Day: August 19, 2018

The lights shined brightly over Socorro’s Student Athletic Complex Friday night.

But the athletes on the field were not wearing cleats or shoulder pads. They were geared with running bibs and running shoes as 268 athletes took part in the inaugural Run to Midnight hosted by Montwood High School. Many of the runners wore neon glow sticks around their necks or neon glow paint on their arms, legs and faces as they made their way twice around the stadium parking lot and into the stadium to complete the 3-mile August fun run.

That is, it was fun until the competitive juices took over and the fun quickly turned serious.

The Americas girl’s and boy’s teams definitely did not take this race lightly or as a training run.

The girls had runners finish in second (Mariana Guzman, 19:06.79), third (Daphne Duran, 19:07.87), fourth (Priscilla Villalobos, 19:08,71) and seventh (Lauren Anderson, 20:07.55) to win the meet with 30 points.

Eastlake was right there with 35 points including a first place finish by senior Aeriel Garcia (18:18.45) and a fifth place finish by Amaris Chavez (19:20.34).

Rounding out the top 10 were sixth place, Karyme Garcia, Montwood, 19:54.278; eighth place, Morayma Montes, Austin, 20:15.24; ninth place, Deserie Herrera, Eastlake, 20:21.12 and Diane Mena from Montwood in 10^th place in 20:26.84.

For Garcia, winning the meet was a humbling experience.

“Not a lot of people know but I quit my club basketball team so I could focus on my running,” she said. “I figured this should be my number one priority because I’m better at this than I am at basketball.”

She said she has been training very hard this summer and is happy to see the benefits.

“I have my friend Amaris pushing me every day at practice reminding me to do things the right way all the time and that’s been really big help,” she said.

The Americas boys were just as dominate placing five runners in the top 10 including freshman Carmelo Corral (third, 15:39:86); Alek Duran (fifth,16:01:90); Gage Garcia (sixth, 16:02:88); Tyler Rodriguez (seventh, 16:03:93) and Hector Sanchez (10^th, 16:30:16).

Individually Hanks’ junior Roger Rivera won the race in 15:09:58 followed by Cathedral’s Brandon Seagraves (15:22:57). Other top 10 runners were Israel David, Eastlake (fourth, 15:50:12); Hector Rivera, Bel Air (eighth, 16:14:27) and Trenton Nelson, Montwood (ninth, 16:28:67).

Cathedral also had solid team performance, finishing second with 66 points followed by Eastlake at 99.

Rivera came into the race not expecting too much out of the first meet of the season. Matter of fact he was aiming for a 15:30 on the 3-mile course.

“What really helped me is my teammate Michael (Abeyta) who always pushes me in practice,” Rivera said of two-time state cross country runner. “This really sets the tone for the season for me and my teammates. We’re going to have to continue to work hard to get where we want to be.”

Abeyta did not run in this race.

Here are the top 20 runners:

Boys

1, Roger Rivera, Hanks, 15:09:58; 2, Brandon Seagraves, Cathedral, 15:22:57; 3, Carmelo Corral, Americas, 15:39:86; 4, Israel David, Eastlake, 15:50:12; 5, Alek Duran, Americas, 16:01:90; 6, Gage Garcia, Americas, 16:02:88; 7, Tyler Rodriguez, Americas, 16:03:93; 8, Hector Rivera, Bel Air, 16:14:27; 9, Trenton Nelson, Montwood, 16:28:67; 10, Hector Sanchez, Americas, 16:30:16; 11, Fernando Anzures, Cathedral, 16:30:61; 12, Carlos Armendariz, Eastlake, 16:31:41; 13, Stephen Stresow, Cathedral, 16:35:06; 14, Seth Andrade, Americas, 16:38:73; 15, Andres Marquez, Eastwood, 16:38:86; 16, Jacob Ye, Americas, 16:40:65; 17, Nick Barajas, Americas, 16:44:11; 18, Adrian Morales, Irvin, 16:44:62; 19, Nicolas Maes, Cathedral, 16:45:47; 20,  Henry Aguirre, Americas, 16:46:64.

Team Results:

1, Americas, 31; 2, Cathedral, 66; 3, Eastlake, 99; 4, Eastwood, 121; 5, Irvin, 166; 6, Pebble Hills, 175; 7, Hanks, 178; 8, Montwood, 181; 9, Bel Air, 193; 10, Ysleta, 269.

For full results, click:  http://www.arrowliveresults.com/BoysCombinedMontwoodRaceToMidnight

 

Girls

1, Aeriel Garcia, Eastlake, 18:18.45; 2, Mariana Guzman, Americas, 19:06.79; 3, Daphne Duran, Americas, 19:07.87; 4, Priscilla Villalobos, Americas, 19:08,71; 5, Amaris Chavez, Eastlake, 19:20.34; 6, Karyme Garcia, Montwood, 19:54.27; 7, Lauren Anderson, Americas 20:07.55; 8, Morayma Montes, Austin, 20:15.24; 9, Deserie Herrera, Eastlake, 20:21.12; 10,Diane Mena,Montwood, 20:26.84; 11, Ruby Medina, Eastlake, 20:33.11; 12, Stephanie Gastelum, Eastlake, 20:22.11; 13, Caitlin Martinez, Eastlake, 20:40.10; 14, Giselle Rubio, Eastlake, 20:40.30; 15, Victoria Duran, Americas, 20:56.82; 16, Rosemary Torres, Bel Air, 21:01.89; 17, Maya Ramirez, Americas, 21:06.55; 18, Itzel Garcia-Gama, Americas, 21:08.03; 19, Isabella Medina, Americas, 21:08.23; 20, Jackie Spencer, Hanks, 21:09.55.

Team Results:

1, Americas, 30; 2, Eastlake, 35; 3, Montwood, 100; 4, Bel Air, 120; 5, Hanks,131; 6, Eastwood, 169; 7, Pebble Hills, 170; 8, Ysleta, 237; 9, Irvin, 245.

For full results, click here: www.arrowliveresults.com/GirlsCombinedMontwoodRaceToMidnight