H.S. cross country: Unbeaten Randall girls win 6th meet of season

Cade Cobb won his fourth race of the year, clocking in at 15 minutes 57.81 seconds over the 5-kilometer course, and found help from teammates Ashton Nichols in second place and Alex Luette in fourth place to lead Amarillo High to victory Saturday in the Class 3A-5A division of the Canyon Invitational Cross Country Meet at Canyon High School.

The Sandies finished with 32 points. District 3-4A rival Canyon took second with 43 points in the eight-team field.

"I'm not sure what the difference is this year," said Cobb, who ran fifth for the Sandies at regionals last year but has been their consistent leader this year. "I guess it's a lot of miles this summer."

Amarillo High coach Matt Jackson said he was pleased with his team's win.

"I think we're starting to peak at the right time," Jackson said. "They all ran well today and this is the last time we get to see Canyon before district, so we wanted to run well."

The victory is Amarillo High's first win over Canyon this season. Canyon coach Wes Kirton said he was impressed by the Sandies' effort.

"My boys hit personal records, but it means the Amarillo High guys were that much more improved," Kirton said. "They just outran us today. Hopefully, both our teams can run well at regionals. It shows both teams are competitive and shows maybe both our teams might have a chance to get to state."

In the Class 1A-2A division, Panhandle's Dustin Baumgarder won the boys individual title in 18:00.0 and led the Panthers to victory with 33 points, ahead of second-place Dimmitt with 39 points in the four-team field.

The team win was Panhandle's first this season.

"I'm proud of these guys," Panthers coach Robin Fulce said. "They bust their tales everyday in practice."

The win also gives Panhandle confidence as the Panthers prepare to challenge No. 6-ranked Sunray in the district meet in two weeks.

"We don't have any seniors, and they keep getting better (every race)," Fulce said.

Bushland, ranked No. 6 in Class 2A and the pre-meet favorite to win the small-school race, chose to run up in the large-school division and finished fourth, ahead of District 3-4A's Randall and Palo Duro and District 1-3A's Dalhart and Borger.

Class 3A-5A boys

Team totals: 1. Amarillo High 32; 2. Canyon 43; 3. Plainview 63; 4. Bushland 128; 5. Randall 133; 6. Dalhart 134; 7. Borger 186; 8. Palo Duro 232.

Individuals (top 15 of 58): 1. Cade Cobb, Amarillo High, 15:58; 2. Ashton Nichols, AHS, 16:17; 3. Jarel Rosas, Plainview, 16:26; 4. Alex Luette, AHS, 16.37; 5. Ricardo Flores, Plainview, 16:38; 6. Treet Allison, Canyon, 16:39; 7. Joseph Travino, Canyon, 16:40; 8. James Copeland, AHS, 16;43; 9. Kole Bryan, Canyon, 16;43; 10. Dylan Knight, Canyon, 16:56; 11. Jacob Wilhelm, Canyon, 16:59; 12. Jordan Castillo, Plainview, 17:02; 13. John Singler, Bushland, 17:04; 14. Christian Cobb, Canyon, 17:06; 15. Emory Lobley, Dalhart, 17:08.

Class 1A-2A boys

Team totals: 1. Panhandle 33; 2. Dimmitt 39; 3. Hart 50; 4. Lockney 93.

Individuals (top 10 of 43): 1. Dustin Baumgardner, Panhandle, 18:00; 2. Carlos Subealdea, Tulia, 18;19; 3. Matthew Snyder, Panhandle Christian, 18;23; 4. Leighton Hooks, Ascension academy, 18:42; 5. David Marquez, Stratford, 18:49; 6. Mark Galvan, Hart, 18:49; 7. Jose Gonzalez, Panhandle, 19:00.67; 8. Jasiel Andrade, Highland Park, 19:03; 9. Geraldo Prieto, Dimmitt, 19:03; 10. Steffan Lang, Ascension Academy, 19:14.

Girls

The No. 4-ranked Randall girls cross country team is proving to be better than the postal service.

The Lady Raiders are proving they can run in any weather condition, handle injuries to star runners and overcome the absences of three runners taking the SAT.

Randall, with only five runners, won its sixth team title in six races as freshman Karyss Betzen clocked a time of 18:52.78 to win the individual title over Canyon's Kaitlin Rodriguez (19:01.94).

Randall's Erika Dewitt, running in her first 5-kilometer race since enduring a serious hip injury in August, finished fourth with a time of 19:31.78 in the field of 34 runners. Teammates Samantha Jones, Briana Hernandez and Adriana Martinez finished fifth, eighth and ninth to complete the Lady Raider scoring with 27 points, well ahead of No. 5-ranked Canyon with 54 points and third-place Tascosa with 61 points.

Betzen, who had little difficulty in winning the individual title and led comfortably from start to finish, said she was pleased with her race.

"I like it better with someone to push me," she said. "I didn't start off too fast like sometimes, and I tried to surge like coach (Rebekah James) teaches us to keep focused. My teammates help me, too."

The Randall win, despite the absence of No. 2 runner Bernise Altamirano, sets the team up for a chance at its first undefeated regular season in school history. The Lady Raiders cap their regular season next weekend at the Lathrop Memorial Cross Country meet at West Texas A&M University.

"We've never been undefeated," Lady Raider coach Rebekah James said. "…Nobody outworks this group. "

DeWitt, who ran 11:01 for 3200 meters in track last season and finished fifth in Region I-4A last year, said she was happy to be back competing.

"I'm excited about finally getting into shape," DeWitt said. "I love our team. I'm practicing hard, and I can get back in to win regional."

In the girls Class 1A-3A 3200-meter race, Dalhart's Sara Smith repeated as the individual champion while Bushland's Cortnie Graule, Aundera Schroder and Emily Champan finished second, third and fourth, respectively, to lead the Lady Falcons to victory with 38 points. Dalhart was second with 56 points.

Gruver, ranked second in the state in Class 1A, finished third with 112 points, ahead of district rival and fifth-ranked Stratford with 153 points.

Ellie Cornett finished 15th and Morgan Lackey took 16th to complete the scoring for defending Class 2A state champion Bushland.

"We need to close the gap between our third runner and our four, five, six," Lady Falcons coach Kevin Ufford said. "It was better this week, but we still need to improve if we're going to win regional."

Class 4A-5A girls

Team totals: 1. Randall 27; 2. Canyon 54; 3. Tascosa 61; 4. Hereford 78; 5. Plainview 78.

Individuals top 10 of 34: 1. Karyss Betzen, Randall, 18;52.78; 2. Kaitlin Rodriguez, Canyon, 19:02; 3. Seselia Dala, Tascosa, 19:20; 4. Erika DeWitt, Randall, 19:28; 5. Samantha Jones, Randall 19:31; 6. Hollee Ratliff, Tascosa 19;36; 7. Jordan Norris, Canyon, 19:40; 8. Briana Hernandez, Randall, 19:48; 9. Adriana Martinez, Randall, 19:49; 10. Markaaisha Richardson, Tascosa, 19:54

Class 1A-3A girls

Team totals: 1. Bushland 38; 2. Dalhart 56; 3. Gruver 112; 4. Stratford 153; 5. Borger 160; 6. Bose City, Okla 179; 7. Vega 190; 8. Panhandle 200; 9. Highland Park 210; 10. Clarendon 252; 11. Lazbuddie 291; 12. Nazareth 330; 13. Lockney 359; 14. Ascension Academy 356.

Individuals (top 25 of 101): 1. Sara Smith, Dalhart, 11:50; 2. Cortnie Grauel, Bushland, 12:09; 3. Aundera Schroder , Bushland, 12:18; 4. Emily Champman, Bushland, 12:21; 5. Samantha Gonzalez, Stratford, 12:24; 6. Brooklyn Strafuss, Dalhart, 12:25; 7. Kristen Elizalde, Highland Park, 12;25; 8. Claire VanZee, Dimmitt, 12:31; 9. KyLee Galbraith, Vega, 12;32; 10. Elizabeth Gill, Highland Park, 12:36; 11. Kayla Banks, Dalhart, 12;39; 12. Autumn Mizer, Boise City, 12:42; 13. Lacey Jesko, Lazbuddie, 12:50; 14. Emilee White, Dalhart, 12:53; 15. Ellie Cornett, Bushland, 12:56; 16. Morgan Lackey, Bushland, 13;01; 17. Weslyn Urquhart, Panhandle, 13:05; 18. Maggie Gaspar, Gruver, 13:06; 19. Hadlee Spivey, Gruver, 13;10; 20. Jaden Brown, Boise City, 13:11; 21. Jasmine Rodriguez, Borger, 13:11; 22. Korie Bos, Borger, 13;12; 23. Reagan Haynes, Gruver, 13:14; 24. Stormi Fuentes, Bushland, 13:14.95; 25. Abby Schmucker, Nazareth, 13:15.0.

Nike South Houston meet

Saturday, at The Woodlands

Top 10 team scores: 1. College Park, 105; 2. The Woodlands 123; 3. Keller 130; 4. Great Oak 136; 5. Southlake Carroll 138; 6. Hebron 191; 7. Flower Mound 210; 8. Corpus Christi Carroll 279; 9. Tascosa 282; 10. Lewisville Marcus 283.

Tascosa finishers: 20. Briggs Wittlake 16:39.4; 29. Reid Splawn 16:47.0; 71. Matthew Noriega 17:29.5; 76. Anthony Navarrette 17:34.1; 86. Tony Martinez 17:45.2; 137. Will Manning 18:37.2.

Canadian Cross Country meet

Boys

Team Totals: 1. Pampa, 40; 2. Canadian, 42; 3. Booker, 63; 4. Spearman, 74.

Top 10 Individual: 1. Alex Marrufo, pampa, 17:19; 2. Brian Tollison, Wheeler, 17:46; 3. Jeremy Wauer, Booker, 18:08; 4. Aaron Avalos, Canadian, 18:12; 5. Trae Dwyer, Canadian, 18:40; 6. Jose Hernandez, Pampa, 18:44; 7. Leonides Jimenez, Booker, 18:45; 8. Nathan Furguson, Pampa, 18:57; 9. Bailey Urschel, Canadian, 19:04l 10. Peyton Gernett, Spearman, 19:10.

Girls

Team Totals: 1. Pampa, 28; 2. Wellington, 60; 3. Canadian, 65; 4. Wheeler, 89; 5. Spearman, 121.

Top 10 Individual: 1. Haevyn Risley, Canadian, 12:46; 2. Reata Collins, Pampa, 12:49; 3. Destine Natim, Wellington, 13:09; 4. Alexis Minguia, Pama, 13:14; 5. Esmy Herrera, Wheeler, 13:16; 6. Yesenia Seria, Pampa, 13:17; 7. Shiann Regaldo, Pampa, 13:19; 8. Gena Hargrove, Spearman, 13:21; 9. Madison Young, Pampa, 13:25; 10. Claudie Juantes, Wellington, 13:27.