Seven El Paso runners return from UIL Cross Country Championships with All-State honors

Seven El Paso runners return from the 2023 UIL Cross Country Championships in Round Rock with All-State honors.

San Elizario had the best finish of the six El Paso teams competing at state, placing fourth in the Class 4A championship with 138 points, 11 behind third-place Boerne.

Three San Elizario runners earned All State honors – senior Angel Maese (12^th, 16:05.8), senior Julian Guerra (13^th, 16:16.9) and sophomore Antonio Arreola (21^st, 16:24.5).

Also earning All State recognition were Eastwood junior Aidan Torres (fifth, 15:10.1), Americas junior Diego Romero (13^th, 15:22.4) and Franklin senior Matthew Engle (18^th, 15:29.6) in Class 6A and El Paso junior Miles Westbrook (15^th, 15:48.0) in Class 5A.

None of the six teams – Franklin boys and girls, Eastwood boys from Class 6A; El Paso High boys and Chapin girls from Class 5A and the San Elizario boys from Class 4A – had podium finishes.

Here is roundup of went down in Round Rock Oct. 3-4.

Class 6A

Eastwood’s boys ended its UIL season finishing eighth in the state with 221 points.

For the fifth straight year, Southlake Carroll won the 6A crown with 48 points followed by Austin Vandegrift (69) and McKinny Boyd (164).

Franklin was tenth with 243.

Eastwood’s Aidan Torres’ fifth-place finish makes him the third El Paso runner to earn a top 5 state finish at the 6A level. Last year, Pebble Hills’ Omer Ibrahim was fifth in 15:50.6 and      Eastwood’s Daniel Bernal finished third in 2016 in 14:49.72.

Other Trooper runners to finish were senior Sulliman Rodriguez (46^th, 15:56.6), senior Leo Espino (82^nd, 16:16.0), junior Luke Cruz (86^th,  16:18.1), senior Eric Gonzalez (117, 16:33.4), sophomore Jonah Herd (133, 16:58.3) and senior Julian Miramontes (143, 17:20.8).

Franklin runners were Engle, senior Juan Leal (40^th, 15:52.5), senior Gabriel Uranga (89^th, 16:19.2), sophomore Jacob Martinez (103,  16:24.0), senior Sebastian Gonzalez (120, 16:38.3), senior Adan Castillo (121, 16:39.1) and sophomore Sebastian Mendez (129, 16:50.1).

Coronado senior Edgar Valles was 31^st in 15:46.7 and Pebble Hills senior was 60^th in 16:03.6.

The individual state champion was Southlake Carroll sophomoreCaden Leonard (15:00.1), followed by Austin Vandegrift junior Hudson Haley (15:04.2) and Bridgeland junior Benjamin Montgomery (15:06.7).      

The Franklin girls finished ninth with 244 points.

Flower Mound won the title with 41 points followed by Southlake Carroll (77) and The Woodlands (133).

Franklin sophomoreEmily Orr was the top El Paso runner, finishing in 27th-place in 18 minutes, 20.8 seconds.

Eastwood junior Adelynn Rodriguez competed as an individual and finished 38th with a time of 18:33.7.

Sophomore Macy Wingard from Denton Braswell won the event in 16:57.0 followed by senior San Juanita Leal, Edinburg North (16:57.6) and

Pearland senior Madison Peters (17:03.2).

Other Franklin runners were junior Sophia Keiser (79^th, 19:13.8), senior Brooke McCune (95^th, 19:29.3), sophomore Abigail Pinon (98^th, 19:35.8), senior Victoria Hoyt (108, 19:47.3), junior Sienna Zarate (122, 20:10.4) and junior Olivia Elder (125, 20:15.5).

Class 5A     

The El Paso High boys finished eighth as a team with 206 points.

Westbrook led the Tigers, finishing 15^th in 15:48.0.

Senior Ethan Gonzalez from North Richland Hills won the event in 14:55.8 followed by Abilene senior Andruw Villa (15:20.3) and Leander Rouse senior Edwin Rotich (15:24.4).

Other El Paso runners were senior Leo Valenzuela (43^rd, 16:19.9), junior Lorenzo Shields (94^th, 17:00.1), senior Aydan Lugo (96^th, 17:01.1), junior Ulysses O’Rourke (97^th, 17:02.1), senior Joaquin Moya (98^th, 17:03.8) and freshman Justin Onitveros (135, 17:48.0).

Lucas Lovejoy won the team title with 56 points followed by Georgetown (109) and Boerne Champion (133).

The Chapin girls, who were making their first appearance at state since 2008, finished 14^th with 323 points.

Its top runners were junior Ava Dennis (72^nd, 19:50.9), senior Biviana Garcia (74^th, 19:53.6), freshman Jocelynne Diaz Torres (96^th, 20:12.3), junior Rebecca Duran (119, 20:41.3), freshman Abigail Sanchez (133, 21:02.0) and senior Ava Maldonado (151, 22:44.0).

Lucas Lovejoy won the state title with 40 points followed by Aledo (81) and Georgetown (131).

Boerne Champion sophomore won the individual title in 16:25.5 followed by senior Isabel Conde De Frankenberg from Cedar Park (17:34.2) and Lucas Lovejoy senior Sara Morefield (17:54.4).

Class 4A

San Elizario finished fourth with 138 points.

Canyon win the team title with 56 points followed by La Feria (105) and Boerne (127).

Aside from Maese, Guerra and Arreola, other San Elizario state runners include senior Bryan Hernandez (39^th, 16:47.6), senior Gustavo Salazar (116, 18:03.0), sophomore Alexander Cano (131, 18:31.6) and freshman Jorel Miramontes (138, 18:40.7).

Austin junior Pedro Jimenez was 75^th in 17:17.0 at his first state championship.

Angel Sanchez, a senior from FW Diamond Hill-Jarvis, won in 15:09.9 4 followed by Canyon senior Alex Niemiec (15:18.7) and Anna junior

Bryce Denton (15:21.6).

On the girl’s side, San Elizario senior Kylee Pardo placed 56th in the two-mile run in 12:30.2 and Fabens’ freshman Alexia Martinez was 66th with a time of 12:36.9 and her teammate freshman Angel Quinonez finished 112th with a time of 13:17.6.

Canyon sophomore won the state championship in 11:08.5 followed by Canyon Randall freshman Nayomi Granados (11:17.6) freshman Brooke French, also out of Canyon Randall (11:17.6).

Canyon Randall won the team championship with 50 points followed by Fredericksburg (61) and Salado (103).