CORPUS CHRISTI — Edinburg Economedes entered the Region IV-6A cross-country as a sleeper according to MileSplit.com, naming the Jaguars as a team to watch for the final state meet berth.
The Jaguars were motivated by MileSplit’s article, head coach Brenda Lozano said, leading to a week of high-energy practices in preparation for the regional meet.
“We were going in ranked seventh in the region,” Lozano said. “MileSplit had talked about their top three teams. Then they mentioned us as a team to watch.
“It got us more excited, and we built off that. Our practices after that were ecstatic and the girls were just excited. They knew if they gave it their all they would get what they wanted, which was state.”
Fueled by the article, the Jaguars delivered one of their top performances of the season during the Region IV-6A cross-country meet at Dugan Track and Soccer Stadium in Corpus Christi, with four of their top five runners finishing in the top 25, leading to fourth place in the Region IV-6A, while qualifying the Jaguars for the Class 6A state meet.
Each of the Jaguars’ top four runners finished with sub-20-minute times, led by sophomore Maddison Surita, who finished 14th with a time of 19 minutes, 13.39 seconds, her second fastest time of the year.
Senior Dianett Garcia, an individual state qualifier from last season, finished in 15th place, posting a personal best mark of 19:15.38. Francesca Alvarado (19:24.38) and Marbella Marquez (19:28.23) helped secure the Jaguars’ state meet berth, coming in 18th and 21st, respectively.
“Honestly, it’s not realistic until it actually happens,” Lozano said. “All this time I was pushing them, they didn’t understand. When they saw the results today, they all understood why we work hard. I think they became believers in giving it your all. They have been and they’ve been displaying it.
“These girls have been together for two to three years now. They went through COVID together. I think from this, they’re going to take it with them.”
The Jaguars were one of three RGV girls cross-country teams to earn state meet bids, with Sharyland High and La Feria qualifying in their respective classes.
The Rattlers followed up the Jaguars’ performance by becoming the second girls team to qualify for state, finishing fourth in the Region IV-5A team standings.
Senior Danielle Salinas finished as the Rattlers’ top runner, earning fourth place individually with a time of 19:02.98. Salinas makes her return to state for a third consecutive year, finishing in the top 10 each of the last two seasons.
La Feria made it three-for-three to open the morning in the girls’ division, capturing the regional title in Region IV-4A.
The Lions were led by a group of five runners, each who finished in the top 25 individually. Sophomore Lianna Navarro highlighted the group, earning a silver medal with a time of 11:53.79 during the two-mile run.
While three teams punched their tickets to state, five individuals also earned bids to the state cross-country meet in two weeks.
Edinburg North’s San Juanita Leal continued her dominant sophomore campaign, coming in seventh during the Region IV-6A.
Sandwiched between a pair of runners from Austin Vandergrift during the final leg of the race, Leal kicked an extra gear and muscled past Austin Vandergrift’s Caitlin Garrett for the seventh-place finish, just 0.34 second behind Vandergrift’s Annie Burton.
“I felt good but at that straightaway those girls were fast,” Leal said. “It was scary. I thought I wasn’t going to make it at the end. But I got past one girl at the end.
“I’ve been working on opening up my stride and working on hills. Now, we’re looking to hopefully breaking the 18:30 mark at state. That’s been the goal since the Meet of Champions.”
Brownsville Veterans’ Naia Garcia finished ninth in Region IV-5A, while Vanguard Rembrandt’s Faith Cruz and IDEA Pharr’s Naomi Cotero qualified in Region IV-3A. Santa Maria’s Mia Picazo was the last RGV girl to advance to the state meet, coming in sixth in Region IV-2A.
The UIL’s state cross-country meet is scheduled for Nov. 5-6 at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock.