Huskies' Emily Perez wins girls individual Meet of Champions elite division

DONNA — After a month of competition outside of deep South Texas, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln senior Emily Perez was glad to be back running in the Rio Grande Valley on Saturday morning.

Perez found separation early from the rest of the pack at the Donna Corn Maze and won the girls’ elite division of the 2011 Rio Grande Valley Cross Country Coaches Association Meet of Champions with a time of 11 minutes, 4 seconds.

Despite finishing 33 seconds ahead of San Benito’s Brenda Lopez (11:37) and 43 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Edinburg High’s Yvonne Zerda (11:47), Perez felt somewhat unsatisfied with her time.

“I was happy with my time, but a little upset that I was four seconds from breaking 11 (seconds),” Perez said. “It was my best time, but I know it can improve.”

The Elite division presents the highest competition and is open to all schools, regardless of class size. The intent is for schools to pit their best runners together and showcase their talents.

Perez was the lone Huskies runner in the elite flight, and said she was used to a course similar to the corn maze’s

“I felt relaxed, there were a lot of straight-aways and we practically run in a ranch at home, so we’re used to this terrain,” Perez said.

Edinburg finished first in girls team standings with 95 points, followed by Sharyland with 115 and Edinburg North with 139.

Prior to Saturday, the Lady Bobcats had won all eight team meets they’ve ran, which includes a first-place finish last week at Round Rock against state- and nationally-ranked competition.

Last week’s win, though, took its toll on coach Tencha Lancaster’s Edinburg runners, who were still weary after Round Rock.

“The McNeil (Round Rock) race was tough,” said Lancaster, whose team had four runners in the top-20 on Saturday. “They were excited about running (at Donna) today, but not really wanting to go hard after last week.

“I think they felt they needed the rest, so we’re gonna sit out next week.”

On the boys side, Port Isabel’s Armando Fierro, regarded as one of the state’s best, placed first in the 5K run in 15:57, followed by Los Fresnos’ David Guillen (16:07) and Weslaco East’s Jose Martinez (16:30).

Fierro achieved the feat of beating out bigger schools by pacing himself throughout the race.

“Knowing that a small school even has a shot at winning, it feels good,” said Fierro, who trailed Juarez-Lincoln’s Joel Gracia midway through the race. “The way (Gracia) took off, he was way in front of the pack. I knew he was going to slow down, so I raced a more conservative race and after I passed him, it was between me and (Guillen).”

Sharyland (134), La Joya Palmview (135) and Los Fresnos (147) were the top-3 finishers for the boys.

The following are the results of the RGVCCCA Meet of Champions Cross Country Meet held Saturday at the Donna Corn Maze.

Boys

Team Results  —  1, Sharyland 134; 2, Palmview 135; 3, Los Fresnos 147; 4, Brownsville Hanna 171; 5, La Joya Juarez Lincoln 175; 6, Donna 179.

Individual Results  —  1, Armando Fierro, Port Isabel, 15:57; 2, David Guillen, Los Fresnos, 16:07; 3, Jose Martinez, Weslaco East, 16:30; 4, Jose Angel Gonzalez, Sharyland, 16:32; 5, Joel Garcia, Juarez-Lincoln, 16.38; 6, Jose Jaime, Palmview, 16:38; 7, Jose Delgado, Valley View, 16:39; 8, Juan Cardenas, Los Fresnos, 16:43; 9 Anthony Rodriguez, Brownsville Hanna, 16:45; 10, Edgar Sosa, PSJA High, 16:45.

Girls

Team Results  —  1, Edinburg High 95; 2, Sharyland 115; 3, Edinburg North 139; 4, Los Fresnos 155; 5, La Joya Palmview 168; 6, Brownsville Hanna 169.

Individual Results  —  1, Emily Perez, Juarez-Lincoln, 11:04; 2, Brenda Lopez, San Benito, 11:37; 3, Yvonne Zerda, Edinurg High, 11:47; 4, Lasly Bravo, Donna, 11:48; 5, Lizette Chapa, Sharyland, 11:49; 6, Christina Rivera, Brownsville Rivera, 11:50; 7, Jazmine Garcia, Zapata, 11:54; 8, Natalie Gonzalez, Palmview, 11:54; 9, Saira Gonzalez, Brownsville Hanna, 11:54; 10, Jackie Valles, Brownsville Rivera, 11:55.