bennett, their competitiveness amongst each other has probably been the most beneficial.
Freshman Alaina Gaytan has beat Price this year, which pushed Price to perform better.
“Alaina is an amazing runner. When she beat me, it motivated me to get back in shape,” Price said. “It’s my team that has gotten me to where I’m at.”
The other freshman on the team, Kalen Aguero, has finished as high as second within the team and junior Genesis Cruz has finished third once this year.
It’s that type of nucleus that Bennett hopes the program will benefit from.
“I hope we can build this program up and get more people to run,” Bennett said. “We have had trouble in the past getting people to run because we didn’t have a middle school program. But we started a program two years ago and I think that’s helped us as runners come into the program their freshman year.”
KEEPING PACE IN THE DISTRICT: During their latest outing at the Meet of Champions, the Lady Hawks finished 15th with an average time of 22:16.4 against stiff competition from the upper-Valley schools.
Among other 32-6A teams, however, South fared much better as the Lady Hawks were beat by only Brownsville Hanna, which finished in 12th place (21:44.7). Los Fresnos finished in 17th (22:35.7).
“Right now in the district, teams like Los Fresnos, Brownsville Veterans and Hanna look to be our biggest competition, but it’s real close and I feel we’re one of the top three or four,” Bennett said.