Week #7 XC News and Notes in San Antonio

San Antonio teams went all over the State this week in what was the final tune-up for many schools before their district meet.

In the Rankings

The Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas (CCCAT) released their Week #3 coaches poll. The Boerne Champion girls and boys are each ranked in the 5A top 10. Their girls team comes in at #6 while the boys are slightly higher at #4. At the 4A level, the Fredericksburg girls were voted as the top team while Davenport comes in at #6. Lytle also has both of their girls and boys ranked in the 3A top team. Their girls are #4 and their boys are #2. Meanwhile, the Poth girls are currently #2 while the Great Hearts Northern Oaks (#8) and Randolph (#10) boys are in the top 10 in 3A.

Alamo Heights Invitational

Alamo Heights hosted a smaller meet at the NorthEast ISD Sports Park. In the boys 5K race, the Mules put four runners in the top 10 to win with 35 points while Reagan was second with 43 points. Reagan's Gavin Chapa was the individual winner in 15:42.50, just three seconds ahead of Arlo Gonzales of LEE. Joshua Sharp (4^th), Santiago Berenguer (6^th), Jackson Cummings (9^th) and Caden Alvarado (10^th) each ran faster than 17:25 for Alamo Heights.

In the girls race, Reagan dominated the competition with a winning score of 32 points while LEE was second with 60 points. Avery Brawner of Alamo Heights was the individual champion crossing the finish line in 19:50.46. LEE was led by Virginia Lessner and Sofia Cantor who finished second and fourth, respectively. The Rattlers put five runners (Reese Sweatman, Katlin Foster, Theone Glosser, Rhys Byers and Katherine Jackson) in the top 10 and their 1-5 split was just 0:34.

Boerne Invitational

While Boerne was the host, it was the Northside ISD schools that really shined at the Voss Middle School campus. The Holmes Huskies won the meet with 44 points and had all five runners finish inside the top 20. Uriel Arizpe led the team with a 16:38.80 to take third place while Lorenzo Delgado also broke 17 minutes with a time of 16:51.75. Sotomayor's Joseph Lopez and Paul Wallace took the top two spots running 16:09.84 and 16:13.84, respectively. The Cats finished with 59 points while Boerne took third with 61 points.

The girls 2-mile race featured three teams and it was Boerne who dominated the proceedings. They swept the top five spots with Eleanor Davis winning in 12:31.60. They posted a 1-5 split of less than a minute. The girls 5K race had six total teams and it was Taft winning with 40 points while Sotomayor (48 points) and Clark (55 points) were close behind. Clark's Jadeyn Perez had an impressive victory covering the course in 19:12.93, a full 30 seconds ahead of second place Emma Wallace of Sotomayor. Taft put four runners inside the top 10 with Brooklyn Crow and Kelsay Edwards leading the way in third and fourth place, respectively.

Luling Sandia City Invitational

Great Hearts Northern Oaks were the big winners at the Luling-Sandia City Invitational held at Zelder Mill Park. The Griffins posted a team score of 19 points in the boys 5K race. Isai Moran, one of the top runners in the city, easily won the race in 15:42.68. After Miguel Silva-Hernandez took runner-up honors for Luling, GHNO had the next four finishers: Benjamin Alcott, Brayden Salzwedel, Joshua Mounts and Krish Vijavergia. In the girls 2-mile race, GHNO won with 36 points over Yoakum (46 points). Bella Haas and Josie Davis took the first two spots for the Griffins.

Poth Pirate Invitational

Poth hosted a rather large meet that included 17 boys teams and 14 girls teams. In the boys race, Lytle continued their usual style of running in a tight pack en route to victory. They finished with 40 points and were led by the trio of Johnny Rey Alvarez, Abel Sanchez and Bryan Montes-Rodriguez who all ran between 16:25 and 16:35. Their 1-5 split was only 34 seconds. The individual winner was Titus Gill of the SA Spartans who finished in 15:57.25 while Randolph's Josh Howard took second in 16:04.28. Randolph was second with 88 points while Floresville was third with 108 points.

In the girls 2-mile race, top-ranked Poth took the team title with 67 points. Their top three of Brooklyn Albert, Katelyn Poth and Rylee Ellis all finished in the top 10. Albert was second overall in 11:47.28. Randolph's Sophia Bendet remained undefeated on the season winning the race in 11:27.41 while her teammate, Aubrey Milam, finished third in 12:21.58. Bandera took second as a team with 100 points and La Vernia was third with 109 points.

Southwest Legacy Invitational

Southwest Legacy senior Anthony Zapata won his home meet destroying the field in a time of 16:13.76, nearly 45 seconds ahead of second place Zachary Miller of Brennan. The Bears won the 16-team meet with 47 points as Saul Lopez (3^rd) and Spencer Butler (5^th) backed up Miller's strong performance. Medina Valley finished in second place with 58 points thanks to the trio of Nicholas Castro, Jaxon James and Marc Castro who all finished in the top seven.

The girls meet was hotly contested with the top three teams all finishing within seven points of each other. In the end, it was East Central winning with 66 points while Medina Valley (69 points) was second and O'Connor (73 points) was third. Brennan's Caila Lyons was the champion in 19:37.86 while Araceli Ford of O'Connor and Destiny Hernandez of East Central each broke 20 minutes. Ford's teammates, Elizabeth Wade and Alma Lazo-Cazares each finished in the top 10 while Medina Valley put two in the top 10, Reesa Lowell and Jazlyn Garcia.

Seguin Matador Invitational

Seguin hosted a large meet at Max Starcke Park, the course that hosts many district meets. New Braunfels won the meet with 119 points thanks to a 1-5 split of 26 seconds. Farrin Mangelson of the SA Patriots was the individual champion in 15:25.89. San Antonio Christian's Adrian Rule and Jack Hawkins took fourth and sixth, respectively. Rule ran an outstanding time of 15:38.27. Davenport's Christian Pena ran in the 5A-6A race and took eighth overall in 16:25.15. Clemens finished second with 128 points while Central Catholic was third with 131 points.

Central Catholic also won the Boys 1A-4A race with 54 points. Uvalde's Jack Collins won the race in 16:49.78. Devine took fourth place as a team but had three runners finish in the top eight: Jesse House, Donovan Dixon and Jaiden Alvarez. CC was led by Tommy Haynes and had a 36-second 1-5 split.

The New Braunfels girls edged out Canyon in the 5A-6A girls race. Savanah Moya won the meet in 19:07.12 and the team finished with 59 points. Canyon had 61 points and were led by Madi Molinar who took eighth place in 19:54.40. Steele took third place with 105 points and was led by Kassia Kozarski's bronze medal. Overall, there were 10 runners who broke 20 minutes for the 5K course.

The 1A-4A girls race was nearly a clean sweep by Davenport who finished with 18 points. Maddie Reagan won the individual title in 12:29.81 and she was followed by teammates Kendall Fallon, Olivia Bounds and Macie Fallon in the top four spots.

Nike South Invitational

Only one local team made the trip to The Woodlands for the Nike South Invitational, Johnson. The boys team ran in the Varsity Green 5K and they took second place. Michael Repper-Molina led the team with a second-place finish in 16:19.60 while Evan Packard and Antonio Valdespino each added top 10 finishes. The Johnson girls won the White Division with 30 points. Emily Krot was the individual champ in 19:58.50 and Isabella Porter was runner-up in 20:17.30. Kira Albino and Ariana Pinheiro finished fifth and eighth, respectively.

Dallas Jesuit Invitational

District rivals Boerne Champion and Smithson Valley each made the trip north to the Dallas Jesuit Classic at Prestonwood Polo Club. The Champion boys finished in sixth while the Rangers finished in 12^th. Luis Tovar was the top Charger taking 15^th place in 16:07.70 and Bradyn Youngdahl led Smithson Valley with an 18^th place performance. Elizabeth Leachman of Boerne Champion won the 5A-6A girls race in a runaway time of 16:27.50, nearly 2:30 ahead of second place. SV's Mia Perez took home 12^th place in 19:19.10.

Leo Manzano Marble Falls Mustang Invitational

The final meet of the week is the Leo Manzano Invitational in Marble Falls. In the 4A and under boys race, Canyon Lake's Layton Hemann and Tristan Schenk took home the top two spots in 16:43.10 and 16:54.90, respectively. In the girls race, Cadence Patterson continued her outstanding senior season winning the 2-mile race in 11:17.40. The TMI boys competed in the 5A-6A race where Wells Peterson finished in eighth place in 16:00.20 and Ethan Garza was 13^th in 16:11.10.

What's Happening This Week

The final regular season meets of the year take place this week Medina Valley, Northside ISD, San Antonio Christian School and Central Catholic all hosting prior to the District championships next week.