What: Region 1 Cross Country Championship.
When: Monday, Oct. 23 – (All times MST) 5A Girls, 8 a.m.; 5A Boys, 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24 – 6A Girls, 8 a.m.; 6A Boys, 8:30 a.m.; 4A Girls, 11 a.m.; 4A Boys, 11:30 a.m.
Where: Mae Simmons Park, MLK Blvd. and 24th Street in Lubbock.
At stake: Top four teams and top 10 individuals not on a qualifying team advance to the UIL Cross Country State Championship, Saturday Nov. 3 and 4 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.
Who’s running?
The following girl’s teams and runners have advanced:
Class 6A: Franklin, Eastwood and Pebble Hills. Also, Mia Hairston, Montwood.
Class 5A: Chapin, El Paso, Burges, Hanks, Bel Air and Del Valle. Also, Nevaeh Escobedo, Canutillo and Jacqueline Gonzalez, Horizon.
Class 4A: Harmony, Riverside, Irvin, San Elizario, Fabens and Young Women’s Academy. Also, Lileni Ayala, Mt. View and Dayanara Gonzalez, Mt. View.
The following boy’s teams and runners have advanced:
Class 6A: Eastwood, Franklin and Coronado. Also, Diego Romeo, Americas and Mark Barajas, Pebble Hills.
Class 5A: El Paso, Chapin, Burges, Del Valle, Hanks and Bel Air. Also, Abraham Martinez, Horizon.
Class 4A: Austin, Riverside, Harmony, San Elizario, Fabens and Valle Verde.
The Franklin boys and girls are seeking return trips to the Class 6A UIL State Cross Country Championship and the San Elizario boys are looking to pick up another state medal in Class 4A.
That road to Old Settlers Park in Round Rock continues Monday and Tuesday at regionals at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock.
Class 6A
The Franklin, Eastwood and Pebble Hills girl’s teams, along with Montwood sophomore Mia Hairston, will race Tuesday at 8 a.m. (MDT).
After winning their sixth straight District 1-6A title on Oct. 12, Franklin is seeking its fourth trip to state in five years.
The team is led sophomores – Emily Orr who was 19th at regional last year in 18:53.60 and Abigail Pinon who was 25th in 19:08.3 – and senior Brooke McCune.
Last year, the Cougars finished third at the Region 1-6A championship and seventh at state.
The Troopers finished ninth at the Region 1-6A Championship, but junior Adelynn Rodriguez finished 12th in 18:43.10 and advanced to state where she finished 43rd.
Rodriguez, who was injured much of 2022, was healthy this season.
“I feel really good,” she said after defending her District 1-6A title. “I had a tough season last year. It wasn’t just physical; it was mental as well. So just to be able to run strong and finish strong means a lot to me. Patience is really important in a sport like this.”
She said she overcame those mental obstacles by surrounding herself with positive people and she stopped putting pressure on herself.
“I would always go into races with a specific goal, but now I go into them with a ‘whatever happens, happens’ attitude,” she said. “I know I’m going to do well because I work hard every day. I also surround myself with the right people, the right friends; and having my family close to me helped me a lot.”
Rodriguez, who is making her third trip to regionals, is seeking her third trip to state.
“I take regionals a little bit more serious than state because we’re in the Region of Doom and we have a lot of tough teams that are known nationally,” she said. “The regional course has a lot of hills, so you really have to run a smart race. I think I’ll do well. This (district) course (Horizon Golf Course) was little more difficult than last year, but I was able to handle it.”
Eastwood was ninth at regionals in 2022.
The Spartans placed third at the District 1-6A Championship and for the second straight year advance to regionals. Last year the team finished 18th.
Montwood’s Hairston was 56th at last year’s regional in 20:00.70.
The Eastwood, Franklin and Coronado boy’s teams along with junior Diego Romeo from Americas and senior Mark Barajas from Pebble Hills will race Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. (MDT).
The Franklin boys are seeking a little redemption after failing to defend their first ever District 1-6A championship this year, finishing second to Eastwood.
“That really shocked us a little but I think it’s what we needed,” said Matthew Engle, who won the individual district championship. “It’s been a little tough this year; we’ve had a couple of injuries and we’ve had to have other guys step it up but that comes with the sport.”
Engle led the Cougars to their first state appearance after finishing fourth at regionals in 2022. The team ended up seventh at state.
Engle finished tenth at regionals in 15:48.40.
The district title returned to Eastwood, who prior to last year, had won 11 district championships in a row.
Eastwood junior Aidan Torres, the district runner-up, said he is happy with the way the team has progressed this season.
“Last year didn’t turn out as we wanted it to and that really motivated us this year,” he said. “Our team is really dedicated, and they work hard. We knew we had it in us to come out on top.”
But, he added, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“We’ve all run regionals before so we know it’s a hard course, similar to this one (Horizon Golf Course) with a lot of hills so we’ll incorporate that in our training,” he said. “We need to stay humble. We have to try our best and put in the work to get us to state. We’re going to go out there and do our best.”
Class 5A
The El Paso, Chapin, Burges, Del Valle, Hanks and Bel Air boy’s teams and Horizon’s Abraham Martinez will race on Monday at 8:30 a.m.
El Paso High, which defended its District 1-5A title, were the top El Paso 5A team at regionals last year, placing eighth.
Junior Miles Westbrook was 14th (16:18.5) and senior Leo Valenzuela was 17th in 16:22.5 and advanced to state. At state, Westbrook was 53rd in 16:41.0 and Valenzuela was 80th in 17:05.7.
“This is a state-caliber team,” said Westbrook, who won his second straight individual district championship. “We are losing two key runners next year but we have a good freshman on the team this year and we’re getting two more next year so we should be just as good or better next year.”
His individual goal is a top five finish, and his team goal is top two.
“Making it to state is the first goal for us, and then making it to the top three, for sure, once we get there,” he said.
Bel Air senior Leonardo Resendez, the District 2-5A individual champion, is focused on regionals.
“Right now, we need keep on training and not do anything dumb,” he said. “We need to make sure we keep ourselves healthy so we can do well at regionals.”
The Chapin, El Paso, Burges, Hanks, Bel Air and Del Valle girl’s teams and Canutillo’s Nevaeh Escobedo and Horizon’s Jacqueline Gonzalez will race on Monday at 8 a.m.
Hanks, the District 2-5A champion, is looking to improve on its regional performance from last year, when they finished 17th.
“We are going to work on finishing up there with the top teams in the region and hopefully get some girls in the top 20 and advance to state,” said sophomore Lily Arias, the district champ.
District 1-5A champion Rebecca Duran said the team knew they had a special group after the first meet this season.
“We were up there with Franklin and that gave us the confidence that we could do this if we fight for it,” she said.
Duran said she is aiming for a state berth.
“I know I’m going to have to run crazy fast,” she said. “I know it’s going to be very competitive. But I want my teammates to do amazing, as well. They are going to run as hard as I’m going to run and see what we can do individually and eventually it will show out as we do as a team.”
Class 4A
The San Elizario, Austin, Riverside, Harmony, Fabens and Valle Verde boy’s teams will race Tuesday at 11:30 p.m.
San Elizario finished second at last year’s regionals and ended the season with a Class 4A state bronze medal.
The Eagles are hoping to make its tenth straight trip to state.
Senior Julian Guerra, who won the district title, said the team is determined to continue the San Elizario tradition.
“This is my senior year and two of my other teammates are seniors as well,” he said after San Elizario won their 11th straight district title. “This is something we’ve been talking about since last year when we didn’t win state. We focused on putting in the work to win it again. We’ve really been motivating these guys as the seniors did for us when we were juniors and sophomores. We are going to give it our all, we really want the state title.”
Guerra finished sixth at last year’s regionals in 16:01.60.
The Harmony, Riverside, Irvin, San Elizario, Fabens and Young Women’s Academy girls as well as Mt. View runners Lileni Ayala and Dayanara Gonzalez will race at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
District 2-4A champion Fabens freshman Alexia Martinez is looking forward to her first regional.
“I’m looking to finish in the top 10 or top 15 and hope I make it to state,” she said.
El Paso Running 