Boys Highlight Video
The Cathedral/ Loretto Invitational was the big meet this weekend in El Paso. The meet featured twenty- one teams, consisting of thirteen boys teams and eight girls teams.
The course at Veterans Park was changed this year to reduce the amount of loops the runners would need to run. The new route got some great praise on the update as some runners found it easier to plan out their race strategy.
Once again this week the boys were the first race to step on to the course. The race saw some new faces and old faces claim the spotlight this weekend. One such runner saw the first step to getting back on the right track after dealing with a slew of injuries.
San Elizario junior Edwin Gomez took to the front quite quickly. Before the completion of the first lap Gomez had already claimed the lead and pulled away from the rest of the field. Gomez established his dominance and never eased up. He ran away with the victory in a time of 16:10.36, nearly thirty seconds ahead of second place. This victory was a nice assurance for Gomez, who seemed to be struggling with injuries these past few weeks. For him it showed that he is slowly coming back into form.
Edwin Gomez Pulling Away From The Field
The rest of the race was a lot closer to the rest of the field. Hanks sophomore Gael Alvarado took to leading the chase pack in the first lap. Although Alvarado set the early pace it would be Pebble Hill's Omer Ibrahim who would take second place in 16:39.35 and Alvarado would take third in 16:46.65.
The boys race was quite the close finish between Eastwood and San Elizario. The San Elizario Eagles started off on the right foot with Gomez's first place finish. Two more Eagles would join Gomez in the top ten, senior Rene Arambula and junior Dilan Sanchez would finish sixth and seventh respectively. The Eastwood Troopers would be led by sophomore Victor Anchondo's fifth place finish and senior Abraham Cruz's tenth place finish. The Troopers tried to take the victory with a small split of thirty- one seconds but ultimately the Eagles three low finishers would give them the win. The Eagles took the win with a score of 54 to the Troopers 59 points.
El Paso Montwood would follow up the two teams with a score of 108 points. Montwood claimed third place after winning the rare battle of the sixth man finish.
Girls Highlight Video
The girls race was a bit different from the boys race. This time around there was no obvious winner before the end of the first lap.
The girls race were quite strung out in the beginning, but never more than a few meters apart from one another for the leaders. Montwood junior Karyme Garcia took the lead followed closely behind by Parkland junior Angelina Lujan.
Garcia would stay in the lead for the entirety of the race. Although that does not mean she remained unchallenged. Jefferson junior Melody Tsumi worked her way up from third place to get to Garcia's shoulder. The two runners would then run shoulder to shoulder all the way until the finish. Garcia would take the win by gaining a slight lead over Tsumi just before the finish. Garcia recorded a time of 19:40.08 and Tsumi came in four seconds later in a time of 19:44.52.
Melody Tsumi And Karyme Garcia Battling It Out
The next five girls would all come in sprinting together. Bel- Air sophomore Abagail Murillo finished third in 20:16.27 with Montwood sophomore Alexa Rangel fourth in 20:19.38, and Parkland's Angelina Lujan finished fifth in 20:23.37.
The girls race was similar to the boys race in that it was a close finish between two teams. The battle this time around occurred between Montwood and Eastwood. The Eastwood girls would take the win with an overall score of 46 points to Montwood's 49 points. Bel- Air rounded out the top three with an overall score of 109 points.