High School Boy’s XC Poll: Week 3

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 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 girls race times and the meets and dates that they occurred.

For questions, videos and photos email vrmart66@gmail.com.

This week’s schedule

Riverside/Ysleta Invitational: 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 4 at Shawver Park. El Paso, Jefferson, Bowie, Austin, Chapin, Montwood, Americas, El Dorado, Valle Verde, Riverside, Ysleta, Del Valle, Hanks, Parkland, Bel Air, YWLA, Mt. View, Clint, San Eli, Fabens, Harmony, Canutillo.

Pebble Hills Invitational: 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 4 at Vista Hills Country Club. Burges, Coronado, Franklin, Irvin, Andress, Horizon, Eastlake, Pebble Hills, Socorro, Eastwood, Santa Teresa, Chaparral, Gadsden, Ft. Hancock, LPI, Cathedral, Loretto, Anthony.

Top 10

1. Eastwood: The Troops had seven runners in the top 15 spots to easily win the Rudy Alvarez Invitational at Del Valle with 37 points. Seniors Andres Gurrola, Isaac Mendoza and Devon Paez placed in the top 10 – fourth for Gurrola (15:22.34), fifth for Mendoza (15:35.95) and seventh for Paez (15:39.93). Senior Victor Anchondo was 11^th in 16:02.19, junior Joaquin Chavez was 12^th (16:10.00), junior Anthony Casillas was 13^th (16:12.01) and sophomore Jacob Beckett was 15^th (16:29.15). Eastwood will race at the at the Pebble Hills Invitational at Vista Hills Country Club on Saturday.

2. Americas: The Trailblazers beat some of New Mexico’s best teams to win the Cleveland (NM) Invitational with 48 points. Senior Jared Laverty led from start to finish to pick up his second win of the season in 15:30.70.  Seniors Melo Corral (fifth, 15:56.90) and Aaron Saenz (seventh, 16:04.00) finished in the top 10. Another senior, Jesse Morales finished 16^th in 17:01.90. The team will race at the Pebble Hills Invitational at Vista Hills Country Club on Saturday.

3. Franklin: For Cougars got a taste of a big-time race when they traveled to the Southlake Carroll Invitational. The team finished 14^th out of 33 teams that included Southlake Carroll, Denton High, Prosper and Lewisville Hebron. In a solid field of 227 runners, senior Isaac Romero finished 44^th in 16:22.86. The Cougars will race at the Pebble Hills Invitational at Vista Hills on Saturday.

4. Cathedral:  The Irish are for real. Cathedral finished second at the Rudy Alvarez Invitational with 98 points, beating San Elizario, Eastlake, Pebble Hills and Coronado. Cathedral’s scoring five finished within 14 spots of each other. Sophomore Preston Arnett was 18^th in 16:40.42, junior Elijah Noble was 21^st in 16:50.30 and junior Bernard Martinez was 23^rd in 16:58.54. Cathedral will race at the Pebble Hills Invitational at Vista Hills Country Club on Saturday.

5. San Elizario: The Eagles showed grit and determination at Del Valle and pulled out a third-place finish, just 14 points behind Cathedral. Junior Chris Moreno was again the low man for San Elizario, finishing sixth (15:38.71) in this highly competitive race. Senior Irvin Vazquez was the only other top 25 runner, placing 25^th in 17:00.30. San Eli will race at the Ysleta/Riverside Invitational at Shawver Park.

6. Pebble Hills: The Spartans drop one spot after placing fifth at the Rudy Alvarez Junior Omer Ibrahim won his second race of the season, turning in a U.S. and state-best 15:02.15, a personal best by 37 seconds. Junior Noah Castorena was 20th in 16:49.11. The team will race in its own invitational at Vista Hills Country Club on Saturday.

7. Eastlake: The Falcons make its 2021 Top 10 debut after placing fourth at the Rudy Alvarez Invitational. It must be nice to have senior Israel David back. In his first race of the season, David nearly out-leaned Pebble Hills’ Ibrahim at the end for the win but had to settle for second in 15:02.73. After David, there is huge gap as the next fastest runner finished in 27^th place (Bryan Estrada, 17:03.95). The team needs to work on its pack running in order to contend for a spot to regionals in a very difficult District 1-6A. Eastlake will race at the Pebble Hills Invitational at Vista Hills Country Club on Saturday.

8. Coronado: The T-Birds drop a spot after a sixth-place finish at the Rudy Alvarez. Junior Luis Pastor continues his great season, finishing third in 15:04.79. Pastor was the only T-Bird to finish in the top 25. Coronado will race at the Pebble Hills Invitational at Vista Hills Country Club on Saturday.

9. Riverside: The Rangers finished seventh at the Rudy Alvarez Invitational and remain at No. 9.  Senior Andrew Valdiviezo had another top 10 finish (ninth, 16:01.41). The team will race in its own invitational at Shawver Park on Saturday.

10. Hanks: The Knights drop two spots. Junior Alejandro Tarin (10^th, 16:02.00) and senior Gael Alvarado (14th, 16:28.59), continue to gobble up points for Hanks. Depth appears to be an issue as the next Knight to finish was 62^nd.  The team will race at the Riverside/Ysleta Invitational at Shawver Park on Saturday.

Dropped out: Tornillo.

On the brink: Burges, El Paso High.

Top times (3 mile or 5K)

1, Omer Ibrahim, Pebble Hills, 15:02.15 (Del Valle, 8/28).

2, Israel David, Eastlake, 15:02.73 (Del Valle, 8/28).

3, Luis Pastor, Coronado, 15:04.79 (Del Valle, 8/28).

4, Andres Gurrola, Eastwood, 15:22.34 (Del Valle, 8/28).

5, Jared Laverty, Americas, 15:24.83 (Canutillo, 8/21).

6, Isaac Mendoza, Eastwood, 15:35.95 (Del Valle, 8/28).

7, Chris Moreno, San Elizario, 15:38.71 (Del Valle, 8/28).

8, Devon Paez, Eastwood, 15:39.93 (Del Valle, 8/28).

9, Carmelo Corral, Americas, 15:41.95 (Canutillo, 8/21).

10, Daniel Romero, Tornillo, 15:44.07 (Del Valle, 8/28).

11, Andrew Valdiviezo, Riverside, 16:01.41 (Del Valle, 8/28).

12, Alejandro Tarin, Hanks, 16:02.00 (Del Valle, 8/28).

13, Victor Anchondo, Eastwood, 16:02.19 (Del Valle, 8/28)

14, Aaron Saenz, Americas 16:04.0 (Cleveland, 8/28).

15, Joaquin Chavez, Eastwood, 16:10.00 (Del Valle, 8/28).

16, Anthony Casillas, Eastwood, 16:12.01 (Del Valle, 8/28).

17, Isaac Romero, Franklin, 16:22.86 (Southlake, 8/28).

18, Diego Flores, Franklin, 16:27.48 (Southlake, 8/28).

19, Gael Alvarado, Hanks, 16:28.59 (Del Valle, 8/28).

20, Jacob Becket, Eastwood, 16:29.15 (Del Valle, 8/28).

21, Julian Maldonado, Burges, 16:30.94 (Del Valle, 8/28).

22, Seth Truax, Chapin, 16:34.44 (Del Valle, 8/28).

23, Preston Arnett, Cathedral, 16:40.42 (Del Valle, 8/28).

24, Angel Torres, Tornillo, 16:43.28 (Tornillo, 8/21).

25, Alexander Flores, Eastwood, 16:46.03 (Del Valle, 8/28).

Power rankings
(number parenthesis indicate meets won):

1, Luis Pastor, Coronado, 27 (1).

2, Omer Ibrahim, Pebble Hills, 20 (2).

2, Jared Laverty, Americas, 20 (2).

4, Andres Gurrola, Eastwood, 15.

4, Isaac Mendoza, Eastwood, 15.

6, Chris Moreno, San Elizario, 14.

6, Carmelo Corral, Americas, 14.

8, Devon Paez, Eastwood, 11.

8, Daniel Romero, Tornillo, 11.

10, Diego Flores, Franklin, 10.

10, Alejandro Tarin, Hanks, 10.

10, Aaron Saenz, Americas, 10.

Israel David, Eastlake, 9.

Omar Rivera, Canutillo, 9.

Andrew Valdiviezo, Riverside, 9.

Israel Quintana, Immanuel, 8.

David Ramirez, EPHS, 7.

Angel Torres, Tornillo, 6.

Denovan Estrada, Franklin, 5.

Julian Maldonado, Burges, 5.

Leo Valenzuela, EPHS, 5.

Joaquin Chavez, Eastwood, 5.

Anthony Casillas, Eastwood, 4.

Austen Percifull, Franklin, 4.

Rai Lopez, Franklin, 4.

Aydan Lugo, EPHS, 4.

Gael Alvarado, Hanks, 3.

Preston Arnett, Cathedral, 3.

Antonio Palos, Irvin, 3.

Alexander Flores, Eastwood, 2.

Seth Truax, Chapin, 2.

Luis Martinez, Irvin, 2.

Joaquin Chavez, Eastwood, 1.

Matthew Marshall, Eastwood, 1.