Photo of Lilly Koenig
It was a big week last week. Not so much in terms of how many meets took place, but rather in the size of the meets. The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islander Splash was an enormous meet while Texas A&M hosted a large meet and even the Hays CISD meet had 25 teams per division. All in all, it gave everyone a chance to see where they stack up in a large meet condition similar to the Regional meet.
Keep It Rolling
The Smithson Valley girls and the Clemens boys each remained perfect on the season after impressive performances last week. Smithson Valley went to the Hays CISD Invitational in San Marcos and faced down their toughest 5A competitor in the Region, Boerne Champion, and they handled two of the top 6A teams in San Antonio in Johnson and Churchill. Lilly Koenig took back the top spot for the Rangers with an individual title winning in 18:01 while Aubrey Pozzi nabbed second place, just two seconds back. Skyler Fonseca finished in 10th and Addison Knibbe was 18th as all four finished in under 19 minutes. This team should only get better with the return of Brady Solansky, third in the State last year, looming.
The Clemens boys have taken on all comers this year and have looked great in the process. They took the team title at the Islander Splash in the Gold Division with 114 points. It was probably their most impressive win of the season as they went up against 25 other teams. Jayce Love finished fourth in 15:52.16 while Sean Gonzalez was fifth in 15:55.0. Aric Pinguelo gave them a third runner in the top-20. The Buffaloes have now won five meets this season and should be one of the favorites, along with Vandegrift, to win the Region IV-6A title this year.
In the Rankings
The Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas puts out State rankings throughout the season. The following teams appeared in the Regular Season Poll #1:
3A Girls - Poth (#2), Lytle (#7), Cole (#9)
3A Boys - Lytle (#1), Great Hearts Northern Oaks (#6)
4A Girls - Davenport (#4), Fredericksburg (#6)
4A Boys - Floresville (#7)
5A Girls - Smithson Valley (#1), Boerne Champion (#10)
5A Boys - Boerne (#6)
6A Girls - Johnson (#7)
I was hoping the new State rankings would come out before I posted this, but no luck. The Poth and Lytle girls went head-to-head at the Islander Splash with Lytle coming out on top by 19 points in a 50-team race. The two teams finished second and third, respectively. Cole was at the much smaller East Central/Harlandale meet where Katherine Zinnante finished as the individual runner-up on the 5K course. The Lytle boys won the Medium/Small School Division at the Islander Splash with only 68 points and were led by Jacob Cantu's individual title in 17:17.20. Their top four runners all finished inside the top-15.
The Fredericksburg girls ran at the Texas A&M Invitational where they finished 15th and many larger schools. Rilyn Grona finished in the top-25 to lead the team. The Floresville boys ran well at the Hays CISD meet where they finished in sixth place. Kaden Cypert led the way with a runner-up finish in 15:39. The Smithson Valley girls were at the same meet and took the team title with 67 points as Lilly Koenig and Aubrey Pozzi took the top two spots. Johnson was second and Boerne Champion was third behind Smithson Valley. Emily Krot and Isabella Porter each crossed in 18:44 for Johnson as they finished 11th and 12th, respectively. Rebecca Bezerra led BC with a ninth-place finish.
A Positive Note
I have to bring up the story of Kate Davis of Great Hearts Northern Oaks and her perseverance. As a junior, she was one of the team's consistent top-5 scoring runners throughout the season. However, at the District 27-3A meet she broke her tibia and fibula less than 400m from the finish line. She endured a grueling recovery over the last 8-10 months and I have been able to witness the stages of her return from a wheelchair, to crutches, to walking, to finally running again because her father is the pastor of the church I attend. On August 30, she took the starting line at the Long Creek Invitational. As her father said in a sermon recently, "Her time or her place in the meet wasn't important. We didn't care about that. Just seeing her run across the finish line was reason to rejoice!"
I really think that sums up why cross country is a great sport and why so many love it. Finishing a race is a challenge and should be celebrated.
Making Statements
This was a good week for many local teams show out. The Reagan girls, Floresville boys, Lytle girls, and Sotomayor boys were all impressive this week and I have not written much about them this year.
Reagan went to the Islander Splash and won the Gold division with 60 points as they held off District rival Brandeis by eight points and is a precursor to the District 27-6A meet where those two plus Johnson and Churchill will engage in an epic battle. The Rattlers were led by Ellyson Spurlock and Theone Glosser who finished a second apart from each other in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Reese Sweatman and Paige Opaska gave Reagan four girls in the top-20 and allowed them secure the title.
Floresville is a ranked 4A team and they raced up a level at the Hays meet where they finished in sixth place out of 28 teams that were mostly 5A and 6A squads. Kaden Cypert led the team with a runner-up finish in 15:39 and should be a top contender for the Regional title. After Cypert, their 2-3-4 runners crossed the line in a near dead heat with Riley Silva, Joshua Simmons and Jack Zarosky running under 16:50.
The Lytle girls finished a close second to Tilden McMullen County in the Medium/Small School Division of the Islander Splash where they knocked off some quality squads in the 50-team race. Lytle finished ahead of #2-ranked Poth who finished in third place. Frances Scotello led Lytle with her seventh-place finish while Elyse Cortinas and Annalise Quintanilla each added top-25 performances in a race that had 399 runners.
Finally, the Sotomayor boys have been running well lately. They were the top local team at the Texas A&M Invitational this week after having a great performance at the Edgewood Relays the week before. They finished in fourth place overall with 205 points in the 34-team meet. Their top four runners Ilias Braxton, Paul Wallace, Taylor Royce and Matthew Gomez all ran between 15:50 and 16:10.
She's a Unicorn
New Braunfels junior Savanah Moya is putting together an outstanding season and on Saturday she was at her best at the Lovejoy Elite XC meet. She took the gold medal over some of the top runners in the State crossing the finish line in 17:43.8 to win by 12 seconds. Moya finished fifth in the State last year and should be considered one of the favorites for the 5A individual State title. New Braunfels is in the same district as Smithson Valley so Moya will have multiple chances before the State meet to measure herself against some of the other top contenders for the State title.
The Heat is On
The South Texas Heat girls were back in action this week at the Texas A&M Invitational. They finished in second place with 75 points and only lost to UIL 6A #2 Bridgeland for the team title. Elin Latta (17:38.58), Iris Latta (17:39.48), Remy Latta (18:02.52) and Reese Latta (18:24.54) all finished inside the top-7 runners. The South Texas Heat will be back in action at the McNeil Invitational this weekend.
Around the City
The Hays CISD Invitational took place on Friday. The boys race featured 56 runners breaking 17 minutes for the 5K race. Johnson was the top local team finishing in third place with 115 points. Angel Olmo, Nicholas Repper-Molina and Kyle Wunderli all crossed the line in 16:00 and finished ninth, 10th and 12th, respectively. Boerne Champion grabbed fourth place with 147 points and were led by Shawn Edwards who finished in 13th place. Kaden Cypert of Floresville was the individual runner-up while Titus Gill (SA Spartans) grabbed fourth place.
Smithson Valley, Johnson and Boerne Champion went 1-2-3 in the girls race and took home eight of the top-20 finishing spots. Steele's Kassia Kozarski crossed the line in fourth place in 18:14 while Mia Kellogg (Churchill) and Sadie Larson (Pieper) were fifth and sixth, respectively. Ana Garza (Judson) added another strong performance with her time of 18:45 which was good for 14th place. Overall, their were 48 athletes who broke 20 minutes.
Cole won the East Central/Harlandale Invitational boys race with only 28 points. Caden Kitson was the individual champion for Cole in 16:35.21 while Levi Kitson, Liam Foreman and Hunter Blakely each finished in the top-6. Wagner's Channon Davis was the individual runner-up while Patrick Bauknecht (John Paul II) took home fifth place with his time of 17:27.49. East Central won the girls race with 37 points while Southside finished in second place. Emarald Aguirre (Southside) was the individual champion and won by over 45 seconds. Katherine Zinnante (Cole), Zoe Maricle (Wagner), Joely Wolfmeyer (MacArthur) and Renata Rodriguez (MacArthur) rounded out the top-5.
The Islander Splash Gold Division saw the Clemens boys and Reagan girls take home the team championships. Clemens had the runners finish in the top-20 while Reagan had four finish in the top-20. Medina Valley took fifth in the boys race and were led by Nicholas Castro and Brayden Riley who each finished in the top-20. Aiden Adams (Clark) had another top finish taking sixth place in 15:58.16 while Reagan's Logan Martinez grabbed eighth place. Devin Malesich (Brandeis) and Noah Gonzalez (Holmes) were two more locals who finished in the top-15. The girls race was dominated by San Antonio schools with Brandeis and Medina Valley taking second and third, respectively behind Reagan. Ella Rodriguez (Medina Valley) was the individual runner-up posting a time of 19:19.26. Brandeis had three runners; Anabella Palumbo, Delilah Huntley and Danelly Carrion, all finished inside the top-15. Reese Marshall was the #2 runner for Medina Valley posting a time of 20:18.88.
In the Islander Splash Large School Division it was Lockhart's Ethan Herrera taking the individual boy's title in 16:35.51 while Seguin's Adrian Rangel followed in second place. Overall, Lockhart finished in fourth place among 36 teams while Seguin grabbed sixth place. Noah King (Seguin), Carlos Espinoza (Holmes) and Rafael Urbina (Lockhart) were all top-20 finishers. Marshall was the top local girls team in the race finishing in seventh place. Arianna Rivera of Carrizo Springs finished as the bronze medalist while Hanah Dismukes (Marshall) crossed the line in 21:18.57 and her teammate, Madison Criollo, took 14th place. Cornerstone's Mia Medina was the 12th runner to finish and posted a time of 21:34.65.
The Islander Splash Medium/Small School Division boys race was won by Lytle who had four runners in the top-15. Devine had a quality finish of sixth place with Zach Guerra and Shawn Lowe leading the way in the top-20. In the girl's race, Lytle finished in second place, Poth was third and Pleasanton added fifth place finish. Brooklyn Albert (Poth) finished as the individual runner-up covering the 2-mile race in 12:56.10. Lytle's Frances Scotello finished seventh and Angelyna Montes of Pearsall took 10th place. The other locals in the top-20 were Katelyn Poth (Poth), Haydee Vail Lopez (Kennedy), Isabella Burkhalter (La Vernia), Shalyn Gutierrez (Pleasanton) and Aurora Jones (Luling).
Boerne and New Braunfels traveled to the Lovejoy Invitational. The Boerne boys finished in sixth place while New Braunfels was 10th. Barrett Crofut and Aaron Garcia each finished inside the top-20 for Boerne. In the girl's race, Savanah Moya of New Braunfels was the individual champion in 17:43.8 and her teammate, Ava Briley, finished in 18th place. New Braunfels finished in fifth place as a team.
At the Texas A&M Invitational, the Sotomayor boys finished in fourth place among the 34 teams. Ilias Braxton, Paul Wallace, Taylor Royce and Matthew Gomez each finished in the top-35 runners. Antonian's John Boland was the top local runner finishing in 15:11.45 to get fourth place. TMI's Ethan Garza followed in sixth place while Dionell Delgado (Brennan) took home 15th place.
The South Texas Heat were the top local girls team at the A&M Invitational. Four of the Latta sisters finished inside the top-10. Antonian finished in 10th place and was led by Mackenzie Kanz who crossed the line in 26th place while Brennan's Kailyn Brunson followed in 28th place.
What's Happening This Week
This week, the Del Valle Invitational is on Thursday. The big meet of the week is the Hoka McNeil Invitational that is run on the UIL State Championship course. The Nike South meet in College Station is also scheduled for Friday. Falls City and Utopia are each hosting meets on Saturday.