NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
Many individual runners had strong days at the regional cross country meet on Monday in Corpus Christi, and the La Joya Palmview girls had the outing they had been hoping for.
PSJA Memorial’s Cruz Gomez was the best finisher among RGV boys, as the junior finished the race in 15 minutes, 41.0 seconds to earn bronze and another trip to state.
Edinburg North continued to produce elite individual runs from its pair of district champions. Beth Ramos had another strong run in the midst of her injury-shortened season. Despite lingering shin splits, she ran an 18:31.4 and advanced to state as a regional champion.
The hilly course on the campus of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was a challenge for all runners, but it was especially a concern for Ramos’ coaches.
“We weren’t even sure what she was going to do,” Edinburg North coach Homer Martinez said. “She started slow, and she built up and caught ‘em and passed ‘em. She ran a great race. (We’re) very proud of her.”
Fellow Cougars senior Tristan Pena will return to state after running a 15:49.2 and finishing fifth in the boys race.
Martinez said his runners making their final trip to state should be assisted by past experience.
“They both are veterans of the state meet, so hopefully that will help them,” Martinez said. “We expect more from them, because they’ve been before. They know the experience of being there. They also expect more from themselves. So there’s some pressure there, but the older you get, the easier it is to handle it.”
Brianna Robles and Bailey Villalon finished in the top 10 to propel the Palmview Lobos to a regional crown.
Lobos coach Claudia Bazan said that the letdown of a seventh-place team finish a season ago led to a different approach to this year’s run.
“We started training in ways we were going to peak at regionals,” Bazan said. “It happened to work in our favor.”
Robles finished third with an 18:43.0, and Villalon’s 19:24.3 was good for eighth individually.
Robles will return to state with more attention than last season. As a junior, she surprised a lot of people when she ran a 17:58.9 and placed seventh.
“I think we’re on the right track,” Bazan said. “Last year, we had a similar showing here, and her best showing was at state. We’ve held back a little on her speed work for the state competition, and hopefully it will pan out the way we want it to.”
Rio Grande City’s boys continued their tear through the 2017 cross country season. The Rattlers built on their district championship by adding a 5A Region IV championship to their trophy case.
Led by Brandon Gracia and Alejandro Lopez, RGC held off Mercedes 85 to 98. Sharyland Pioneer finished fourth with a team score of 129 to also qualify for the state competition.
Rio Grande City coach Joe Ramirez said he was happy to get his team to state but wants his team to be running for another gold.
“We told them on the bus (back), let’s keep it consistent,” Ramirez said. “Let’s keep it rolling. We won two big-time meets in a row, (and) of course the Meet of Champs within the year. We looked at the other regions this weekend. There’s no sense in just going up there in state and just being on the podium. We’re going to see if we can win the whole thing.”
Mercedes’ Dominic Cavazos finished the race in 15:37.5 to earn silver and set the pace for RGV 5A boys. The 32-5A district champion Tigers finished second as a team.
RGC’s Gracia finished in 15:47.5, in fourth place. He was joined in the top 10 by Lopez and his run of 16:14.1 that netted him seventh place.
Sandwiched between Gracia and Lopez was Donna North’s Jorge Ponce in sixth place, qualifying as an individual.
Sharyland Pioneer and Sharyland High’s girls qualified for state as teams with scores of 140 and 145, respectively. Valeria Diaz of Sharyland finished third, Edcouch-Elsa‘s Haley Villalpando finished seventh and Pioneer’s Ana Hernadez finished ninth.
Another strong Valley team performance came in the 4A classification. The Progreso boys had four runners in the top 15, including the individual champion Everardo Esparza, who ran a 16:30.1. The next Red Ants runners were Anthony Vasquez and Omar Anguiano.
The win marks back-to-back regional titles for Progreso. Lizbett Rivera qualified as an individual for the Red Ants with a 12:13.6, earning sixth place.
In 3A a familiar face had another eye-opening run. IDEA Quest’s Valery Tobias, a gold medalist in track, finished the 2-mile course in 12:12.3 to earn a silver medal and state qualification. She finished behind Sabrina Garcia from sister campus IDEA Brownsville Frontier.
Robbie Sue Espericueta from La Villa finished on the podium. She finished third place 12:28.2 in the 2-mile race.
Refugio Montelongo finished sixth in the 2A boys race with a 5K time of 17:39.8.
VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
Region IV Cross Country Meet
Friday, Oct. 13
Dr. Jack A. Dugan Family Soccer and Track Stadium
6A Boys
Team Results
1, Spring Branch Smithson Valley, 94; 2, SA Antonio Brandeis, 142; 3, Del Rio, 163; 4, Austin Lake Travis; 5, S.A. O’ Conner 210; 6, Harlingen
Individual Results
1, Matthew Kearney, Austin Westlake, 15:32.4; 2, Ethan Hageman, S.A. Holmes, 15:38.8; 3, Cruz Gomez, PSJA Memorial, 15:38.8; 4, Max Smith, Del Rio, 16:46.5; 5, Tristan Pena, Edinburg North, 15:49.2; 6, S.A. Brandeis, 15:52.2; 7, Brady Grant, Austin Lake Travis, 15:57.9; 8, Raymon Gonzalez, Del Rio, 15:57.0; 9, Andres Engle, Spring Branch Smithson Valley, 15:59.4; 10, Evan Williams, McAllen Memorial, 15:59.8, 11, Trevor Williams, 16:05.9; 12, Clayton Wilkerson, Spring Branch Smithson Valley, 16:10.8; 13, Edward Ramos, Harlingen, 16:11.4; 14, Nathan Kowalski, Eagle Pass, 16:12.5
6A Girls
Team Results
1, La Joya Palmview, 108; 2, Eagle Pass, 132; 3, Del Rio, 158; 4, Austin Vandegrift, 163; 5, Spring Branch Smithson Valley, 163; 6, Laredo United, 172
Individual Results
1, Ariana Beth Ramos, Edinburg North, 18:31.4; 2, Jordan Mathis, Austin Vandegrift, 18:39.9; 3, Brianna Robles, La Joya Palmview, 18:43.0; 4, Sarah Wuest, New Braunfels, 19:00.8; 5, Shayna Luna, Eagles, 19:01.4; 6, Gabriela Bosquez, Buda Hays, 19:22.7; 7, Julissa Farias, S.A. Stevens, 19:23.1; 8, Bailey Villalon, La Joya Palmview, 19:24.3; 9, Sydney Jensen, Spring Branch Smithson Valley, 19:26.3; 10, Alexis Quintero, S.A. Holmes, 19:28.1; 11, Monica Rivera, Eagle Pass, 19:30.0; 12, Emily Cartwright, S.A. East Central, 19:31.5; 13, Andrea De la Rosa, Brownsville Rivera, 19:35.1; 14, Lauren Martinez, Cibolo Steele, 19:36.1; 15, Anahi Romo, Del Rio, 19:38.0; 16, Oma Sanchez, La Joya Palmview, 19:44.2; 17, Gemma Goddard, Austin Vandegrift, 19:45.3; 18, Catalina Cerda, S.A. Brandeis, 19:46.2; 19, Alanah Moreno, McAllen, 19:52.0
5A Boys
Team Results
1, Rio Grande City, 85; 2, Mercedes, 98; 3, Dripping Springs, 99; 4, Sharyland Pioneer, 129; 5, Austin Johnson, 129; 6, Donna North, 132
Individual Results
1, Ace Castillo, C.C. Tuloso-Midway, 15:30.4; 2, Dominic Cavazos, Mercedes, 15:37.5; 3, Cameron Kleiman, Austin Johnson, 15:43.5; 4, Brandon Gracia, Rio Grande City, 15:47.5; 5, Bobby Holy, Dripping Springs, 15:59.1; 6, Jorge Ponce, Donna North, 16:09.9; 7, Alejandro Lopez, Rio Grande City, 16:14.1; 8, Joshua Sandoval, Castroville Medina Valley, 16:20.6; 9, Caleb Lopez, Dripping Springs, 16:21.9; 10, Marcos Garza, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:22.2; 11, Dylan Cox, Austin Johnson, 16:22.7; 12, Mason Lischka, Boerne Champion, 16:26.0; 13, Rene Hernandez, S.A. Southside, 16:28.4; 14, Matthew Lara, Alice, 16:33.1; 15, Hunter Dobbins, C.C. Flour Bluff, 16:35.0; 16, Julian Fuentes, Mercedes, 16:35.9; 17, Rudy Aranda, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:38.2; 18, Foster Wilfong, Boerne Champion, 16:42.0; 19, Sean Borchard, C.C. Veterans Memorial, 16:42.7; 20, James Sanders, Boerne Champion, 16:44.2
5A Girls
Team Results
1, Boerne Champion, 100; 2, Dripping Springs, 131; 3, Sharyland Pioneer, 140; 4, Sharyland High, 145; 5, Corpus Christi King, 184; 6, Edcouch-Elsa, 189
Individual Results
1, Alexa Rodriguez, Laredo Nixon, 19:01.8; 2, Samantha Gonzalez, Laredo Martin, 19:14.0; 3, Valeria Diaz, Sharyland High, 19:25.7; 4, C.C. Calallen, 19:36.3; 5, Jolyssa Cortez, C.C. Carroll, 19:41.2; 6, Ambrie Lizcano, Marble Falls, 19:44.8; 7, Haley Villalpando, Edcouch-Elsa, 19:46.2; 8, Erin Briley, Boerne Champion, 19:46.2; 9, Ana Hernandez, Sharyland Pioneer, 19:47.7; 10, Molly Breuer, Boerne Champion, 19:50.5; 11, Jolea Cortez, C.C. Carroll, 19:53.9; 12, Izzabella Guerrero, Dripping Springs, 19:55.8; 13, Lauren Gomez, C.C. Kings, 20:01.6; 14, Vanessa Cerda, Edcouch-Elsa, 20:02.5; 15, Jennifer Chacon, Donna North, 20:03.4; 16, Natali Mierles, Edcouch-Elsa, 20:09.3; 17, Kayden Carrasco, Uvalde, 20:14.4; 18, Elle Shrader, Boerne Champion, 20:14.5; 19, Andrea Gallardo, Sharyland High, 20:19.3, 20, Maddie Livingston, Dripping Springs, 20:22.8
4A Boys
Team Results
1, Progreso, 30; 2, La Feria, 113; 3, Fredericksburg, 138; 4, Boerne, 139; 5, Carrizo Springs, 166; 6, Lytle, 197
Individual Results
1, Everardo Esparza, Progreso, 16:30.1; 2, Devin Robles, Pearsall, 16:39.9, 3, Jake Trevino, 16:45.1; 4, Anthony Vasquez, Progreso, 16:54.4; 5, Omar Anguiano, Progreso, 16:58.1; 6, Rudy Gallegos, Carrizo Springs, 17:00.6; 7, Adren Soto, Bay City, 17:05.4; 8, Gabriel Magana, Crystal City, 17:10.4; 9, Gerardo Gallardo, Progeso, 17:16.8; 10, Brian Cardenas, Carrizo Springs, 17:22.1; 11, Graham Hammond, Fredericksburg, 17:24.6; 12, Frank Barrientez, Geronimo Navarro, 17:25.0; 13, Reyes Rodriguez, La Feria, 17:25.0; 14, Curtis Rodriguez, La Feria, 17:27.6; 15, Jonathan Vega, Progreso, 17:30.4
4A Girls
Team Results
1, Bandera, 43; 2, Boerne, 118; 3, Gonzalez, 123; 4, La Feria, 140; 5, Frederickburgs 158; 6, Needville, 178
Individual Results
1, Emma Stauber, Boerne, 11:55.9; 2, Alia Henderson, Bandera, 11:57.8; 3, Dariana Vasquez, La Feria, 12:03.3; 4, Ashlyn Royal, Wimberley, 12:06.8; 5, Jasmime Rangel, Rio Hondo, 12:07.3; 6, Lizbett Rivera, Progreso, 12:13.6; 7, Ashlyn Perysn, Bandera, 12:18.3; 8, Sandy Clarkin, Bandera, 12:21.4; 9, Caitlin Thrasher, Bandera, 12:26.5; 10, Bethany Kendrick, Federicksburg, 12:27.0; 11, Brooke Runyan, Devine, 12:29.8; 12, Ivy Kohl, Geronimo Navarro, 12:30.3; 13, Jazaline Ayla, Rio Hondo, 12:30.4; 14, Brooke Wendel, Cuero, 12:35.5; 15, Yanel Garza, Carrizo Springs, 12:34.9