ROUND ROCK — After an eventful opening day at the 2020 University Interscholastic League Cross-Country State Championships, several Rio Grande Valley runners returned Tuesday afternoon to Old Settlers Park to compete for a Class 6A state title.
Two girls runners qualified for the 6A state championship meet from the RGV: Edinburg Economedes’ Dianett Garcia and Weslaco High’s Amity Ebarb.
Ebarb, a senior from Weslaco, made her return to the state championships for the second time in as many years, as she looked to cap off one of the Valley’s most decorated high school running careers of all time.
“It feels amazing honestly. I didn’t do as well as I wanted to, but I’m just so thankful to even have the chance to be out here,” Ebarb said. “I’m just so thankful that I had this opportunity every single year. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my coaches and my family. A lot of people didn’t get this opportunity this season, so I’m just so grateful for that.”
Ebarb ran the fastest time of the day among RGV girls runners, clocking in with an official time of 19:13.73 for 47th place statewide at the 6A level. Ebarb joins Sharyland High’s Danielle Salinas as two of three girls cross-country runners from the Valley to finish within the top 50 in the state this year.
Edinburg Economedes junior Dianett Garcia finished 79th out of 119 competitors with a time of 19:53.68 in her first appearance at the UIL Cross-Country State Championships.
Despite a rigorous offseason filled with solo training and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was thankful for the opportunity to represent her community and make a climactic return to the state championships to end her decorated cross-country career on a high note.
“I just feel so thankful, but again I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without my coaches. It feels so great to end my senior year like this. It’s all I’ve ever wanted,” she said. “Honestly, it feels so amazing to be here today. The beginning of this year was kind of hard doing workouts on our own. We didn’t even know if there was going to be a regular season, so I’m just so, so thankful for this last state meet.”
In Class 4A, La Feria freshman Liana Navarro turned in the Valley’s top finish of the day, finishing 17th with a time of 12:27.59.
In the Class 6A boys meet, several individual runners from the RGV joined the Harlingen High Cardinals boys cross-country team, which was making its first appearance at the state championships as a team since 1988, in competing for a state title.
The top boys finishers of the day, however, were Mission High junior Rogelio Aguirre, who was making his first career appearance at the UIL State Championships on Tuesday too, and Brownsville Hanna’s John Matthew Abrego. Aguirre registered a time of 16:23.77, while Abrego clocked in at 16:07.84.
“It’s amazing and overwhelming. I’m feeling such a mix of emotions, but mainly I just wanted to come out here and run a fast race,” Aguirre said. “I could have been better, but I did solid and I’m happy.”
“It feels amazing. This is my second time being here and I think the best part about running at state is the momentum,” Abrego said. “It’s fast, but you always expect to have a great outcome. I just love it. There’s beautiful weather out here and it’s nothing like down south. I have no complaints.”
Aguirre and Abrego were the only two Valley boys runners at the 6A level to finish within the top 60 statewide.
For Aguirre, the race marked the beginning of a new chapter in his high school career, as the Eagles’ distance runner hopes to make a repeat appearance as a senior this time next year.
“We didn’t experience a lot of races like this. We were stuck in the Valley a little bit more (than usual) which made it a little more difficult, but it was nothing for me,” he said. “It feels so good to get out here and compete with the best in the state. … This set the standard, but I know I can do better which gives me something to work for.”
For Abrego, Tuesday’s state championship meet marked the culmination of a long journey back.
The Golden Eagles’ senior made his first UIL Cross-Country State Championship appearance last year and meticulously tailored his offseason and race-day strategies to maximize his opportunities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My strategy when I came into the race was focus and preparation,” he said. “Days before, you should already be envisioning the race and that positive mindset you’re going to take out there with you like, ‘I’m going to do better than last year, I will do better.’ I’ve been blessed with so many gifts from God, and that’s the attitude I came in with this year that was different from last year.”
“It was a tough season this year with COVID taking almost taking away a lot of everything we have, limiting us when and where we (could) run,” Abrego added. “Our work ethic really changed from last year to this year. The benefit of this year, though, was that I had so much more time to focus on training, more time to do my mileage and more time to eat healthy. There was time for so much change. I want to say it was probably the best year that I’ve had so far.”
The Harlingen High boys team recorded an 11th place team finish after coming in first at the Class 6A Region IV meet earlier this month. Junior Geovany Cisneros tallied the fastest individual time of all the Cardinals’ runners at 16:35.13, good for 69th out of 120 total competitors.
UIL Cross Country State Championship Results
Tuesday
Round Rock
Team results
Boys
Class 6A
1. Southlake Carroll, 78; 2. El Paso Eastwood, 84; 3. Conroe The Woodlands, 99; 11. Harlingen High, 278.
Class 4A
1. San Elizario, 57; 2. Melissa, 57; 3. Perryton, 110.
Class 2A
1. Port Aransas, 53; 2. Poolville, 93; 3. Tenaha, 110.
Girls
Class 6A
1. Lewisville Flower Mound, 75; 2. Southlake Carroll, 96; 3. Conroe The Woodlands, 108.
Class 4A
1. Canyon, 68; 2. Celina, 74; 3. Kaufman, 121.
Class 2A
1. Sundown, 53; 2. Gruver, 72; 3. Lipan, 92.
Individual results
Boys
Top 10 Class 6A
1. Luke Lambert, Wylie, 15:03.45; 2. Martin David-Chavez, Duncanville, 15:17.28; 3. Israel David, El Paso Eastlake, 15:25.54; 37. John Matthew Abrego, Brownsville Hanna, 16:07.84; 54. Rogelio Aguirre, Mission High, 16:23.77; 69. Geovany Cisneros, Harlingen High, 16:35.13; 75. Ivan Montante, Harlingen High, 16:40.74; 86. Dominic Luna, Harlingen High, 16:52.52; 95. Abel Montante, Harlingen High, 17:02.97; 106. Carlos Marchand, Harlingen High, 17:24.29; 116. Oscar Martinez, Harlingen High, 18:21.73; 120. Richard Loya, Harlingen High, 21:10.31.
Top 10 Class 4A
1. Judson Greer, Melissa, 14:51.85; 2. Edwin Gomez, San Elizario, 15:30.43; 3. Dilan Sanchez, San Elizario,15:33.66.
Top 10 Class 2A
1. Henry Fiero, Poolville, 15:57.68; 2. Abraham Morales, Brackettville Brackett, 16:11.06; 3. Matthew Moralez, Premont, 16:21.89.
Girls
Top 10 Class 6A
1. Brynn Brown, Denton Guyer, 16:25.89; 2. Sophie Atkinson, Katy Cinco Ranch, 16:57.44; 3. Heidi Nielson, Katy Cinco Ranch, 17:38.13; 47. Amity Ebarb, Weslaco High, 19:13.17; 79. Dianett Garcia, Edinburg Economedes, 19:53.68.
Top 10 Class 4A
1. Adele Clarke, Celina, 11:31.04; 2. Emme Odonnell, Port Lavaca Calhoun, 11:35.55; 3. Abree Winfrey, Canyon, 11:45.83; 17. Lianna Navarro, La Feria, 12:27.59.
Top 10 Class 2A
1. Kyla Kane, Wellington, 12:08.49, 2. Allison Hedrick, Lindsay, 12:22.48; 3. Allison Vaughn, Christoval, 12:34.42.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch