San Elizario sophomore Edwin Gomez made it four individual championships in a row, winning the Loretto/Cathedral Invitational in 16:38.72 on Saturday morning.
“Everything I do is because of my coach,” Gomez said. “He has given me the best advise on how we, as a team, can get better. At practice he is always pushing us just a little bit more than we think we can go.”
Gomez, who won the UIL Class 4A country state title in a time of 15:36.16 as a freshman, help led San Elizario to its fourth consecutive state championships last fall.
The Eagles won the team title at Saturday’s 3.3 mile race at Veterans Park with 66 points. Burges was second (79), Las Cruces Onate was third (104), Eastwood’s JV was fourth (109) and Cathedral was fifth (144).
Las Cruces Onate won the girl’s team and individual title. Sage Payne won the meet in 21:21.11.
Gomez’s early season success does not surprise his coach, Cesar Morales.
“I am not surprised at all because I see how hard he works every day at practice,” Morales said. “He has amazing work ethic and he never stops training. The only drawback is with all that training, there are going to be those occasional injuries.”
In July Gomez had a mild knee injury that kept out of training for a few weeks.
Morales said he is not too concerned about Gomez over training.
“He’s really good about listening to his coaches,” he said. “He doesn’t overdo it. When we do our tough workouts, he does them. If I ask him to run a certain pace, he does it. The good thing is that his team is able to follow him, they all work together. Not only is Edwin improving, but we are improving as a team.”
What does concern Morales is the lack of competition Gomez has seen so far this season.
“It’s great that he has been winning meets the past few weeks but I wish he would be challenged a little more,” Morales said. “We need to see how he reacts in the last mile. I want to see how he finishes, we haven’t seen that this year.”
That could change next week as San Elizario and Hanks – with juniors Michael Abeyta and Rodger Rivera – are scheduled to race at the Franklin Invitational at the Haskins Recreational Center.
“I don’t think I’ve been pushed yet,” Gomez said. “Last year there was a lot of competition and I had to give everything I had just to compete. Now that I have another year of training and strength, I think I can do better with other runners pushing me. I think Michael Abeyta is the greatest runner El Paso has seen. I haven’t raced him yet and a part of me doesn’t want to.”
Horizon senior Kenia Enriquez was the top El Paso runner on the girl’s side, finishing 21 seconds behind Onate’s Payne in 21:42.13. Rounding out the top five were Loretto’s Britney Martinez, (third, 21:45.22), Montwood’s Diana Mena (fourth, 21:51.24) and Brenda Prieto from Las Cruces Mayfield (fifth, 21:52.37).
After Onate, Bel Air was second with 103 points, Eastwood’s JV was third with 115, Montwood fourth (118) and El Paso High was fifth (127).
“I came out strong, I stayed behind her a little bit trying to find my pace,” Enriquez said. “Overall it was a good race on a flat course, I could have done better but right now we’re just looking forward to a strong finish to the season.”
Horizon finished sixth as a team with 133 points.
“We’re improving but I still want more from myself and my team,” she said. “We train really hard every day, it doesn’t matter if we are hurt or if we’re sick, it’s there for us this year, we’re ready.”
Physically, the Scorpions are getting stronger. Now they have to work on their confidence.
“We keep training, there are no breaks or holding back,” Enriquez said. “Sometimes you build a mental block where you feel like you can’t go faster but you have to break through it and have the confidence to know that you can.”
Loretto/Cathedral Invitational at Veterans Park
GIRLS
1, Sage Payne, L.C. Onate, 21:21.11; 2, Kenia Enriquez, Horizon, 21:42.13; 3, Britney Martinez, Loretto, 21:45.22; 4, Diana Mena, Montwood, 21:51.24; 5, Brenda Prieto, L.C. Mayfield, 21:52.37; 6, Marisol Hernandez, El Paso, 21:55.53; 7, Alyssa Epperson, LC Onate, 22:08.87; 8, Destiny Beltran, Horizon, 22:17.17; 9, America Morales, San Elizario, 22:18.59; 10, Caryn Hart, Andress, 22:32.68.
Team results: 1, LC Onate, 59; 2, Bel Air, 103; 3, Eastwood JV, 115; 4, Montwood, 118; 5, El Paso, 127; 6, Horizon, 133; 7, Loretto, 144; 8, Clint, 154; 9, San Elizario, 176; 10, Pebble Hills, 210; 11, LPI, 257.
http://www.arrowliveresults.com/LorettoCathedralVarsityGirls
http://www.arrowliveresults.com/LorettoCathedralOpenGirls
http://www.arrowliveresults.com/LorettoCathedral9thGirls
BOYS
1, Edwin Gomez, San Elizario, 16:38.72; 2, Chauncey Wilkes, Andress, 16:55.41; 3, Trenton Nelson, Montwood, 17:17.95; 4, Sam Zambrano, Burges, 17:19.10; 5, Adrian Villarreal, LC Onate, 17:24.06; 6, Ofir Ortega, Tornillo, 17:24.71; 7, Nick Yacone, LC Mayfield, 17:28.67; 8, Aaron Perez, Eastwood, 17:30.21; 9, David Gonzalez, Burges, 17:31.98; 10, Matthew Lindsey, Montwood, 17:39.84.
Team results: 1, San Elizario, 66; 2, Burges, 79; 3, LC Onate, 104; 4, Eastwood JV, 109; 5, Cathedral, 144; 6, Montwood, 166; 7, Bel Air, 208; 8, El Paso, 238; 9, Andress, 257; 10, Fabens, 258; 11, Pebble Hills, 265; 12, Riverside, 288; 13, Clint, 318; 14, Bowie, 337; 15, LPI, 351; VV Early College, 426.
http://www.arrowliveresults.com/LorettoCathedralVarsityBoys
http://www.arrowliveresults.com/LorettoCathedralOpenBoys
http://www.arrowliveresults.com/LorettoCathedral9thBoys
OTHER MEETS
Ysleta/Hanks Invitational at Northeast Regional Park
GIRLS
1, Eva Jess, Franklin, 17:30.05; 2, Aeriel Garcia, Eastlake, 17:49.17; 3, Jennelle Jaeger-Darakjy, Coronado, 18:31.85; 4, Amaris Chavez, Eastlake, 18:38.59; 5, Skyler Goodman, Chapin, 18:48.55; 6, Amalia Dorion, Franklin, 19:09.26; 7, Monique Correa, Jefferson, 19:18.55; 8, Sophia Flores, Coronado, 19:20.82; 9, Jordan Torres, Franklin, 19:28.27; 10, Melody Tsutsumi, Jefferson, 19:28.74.
Team results: 1, Franklin, 33; 2, Eastlake, 46; 3, Coronado, 73; 4, Hanks, 125; 5, Del Valle, 135; 6, Canutillo, 142; 7, Parkland, 157.
BOYS
1, Michael Abeyta, Hanks, 14:32.48; 2, Rodger Rivera, 14:59.46; 3, Nick Gonzalez, Coronado, 15:18.09; 4, Liam Walsh, Coronado, 15:19.73; 5, Israel David, Eastlake, 15:24.52; 6, Alan Alba, Coronado, 15:48.83; 7, Carlos Armendariz, Eastlake, 15:51.12; 8, D’Angelo Flores, Jefferson, 15:57.92; 9, Daniel Kennedy, Franklin, 16:03.58; 10, Adrian Morales, Irvin, 16:05.38.
Team results: 1, Hanks, 58; 2, Coronado, 6; 3, Franklin, 72; 4, Eastlake, 79; 5, Chapin, 96; 6, Del Valle, 157.
http://www.runnercard.com/runner/data/172160/1002165/result/YHS%20Hanks%20XC%20Invite%20Results.pdf
Arvada West (Colorado) Invitational
BOYS
1, Cole Nash, Chatfield, 16:32.00; 2, Will Daley, Denver East, 16:46.00; 3, Owen Nolan SkyView Academy, 16:59.00. Top 25 El Paso Socorro runners: 7, Mario Luna, 17:27.00, 10, Sebastian Mendoza, 17:39.00; 15, Christian Parra, 17:51.00; 25, 25, Ivan Carrera, 18:11.00.
Team results: 1, Overland, 62; 2, Arvada West, 96; 3, Socorro, 112.
http://co.milesplit.com/meets/319141/results/605159/formatted#.W52lWqZKjIU
GIRLS
1, Aidyn Woodall, Douglas County, 19:17.00; 2, Taylor Haerbig, D’Evelyn, 20:00.00; 3, Shannon King Faith, Christian Academy, 20:24.00. Top Socorro runners: 41, Jazmin Chacon, 22:33.00; 56, Janeth Chacon, 23:06.00.
Team results: 1, Denver East, 95; 2, D’evelyn, 97; 3, Douglas, 104; 11, Socorro, 302.
http://co.milesplit.com/meets/319141/results/605160/formatted#.W52lgKZKjIU
El Paso Running 