Every Thursday, El Paso Running will utilize a point system to highlight El Paso’s top boy’s cross country runners.
The system is as follows: In a race of less than 150 runners, first place gets 10 points, second gets 9 points all the way down to and 10th place which gets 1 point. For meets with between 150 to 300 runners, double points will be rewarded meaning 20 points for first, 19 for second all the way down to 1 point for 20th. For every additional 150 runners, another 10 runners will be included in the points.
For those who like raw times, we also list the Top 25 boys and girls race times and the meets and dates that they occurred.
This week’s schedule:
Parkland /Riverside Invitational: 8 a.m. Sept. 21 at Northeast Regional Park. Riverside, Parkland, VVEC, Bel Air, Coronado, Franklin, Austin, Chapin, Irvin, Eastlake, El Dorado, Americas, Loretto, Andress, Loretto, Harmony, Canutillo, LPI.
Tornillo/San Eli Invitational: 8 a.m. Sept. 21 at Tornillo High School. Tornillo, San Eli, Jefferson, Fabens, EPHS, Bowie, Montwood, Ft Hancock, Cathedral, Mountain View, Clint, Horizon, Eastwood, Hanks, Ysleta, YWLA, Del Valle, LPI, Socorro.
Woodbridge: 7 p.m. Sept. 21 in Woodbridge, Calif, Eastwood.
For questions, videos and photos email vrmart66@gmail.com.
Top 10
1, Eastwood: Eastwood will travel to the 39th Woodbridge (Calif.) Cross Country Classic presented by ASICS America on Saturday. The team will race in the Doug Speck Sweepstakes at 8:55 p.m. Texas schools Coppell and Southlake Carroll and Cedar Park are also entered.
2, Americas: The Trailblazers continue its early season success with another team championship. Americas runners finished 5-6-7—8 and 9 to win the Franklin Invitational with 35 points. The team’s 1-5 split was an impressive 15 seconds. The team was led by Carmelo Corral (fifth, 17:27.29), Jacob Ye (sixth, 17:27.78), Gage Garcia (seventh, 17:32.30), Aaron Saenz (eighth, 17:40.33) and Michael Mier (ninth, 17:43.07). The team will race at the Parkland /Riverside Invitational at Northeast Regional Park.
3, Coronado: The T-Birds move up two spots after another second-place finish at the Franklin Invitational. Coronado – which scored 55 points – placed its top five runners in 1-2-13-16 and 23. Senior Nick Gonzalez won his third straight race in 16:44.87. Senior Alan Alba was second in 16:49.55. Coronado will run the Parkland /Riverside Invitational at Northeast Regional Park on Saturday.
4, Franklin: The Cougars drop a spot after finishing third at the Franklin Invitational with 67 points. It’s top five finished 10-11-12-15 and 19 with a 43 second top 5 split. Fernie Morales was the lone top 10 runner (17:53.74). Franklin will compete at the Parkland /Riverside Invitational at Northeast Regional Park on Saturday.
5, San Elizario: The Eagles won the Loretto/Cathedral Invitational at Veterans Park by five points over Eastwood’s JV. Junior Edwin Gomez won the event in 16:10.36 followed by senior Rene Arambula (sixth, 16:53.90) and junior Dilan Sanchez (seventh, 16:56.24). San Elizario will race at the Tornillo/San Eli Invitational at Tornillo High School.
6, Hanks: The Knights did not run its top two runners and finished fifth at the Loretto/Cathedral Invitational at Veterans Park. Sophomore Gael Alvarado was the low man for Hanks, finishing the race in his season best 16:46.65, good for third place. The team will compete at the Tornillo/San Eli Invitational at Tornillo High School.
7, Chapin: The Huskies placed fourth at the Franklin Invitational with 131 points. Senior Angel Contreras was fourth in 17:08.00. The team will race at the Parkland/Riverside Invitational at Northeast Regional Park on Saturday.
8, Montwood: The Rams move up two spots after finishing third at the Loretto/Cathedral Invitational at Veterans Park. The team finished with 108 points. Junior Trenton Nelson was 11th in 17:01.60 and Ruben Gonzalez was 12th in 17:09.88. Montwood is scheduled to compete at the Tornillo/San Eli Invitational at Tornillo High School.
9, Tornillo: Tornillo placed 19th at the Texas MileSplit Invitational hosted by Denton Guyer. Senior Ofir Ortega ran a personal season best 15:50 and finished 21st. The Coyotes will race at its Invitational on Saturday.
10, Eastlake: The Falcons finished fifth at the Franklin Invitational with 135 points. Israel David was third overall in 16:50.41. The team is scheduled to race at the Parkland/Riverside Invitational at Northeast Regional Park on Saturday.
Dropped out: None.
On the verge: Socorro, Burges.
Top times (3-mile or 5K)
1, Michael Abeyta Hanks, 15:25.84 (Southlake Carroll, 9/7).
2, Rodger Rivera, Hanks, 15:29.04 (Race to Midnight, SAC, 8/24).
3, Elias Perez, Eastwood 15:42.30 (Canutillo Invitational, 8/31).
4, Ofir Ortega, Tornillo, 15:50.00 (Guyer Invitational, 9/14).
5, Juan Olmos, Eastwood, 15:51.54 (Canutillo Invitational, 8/31).
6, Christian Parra, Socorro, 15:55.00 (Guyer Invitational, 9/14).
7, Isreal David, Eastlake, 16:04.45 (Canutillo Invitational 8/31).
8, Sergio Leon Cuartas, Eastwood, 16:05.24 (Canutillo Invitational 8/31).
9, Fernie Morales, Franklin, 16:05.83 (Canutillo Invitational 8/31).
10, Hector Sanchez, Americas, 16:08.28 (Cleveland Invitational, 8/31).
11, Edwin Gomez, San Elizario, 16:10.36 (Veterans Park, 9/14).
12, Daniel Kennedy, Franklin, 16:15.25, (Canutillo Invitational 8/31).
13, Melo Corral, Americas, 16:20.47 (Race to Midnight, SAC, 8/24).
14, Nick Gonzalez, Coronado, 16:27.00 (UNM Invitational, 8/31).
15, Nathan Hernandez, Eastwood, 16:30.91 (Canutillo Invitational 8/31).
16, Angel Contreras, Chapin, 16:33.21 (Canutillo Invitational 8/31).
17, Aaron Saenz, Americas, 16:34.31 (Cleveland Invitational, 8/31).
18, Aaron Perez, Eastwood, 16:36.61 (Canutillo Invitational, 8/31).
19, Omer Ibrahim, Pebble Hills, 16:39.35 (Veterans Park, 9/14).
20, Seth Andrade, Americas, 16:41.32 (Cleveland Invitational, 8/31).
21, Jacob Ye, Americas, 16:42.89 (Cleveland Invitational, 8/31).
22, Gage Garcia, Americas, 16:43.77 (Race to Midnight, SAC, 8/24).
23, Jorge Garcia, Socorro, 16:46.00 (Guyer Invitational, 9/14).
24, Gael Alvarado, Hanks, 16:46.65 (Veterans Park, 9/14).
25, Alan Alba, Coronado 16:49.55 (Franklin Invitational, 9/14).
Power rankings
(number parenthesis indicate meets won):
1, Ofir Ortega, Tornillo, 35 (1).
2, Edwin Gomez, San Elizario, 32 (1).
3, Michael Abeyta, Hanks, 30 (2).
3, Nick Gonzalez, Coronado, 30 (3).
5, Alan Alba, Coronado, 26.
6, Isreal David, Eastlake, 24.
7, Hector Sanchez, Americas, 23.
7, Fernie Morales, Franklin, 23 (1).
9, Melo Corral, Americas, 20.
10, Dilan Sanchez, San Elizario, 19.
Juan Olmos, Eastwood, 18 (1).
Elias Perez, Eastwood, 17.
Rene Arambula, San Elizario, 16.
Sergio Leon Cuartas, Eastwood, 14.
David Gonzalez, Burges, 14.
Gage Garcia, Americas, 14.
Angel Contreras, Chapin, 13.
Jacob Ye, Americas, 12.
Daniel Kennedy, Franklin, 11.
Alex Sanchez, Horizon, 10.
Rodger Rivera, Hanks, 10 (1).
Aaron Saenz, Americas, 9.
Matthew Avila, El Paso, 9.
Christian Parra, Socorro, 9.
Nathan Hernandez, Eastwood, 9.
Omer Ibrahim, Pebble Hills, 9.
Steve Porras, Franklin, 9.
Gael Alvarado, Hanks, 9.
Jorge Garcia, Socorro, 7.
Victor Anchondo, Eastwood, 6
Michael Bernal, Pebble Hills, 6.
Cristian Ibarra, Ysleta, 6.
Dylan Walker, Burges, 6.
Seth Andrade, Americas, 5.
Dylan Espinosa, Bowie, 5.
Stephen Pitchkolan, Coronado, 5.
Jared Laverty, Americas, 4.
Jose Nilo, Austin, 4.
Joaquin Sanchez, Chapin, 3.
Isaac Becerill, Canutillo, 3.
Victor Parra, Eastwood, 3.
Trenton Nelson, Montwood, 2.
Evan Rubio, Ysleta, 2.
Irvin Vazquez, San Elizario, 2.
Michael Mier, Americas, 2.
Alan Ceballos, San Elizario, 1.
Joshua Gonazalez, Mt. View, 1.
Aaron Perez, Eastwood, 1.
Abraham Cruz, Eastwood, 1.
Jacob Ontiveros, El Paso High, 1
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