San Antonio XC News and Notes Week #7

Unlike last week when the majority of schools were at one of two meets, this week saw teams competing at a variety of meets all across the San Antonio area. The Seguin Matador Invitational had a large group of competitors since they host many district meets that will be held in the next week to 10 days.

Gearing Up for Championship Season

Many of the top local teams took care of business this weekend and look good heading into District Championship meets. The Reagan boys and girls, Johnson boys and girls, Clemens boys, Cole boys, Davenport girls, Floresville boys and Poth girls all posted meet victories and are primed for a good postseason. Another team, the Steele girls, put together their best performance of the season by winning the Seguin Matador 5A-6A girls division with just 34 points.

Kassia Kozarski and Peyton Jarzombek led the Knights and have been consistently in the top-10 in races all season long. Kozarski took the individual title covering the 5K course in 18:26.3 while Jarzombek finished in seventh place with a time of 19:47.6. Freshman Sophia Zimmermann and junior Kaylin Polk made big strides with season best performances. They finished in 11^th and 12^th place, respectively with easily their best 5K times of the season. Their #5 runner, freshman Kylee Adams, also posted a huge personal best time of 20:31.1 to grab 16^th place. The Knights look like a team that could grab the District 29-6A 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 #2:

3A Girls - Lytle (#2), Poth (#3), Cole (#9)

3A Boys - Lytle (#1), Cole (#6)

4A Girls - Davenport (#4), Fredericksburg (#6)

4A Boys - Floresville (#6)

5A Girls - Smithson Valley (#2), Boerne Champion (#9)

5A Boys - Boerne Champion (#8), Boerne (#9)

6A Girls - Johnson (#7)

The Lytle and Cole girls each ran at the Seguin Matador 1A-4A Invitational. Lytle finished in third with 88 points and were led by Frances Scotello who was seventh in 12:13.0 while Cole took fourth place with 109 points despite no finishers in the top-10. Poth won the Luling Sandia City Invitational by two points over Floresville. Brooklyn Albert won the 2-mile race in 11:47.82 while Katelyn Poth finished in third place and Rylee Ellis took ninth place.

The Lytle boys finished in fifth place in the Seguin Matador 5A-6A Invitational despite being a 3A school. Diego Reyna, Jacob Cantu and Adrian Reyna all finished in the top-12 for the team. Cole took first place in the 1A-4A Division with 43 points. Caden Kitson was the individual champion in 16:34.6 and he was joined by Levi Kitson and Liam Foreman in the Top-10.

The Davenport girls won the 1A-4A Division of the Seguin Matador Invitational. Kendall Fallon, Olivia Bounds and Macie Fallon all finished in the top-10.

The Floresville boys took top honors at the Luling Sandia City Invitational with 40 points. Kaden Cypert continued to lead the way with a runner-up finish in 15:57.47. Joshua Simmons, Riley Silva and Jack Zarosky all finished in the top-12 to secure the win.

Both Boerne Champion teams ran in the Seguin 5A-6A race. Their boys finished in eighth place while the girls finished in third place as Luciana Zazueta Ibarra led the way in eighth place. The Boerne boys were at the same meet and finished in fourth place. Aaron Garcia and Barrett Crofut were their top finishers crossing the line among the first 11 runners.

The Johnson girls dominated the Alamo Heights meet by winning with a total of 18 points. Isabella Porter and Kira Albino took the top two spots in the race while Emily Krot, Adriana Parra and Ariana Pinheiro Barrei each finished in the top-7.

The Marshall Plan

The Marshall girls team picked a good time to win a meet with their victory at the SWISD Invitational. They finished with 38 points and had all five of their scoring runners in the top-13. Their 1-5 split was 57s. Hanah Dismukes led the way in fourth place with a time of 19:49.72 while Madison Criollo was one place behind her in 19:51.14. Tatum Rodriguez, Michaela Juarez and Emma Burciaga all finished within five seconds of each other to help the team close out the win.

A Showdown is Coming

I have written about the Johnson and Reagan girls teams quite frequently this year, but now is the time to highlight the boys' teams. The Jaguars and Rattlers each won invitationals this past weekend. Johnson took the title at Alamo Heights meet with 36 points. Nicolas Repper-Molina took the individual title in 15:42.07 while Kyle Wunderli was the runner-up in 16:03.37. Angel Olmo and Brett Packard gave them two more runners in the top-10. Reagan won the Giddings Camp Tejas Gold Division with 47 points. Logan Martinez (15:21.5) and Aiden Gendron (15:58.4) were the first two runners across the line while Aedin Barnes, Adrian Lemaire and Gabriel Fierro all finished in the top-20. The two teams will go head-to-head for the District title.

Small School Stars

Three of the top small school boys were at the Luling Sandia City Invitational this weekend; Titus Gill (San Antonio Spartans), Kaden Cypert (Floresville) and Cooper Warrick (Stockdale). For Gill, it was his fourth win of the season as he crossed the line in 15:44.71. He has broken 16 minutes in five of his six races this season and his slowest 5K of the season was at last week's Hoka McNeil Invitational where he ran 16:10.00. Cypert, a sophomore, has nearly matched Gill's performance this year. He finished second to Gill with a time of 15:57.47 and has finished in the top four at all five meets he has run. He has run faster than 16 minutes at 4-of-5 meets this year, but he won the Nike South last week with his slowest time of the year, 16:05.80. Stockdale has not been as fast as the other two but has been just as consistently good. He took third in 16:20.93 and finished in the top three at 4-of-5 meets. Heading into the championship season he ranks as one of the top UIL 2A runners in the State.

Around the City

Reagan and Pieper were both at the Giddings Camp Tejas Invitational last Friday. In the boys meet Reagan won with 47 points while Pieper was third with 64 points. Reagan's Logan Martinez (15:21.5) and Aiden Gendron (15:58.4) were the top two finishers. Pieper has three runners in the top-10 with Diego Flores, Brady Rees and Christian Cuellar. The Rattlers also won the girls race with 32 points while Pieper was third with 65 points. Pieper's Sadie Larson was the overall winner with a time of 18:29.9 while Reagan had four runners finish in the top-10 led by Theone Glosser's third-place performance.

The boys division of the SWISD Invitational had 13 teams. Wagner's Channon Davis was the top local in the meet taking fourth place with a time of 16:16.18 while Fabian Cerda of Southwest Legacy took fifth place in 16:20.24. Health Careers was the top squad finishing in third place with 90 points while Marshall was fourth with 96 points. Jacob Vargas and Erick Leandro each finished in the top-10 for Health Careers.

The girls division competition was won by Marshall with 38 points. They had five runners finish in the top 15 as Hanah Dismukes led the way with a fourth-place finish in 19:49.72. Emarald Aguirre of Southside was the individual champion crossing the tape in 18:52.43 while teammates Bethany Inigues Morales and Serenity Williams finished in the top 10 to help lead the team to a third-place finish.

The Johnson boys took the title at the Alamo Heights Invitational with all five scoring runners finishing in the first 15 runners Nicolas Repper-Molina was the individual champion and Kyle Wunderli took home runner-up honors. Caleb Esquivel and Zach Hudson of Churchill were the next two across the line and led the Chargers to a third place finish. In between Johnson and Churchill was Brandeis in second place. Devin Malesich was their lead runner taking seventh place while Tristan Cardenas, Kian Pinilla-Jimenez and Austin Santiago all finished in the top-15.

The Johnson girls continued their impressive season with an easy victory. They had four of the top five runners and six of the top eight finishers. Churchill's Mia Kellogg split up the top group of Jaguar runners with her third-place performance in 18:51.13. Lee's Penny Pim was also in the mix taking home sixth place overall. Churchill finished in second place despite competing without their #2 runner, Kallie Van Prooyen.

At the San Antonio Christian Invitational the hosts took both team titles. In the boys race Adrian Rule, Christian Tarver and Malachi O'Brien swept the top three spots for SACS. Rule won in 16:39.66 while Tarber and O'Brien were about 40 seconds behind him. David Gardiner of Castle Hills finished in fourth place as the first non-San Antonio Christian runner. The San Antonio Christian girls had four of the top five finishers with D'Vani Hernandez and Danel Hernandez grabbing the top two spots. Peyton Eiland of Geneva School of Boerne took the bronze medal by covering the 2-mile course in 12:59.42.

Dilley hosted the 3^rd Annual Robert C. Salazar Invitational. The Devine boys easily won the team title with 29 points. Urijah Velasquez was the individual champion for Devine as he covered the course in 16:21.47. His teammates, Zach Guerra and Ryan Botello, finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Dilley's Josiah Benavides took home the silver medal with a time of 16:27.95. Jerimaiah Valle of St. Anthony's rounded out the top-5 as he held off Pearsall's Alexander Peralta for the spot.

The Carrizo Springs girls squeaked the title with 50 points. Arianna Rivera led the way by taking the gold medal in 11:57.73 for the 2-mile course. Paige Asbury and Arcelia Hinojosa contributed top-15 finishes to the team. Pearsall's Angelyna Montes was the runner-up finishing five seconds behind Rivera while Hailey Montes of Devine grabbed the third spot. Montes, Aimee Carr and Camila Sierra gave Devine three top-10 finishers and they took third place overall. Dilley's Harvest Viesca settled for seventh place.

The Clemens boys picked up another meet championship at the Seguin Matador 5A-6A race. Sean Gonzalez won the individual title for Clemens with a time of 15:09.5 and Jayce Love was the runner-up in 15:27.7. Aric Pinguelo and Trevor Lawson gave the team two more finishers in the top-7. Sotomayor finished a strong second place with Ilias Braxton and Paul Wallace finishing in the top-5. Central Catholic's top finisher was Leonidas Bendele in 15^th place, but their 1-5 split of 0:29 helped them finish in third place, just ahead of Boerne and Lytle. Aaron Garcia led Boerne with his sixth place spot while Lytle had a pair of runners in the top-10, Diego Reyna and Jacob Cantu.

The aforementioned Steele Knights won the 5A-6A girls race behind a great team effort where all five of their scoring runners finished in the first 16 overall. Saint Mary's Hall managed to take second place thanks to Ellie Scott and Micah Monteleone who each finished in the top-5. Boerne Champion finished in third place and were led by Luciana Zazueta Ibarra who crossed the line in 19:51.1. Judson had a pair of top-5 finishers in Anastacia Garza and Kara Fossler but did not have enough runners to score as a team. Aaralyn Julian of San Marcos followed Fossler with a sixth-place finish.

In the Seguin boys 1A-4A race, Cole solidified their spot as a top 3A team in the State. They won the race with 43 points. Caden Kitson took the title in 16:34.6 while Levi Kitson was fourth in 16:45.4 and Liam Foreman was 10^th in 17:17.9. Gloria Deo Academy took runner-up honors and were led by Jackson Playford who finished third in 16:41.1. Davenoprt was led by Caleb Bliss in seventh place and they finished third as a team. Great Hearts Northern Oaks had their top runner drop out during the race, but still finished fourth as a team thanks to Carter Hasler and Sam Davis crossing the line among the top-11 runners.

Davenport won a tight contest over Tilden McMullen County and Lytle in the 1A-4A girls Division at Seguin. They finished with 76 points behind a trio of top-10 racers; Kendall Fallon, Olivia Bounds and Macie Fallon. Lytle finished in third place with 88 points thanks to a solid 1-5 split of 1:04 and they were led by Frances Scotello in seventh place. Juliet Alcott of GHNO was the individual champion in 11:32.9 while Lilia Flo (Navarro), Eva Zabarcencu (Canyon Lake) and Katherine Zinnante (Cole) all finished in the top-5.

The Floresville boys were solid in winning the Luling Sandia City Invite at Zelder Mill Park. Led by Kaden Cypert's runner-up finish they had six runners in the top-16. Lockhart followed in second place with Ivan Gonzales and Rafael Urbina each posting top-10 finishes. The San Antonio Spartans were third with 92 points. Titus Gill was the individual champion for the Spartans and Spencer Cox added a seventh place finish. Cole Durbin of Great Hearts Monte Vista took eighth place in a time of 17:02.96.

In the girls race in Luling, Poth clipped Floresville by a meager two points for the team title. Brooklyn Albert was the individual champion for Poth crossing the line in 11:47.82 while Katelyn Poth and Rylee Ellis added top-10 performances. Floresville had the individual runner-up, Nora Felan, as well as two more runners in the top-10, Alexis Scott and Alexis Doege. Stockdale finished in third place and was led by Jersey Brantley in 14^th place. Randolph's Caroline Finley and Luling's Aurora Jones also had strong performances finishing in the top-10.

TMI and Cornerstone each traveled to the Leo Manzano/Rick Edwards Memorial Invitational in Marble Falls. Cornerstone finished second in the 1A-4A boys division as Josiah Becho, Mateo Maxville and Gabe Garcia all finished among the first 11 runners. The TMI boys ran the 5A-6A race and finished in fifth place. Ethan Garza finished as the overall runner-up. The TMI girls won the 1A-4A race with 37 points. Daniela Shelfo was the individual champion in 11:47.5 while Natalia Sandoval and Maddy Robles contributed top-10 finishes. Cornerstone was fifth place behind top-5 performances by Mia Medina and Jaelyn Moore.

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