Cross Country Notes: Hanna boys dominate district meet at all levels

The Brownsville Hanna boys are feeling pretty good after winning the varsity, junior varsity and freshman di-visions at the District 32-5A cross country meet Oct. 21 in Los Fresnos.

In the varsity boys race, the Golden Eagles pulled off a mild surprise by capturing the district title for a sixth straight year with 41 points compared to 48 for runner-up Los Fresnos. Leading the way for the Eagles was An-thony Rodriguez, who took second individually behind Los Fresnos’ David Guillen.

Also for Hanna in the varsity race, Luis Sandoval was sixth, Jorge Gonzalez eighth, Juan Uribe 12th, Luis Tre-viño 13th and Ezequiel Calleros 14th.

The Hanna boys won the JV division with Jorge Serna, Felix Becerra and Josue Hernandez coming in first, sec-ond and third, respectively. Dominic Castellanos took first to highlight the Hanna boys’ team victory in the fresh-man division.

“It was an incredible performance by the Hanna kids,” Eagles coach Jaime Vasquez said. “They soar like true eagles. I feel very blessed.”

The Hanna girls, led by Saira Gonzalez’s ninth-place finish, took third in the varsity team standings in district behind Brownsville Rivera and Los Fresnos.

Thanks to their district showings, the Hanna varsity boys and girls teams will be advancing to Saturday’s Re-gion IV-5A meet in San Antonio.

POWER PACK

Edinburg High’s girls have high expectations for a return to the UIL state cross country meet after winning team titles at the Meet of Champions Oct. 8 in Donna and at the District 31-5A meet Oct. 22 in Edinburg.

In all, the Lady Bobcats have won 10 meets this season.

“These girls run together as a pack (near the front) and they feed off each other’s energy,” said EHS girls coach Tencha Lancaster, who has directed the Lady Bobcats since 2008, winning three district titles and qualifying for four trips to the Region IV-5A meet in addition to one trip to state last season. “Six girls running together like that as a pack is something you don’t see very often. They stick together through thick and thin.

“They have high expectations of each other and I have high expectations of them, too,” Lancaster added. “They’ve been training not just to get first at district, but to get out of regionals and go back to state.”

The state-ranked Lady Bobcats finished 12th as a team one year ago at the state meet.

The team’s top runners are Yvonne Zerda, Katia Romero, Stephanie Vasquez, Laura Mendoza, Alex Cruz and Evelyn Aranda. Romero, Vasquez and Aranda are seniors, while Zerda and Mendoza are sophomores and Cruz is a freshman.

“I call them my power pack,” Lancaster said. “It’s tough to beat six girls who run together like that.”

LADY TIGERS PRIDE

While the state-ranked Mercedes boys cross country team has received some much-deserved recognition, the Mercedes girls have been doing pretty well, too. The Lady Tigers won the District 32-4A championship at their conference meet Saturday with a decisive 39 points compared to 83 for runner-up Mission Veterans.

“We were a little concerned about Mission Vets because they had won the title last year,” said Mercedes’ Marissa Mata, a junior who led her team with a second-place finish individually. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we came out, ran our hardest and ended up having a good day.”

Added Teresa Sova, a sophomore who placed fifth for the Lady Tigers, “It feels awesome because all this season we’ve been trying to work hard (to prepare) for district. We were shooting for first place and we got it. We work together as a team.”

Besides Mata and Sova, other top runners for the Lady Tigers, coached by Pete Martinez, are Alyssa de Leon (sixth at district), Alma Turrubiates (11th) and Jennifer Torres (16th).

“We stay together (on the course) as a family, we work together and we push each other,” de Leon, a freshman, said. “We pray together before our races and wish each other good luck. I’m proud of all these girls and I salute them.”

MORE TIGER PRIDE

The spotlight was on Valley View senior Jose Delgado at Saturday’s District 32-4A meet in Mercedes as he cap-tured the boys individual title. He covered the 3.1-mile course in 14 minutes, 27 seconds to finish 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Joel Garcia of La Joya Juarez-Lincoln.

It was Delgado’s second individual title of the season, as he won the Flying W’s meet hosted by PSJA Memorial on Sept. 24.

“It was a pretty fast race (at district),” said Delgado, who came in third at the 32-4A meet one year ago. “This means a lot to me. I’m proud of myself for doing it.

“I’ve been training hard and staying dedicated (to the sport), and now I hope I can win at regionals,” added Del-gado, who finished eighth at the Region IV-4A meet in 2010.

NEW REGION SITE

This year’s Region IV meet will be run Saturday at the National Shooting Complex off Roft Road in northwest San Antonio. Scott Slade, UTSA coach and meet director, said the new course is slightly more hilly that the course used for the regional meet in previous years.

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com