High School Girls Cross Country Poll: Final

Here’s putting a lid on the 2022 girls cross country season.

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

The Cougars won its fifth straight District 1-6A title, finished third at the Region 1-6A championship and seventh at the state championship.

Top 10

1. Franklin: The Cougars had a great 2022 season, winning its fifth straight District 1-6A title, finishing third at the Region 1-6A championship and seventh at the state championship. It was Franklin’s third trip to state in four years. The Cougars future looks bright with freshman Emily Orr and Abigail Pinon, sophomore Sophia Keiser and junior Victoria Hoyt returning next season. Seniors Abby Barraza, Alyssa Laspada and Sofia Camacho provided the leadership the past four years.

2. Eastwood: The Troopers finished second in District 1-6A and ninth at the Region 1-6A Championship. The team was led by sophomore Adelynn Rodriguez won the district title, was 12th at regionals and 43rd at state.

3. Pebble Hills: The Spartans placed third at the District 1-6A Championship and for the first time in school history, advanced to the regionals where the team finished 18th. Natalia Martinez Lopezwas the lone senior, so it appears Pebble Hills is prepared for the 2023 season with juniors Carolina Zarrabal and Natalie Franco and freshman Aubrey Arsenault.

4. Montwood: The Rams placed fourth at the District 1-6A Championship but two runners – senior Kassandra Jimenez and freshman Mia Hairston – advanced to regionals. Jimenez was 23rd and Hairston was 56th.

5. El Paso High: The Tigers won the District 1-5A Championship and were the top El Paso team at regionals, placing ninth. The young Tigers top runners were junior Andrea Castillo, senior Jezarae Valenzuela, freshman Clarissa Castillo and junior Sofia Ramirez. Castillo was 31st at regionals.

6. Canutillo: The Eagles finished second at the District 1-5A Championship and 16th at regionals. The Eagles were led by senior Natalie Rivera, freshman Nevaeh Escobedo and senior Jennifer Najar. Rivera was the top El Paso runner at regionals finishing 22nd in 20:01.40.

7. Hanks: The Knights won the District 2-5A Championship and finished 17th at regionals. The Knights are young and were led by junior Destinee Loeza, sophomore Elizabeth Aguirre and a pair of freshman Lily Arias and Alina Levario. Hanks has served notice for great things to come.

8. Soccoro: The Bulldogs finished the season with a fifth-place finish at the District 1-6A Championship with two runners in the top 20 – Nadine Vilaasana (18th, 21:46.09) and Mea Workman (19th, 21:52.90).

9. Chapin: The Huskies finished third at the District 1-5A Championship, earning them a berth to the Region 1-5A Championship. The team was led by senior Gianny Correa won the district individual title in 19:36.58 and sophomore Rebecca Duran. Correa was 23rd at regionals in 20:01.40

10. Eastlake: The Falcons finished sixth at the District 1-6A Championship. Its top runner was freshman Chloe Del Real.

Dropped out: None.

On the brink: None.

Eastwood sophomore Adelynn Rodriguez will be the top returning runner in the fall.

Top Times (3 mile or 5K)

1, Adelynn Rodriguez, Eastwood, 18:04.4 (Woodbridge, 9/16).

2, Kassandra Jimenez, Montwood, 18:44.75 (Blackie Chesher, 9/2).

3, Salma Licon, Eastwood, 18:45.2 (Woodbridge, 9/16).

4, Sophia Watts, Eastwood, 18:52.7 (Woodbridge, 9/16).

5, Emily Orr, Franklin, 18:53.6 (Mae Simmons, 10/24).

6, Abigail Pinon, Franklin, 18:58.19 (Southlake Carroll, 8/27).

7, Alyssa Laspada, Franklin, 18:58.74 (Southlake Carroll, 8/27).

8, Natalie Rivera, Canutillo, 18:59.60 (Blackie Chesher, 9/2).

9, Annika Cuellar, Eastwood, 19:06.8 (Woodbridge, 9/16).

10, Giovanna Zubia, Eastwood, 19:12.0 (Woodbridge, 9/16).

11, Abigail Barraza, Franklin, 19:34.09 (Southlake Carroll, 8/27).

12, Sofia Camacho, Franklin, 19:35.11 (Southlake Carroll, 8/27).

13, Sophia Keiser, Franklin, 19:36.53 (Southlake Carroll, 8/27).

14, Gianny Correa, Chapin, 19:36.58 (Mary Frances Keisling, 10/14).

15, Mia Hairston, Montwood, 19:38.5 (The Woodlands, 10/1).

16, Hannah Tellez, Eastwood, 19:42.0 (Woodbridge, 9/16).

17, Nahlur Gurrola, Eastwood, 19:43.8 (Woodbridge, 9/16).

18, Victoria Hoyt, Franklin, 19:45.68 (Southlake Carroll, 8/27).

19, Natalie Franco, Pebble Hills, 19:47.10 (Blackie Chesher, 9/2).

20, Natalia Martinez Lopez, Pebble Hills, 19:46.69 (Shawver Park, 9/10).

21, Rebecca Duran, Chapin, 19:58.44 (Blackie Chesher, 9/2).

22, Aubrey Arsenault, Pebble Hills, 20:04.43 (Blackie Chesher, 9/2).

23, Andrea Castillo, El Paso, 20:14.40 (Mae Simmons, 10/24).

24, Tessa Gibbons, Franklin, 20:16.05 (Southlake Carroll, 8/27).

25, Valeria Loo-Kung, Del Valle, 20:18.00 (Mae Simmons, 10/24).

Montwood senior (left) Kassandra Jimenez and Canutillo senior Natalie Rivera where two of the top runners in El Paso.

Power Rankings

1, Kassandra Jimenez, Montwood, 77 (4).

2, Natalie Rivera, Canutillo, 62 (2).

3, Kylene Elias, Tornillo, 50 (2).

4, Mia Hairston, Montwood, 47.

5, Andrea Castillo, El Paso, 45 (2).

6, Adelynn Rodriguez, Eastwood, 37 (2).

7, Emily Orr, Franklin, 36.

8, Gianny Correa, Chapin, 35 (1).

8, Elizabeth Aguirre, Hanks, 35.

10, Abigail Pinon, Franklin, 34 (1).

Jezarae Valenzuela, El Paso, 32.

Natalie Franco, Pebble Hills, 29.

Natalia Martinez Lopez, Pebble Hills, 26 (1).

Camila Luna, Riverside, 25 (2).

Victoria Hoyt, Franklin, 24.

Jeanette Rivera, Young Women’s, 24.

Nevaeh Escobedo, Canutillo, 23.

Kim Castro, Riverside, 23.

Destinee Loeza, Hanks, 22.

Marysol Vidal, Bel Air, 22.

Alyssa Laspada, Franklin, 21 (1).

Rebecca Duran, Chapin, 21.

Aubrey Arsenault, Pebble Hills, 16 (1).

Abby Barraza, Franklin, 16.

Clarissa Castillo, El Paso, 16.

Itzel Chavez, Eastlake, 15.

Tessa Gibbons, Franklin, 15.

Sofia Camacho, Franklin, 15.

Keilah Valenzuela Garcia, Burges, 15.

Nohemi Garcia, Jefferson, 15 (1).

Sofia Ramirez, El Paso, 15.

Jennifer Najar, Canutillo, 15.

Hillary Hernandez, Riverside, 14.

Katelyn Montoya, San Elizario, 14.

Jazmine Miranda, Montwood, 13.

Valeria Loo-Kung, Del Valle, 13 (1).

Salma Licon, Eastwood, 12.

Antoinette Ogaz, Fabens, 12.

Carolina Zarrabal, Pebble Hills, 10.

Brooke McCune, Franklin, 10.

Sienna Zarate, Franklin, 10 (1).

Kylee Pardo, San Elizario, 10 (1).

Alexa Lawrence, Coronado, 9.

Alexandra Ordaz, San Elizario, 9.

Olivia Garcia, Tornillo, 9.

Caroline Pitchkolan, Coronado, 8.

Sophia Watts, Eastwood, 8.

Natalie Martinez, Eastlake, 8.

Isabella Villalobos, Chapin, 8.

Jaquelin Gonzalez, Horizon, 8.     

Paula Tapia, Riverside, 8.

Kyra Walker, Coronado, 7.

Nadine Villasana, Socorro, 7.

Paula Tapia, Riverside, 7.

Hannah Martinez, Franklin, 7.

Sophia Keiser, Franklin, 7.

Ava Maldonado, Chapin, 7.

Estephanie Tena, Horizon, 7.

Jayleen Robles, Austin, 7.

Wendy Garcia, Tornillo, 7.     

Itzel Dean, Horizon, 6.

Kylie Alvarez, El Paso, 6.

Breckyn Wiebe, Franklin, 6.

Angelina Alvarez, Burges, 6.

Calista Sakellakos, El Paso, 6.

Lily Arias, Hanks, 6.

Brianna Ibarra, Tornillo, 6.

Zoe Estrada-Moreno, Irvin, 6

Mea Workman, Socorro, 5.

Paris Jones, Burges, 5.

Shani Malone, Franklin, 5.

Yatznelly Galindo, Harmony, 5.

Jisclem Camacho, Riverside, 5.

Osmary Vazquez, San Elizario, 5.

Chloe Del Real, Eastlake, 4.

Annika Cuellar, Eastwood, 4.

Andrea Iniguez, Andress, 4.

Ashley White, Hanks, 4.

Carolyna Noriega, Bel Air, 4.

Briana Mancillas, San Elizario, 4.

Lluvia Armendariz-Padilla, Young Womens, 4.

Isabella Galindo, Coronado, 3.

Hannah Tellez, Eastwood, 3.

Christina Duncan, Coronado, 3.

Olivia Elder, Franklin, 3.

Nat Escajeda, Tornillo, 3.

Marfil Sandino, El Paso, 3.

Aleah Ortiz, El Paso 3.

Alina Levario, Hanks, 3.

Jenisa Gomez, Young Womens Leadership, 3.

Arianna Castaneda, Canutillo, 2.

Nahlur Gurrola, Eastwood, 2.

Dalia Santiesteban, Austin, 2.

Avery Guerrero, Valle Verde Early College, 2.

Sarah Dovenbarger, Eastlake, 1.

Madison Leedom, Hanks, 1.

Alina Caballero, Socorro, 1.

Kayla Hicks, Franklin, 1.

Lexee Salas, Americas, 1.

A’Ishah Smith, Chapin, 1.

Jessica Fino, Hanks, 1

Jefet  Trejo,  Austin, 1.

Author: Victor R. Martinez

My love of running began with my son Deric. His passion and talent for distance running opened my eyes to a sport I never imaged I would embrace with such enthusiasm. As a journalist at the El Paso Times, I was the lead writer for cross country and track for several years and I was able to tell the stories of these amazing unsung athletes. Never a runner myself, I decided to change that when I turned 50 in 2016 when I trained for my first 5K. I've been running ever since and I love every minute of it - well - sort of.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: