Runnin’ down the dream: NSISD hosts XC Invitational

by Michelle Dillon michelle@thecherokean.com

The New Summerfield Hornets hosted the East Texas Invitational in which many area runners took part including those representing Alto, Bullard, Rusk, Troup and the host school.

The New Summerfield varsity boys won their division with 41 points, followed by Center (48), Bullard (67), Tenaha (70) and Rusk (142).

Center took top honors in the girls’ varsity 3200-meter run with 45 points. New Summerfield was runner-up (52), Bullard took third (58) and Rusk placed fourth (59).

Bullard’s junior varsity girls (20) outpaced New Summerfield (37) in their division. The top three schools for the junior varsity boys were Center (15), New Summerfield (48) and Bullard (81).

New Summerfield’s junior high girls took third, while the boys took top honors (19), followed by Troup (38).

Alto

Alto’s Forest Lindsey placed 10th with a time of 18:54 in the men’s varsity 5,000 meters. In women’s varsity, Candy Castro finished 14th in a time of 14:43 and Kylee Powers completed the two-mile race in 16:26.

Landon Galvan, representing Alto’s junior high boys, finished with a time of 17:13. Running for the junior high girls were Jenna Lindsey, 12th, 16:51; Julianna Gould, 13th, 17:16; and Ashley Black, 26th. There were 41 runners competing in the 3,200-meter race.

Bullard

Hayden Jeffus secured second place in the men’s varsity division with a time of 16:49. Teammate Harrison Meador placed eighth (18:41). Other runners for Bullard included Caleb Carmichael, Aiden Skanes, Alex For, Zach Tannery and Hagen Hodges.

For the varsity girls, Maddie Carlile was Bullard’s top runner. She finished sixth with a time of 14:06. Lucy Moore landed in 16th place with a time of 14:45. Also running were Berlyn Grossman, Karleigh Hagen, Ana Morels, Payton Brown and Madelyn Roberts.

Five junior varsity members placed in the top 10, including Sierra Brown, third, 16:37; Jessica Lundgren, fifth, 16:55; Sarah Hall, seventh, 17:29; Reagan Stegall, eighth, 17:50; and Abby Petty, ninth, 17:57. Cami Younger finished the race in the 13th spot with a time of 19:05.

Top runner for Bullard in the men’s junior varsity was Antonio Medina who completed the course in 12th place (22:34). The school was also represented by Walker Stegall, Landon Santiago, Read Blakeney, Caleb Jellison, Colin Anderson, Blake Seib and Gustavo Balderez.

New Summerfield

Stephanie Bravo was the first of the New Summerfield varsity to cross the finish. She completed the run in 14:05 and placed fifth. Also among the top 15 was Abigail Hernandez who finished 12th with a time of 14:29. Other runners completing the course included Jennifer Aguilar (15:05), Selena Torres (15:10), Adrianna Guerrero (15:31), Stephany Hernandez (16:07) and Crystal Torres (18:13).

Six members of the boys’ varsity placed in the top 15 finishers including Ary Hernandez, fifth, 17:58; Christian Castillo, seventh, 18:23; Jose Sanchez, 11th, 18:56; Ramiro Mendoza, 13th, 19:06; German Hernandez, 14th, 19:25; and Juan Aguilar, 15th, 19:27. Other runners were Marco Uribe (20:11), Jose Barcenas (20:38) and Eleazar Suarez (21:20).

Maribel Zavala secured second place with a time of 16:01 for the junior varsity girls. Evelyn Rangel came in 11th (18:49). Also running for the JV were Madison Zavala, Emily Mendoza and Jenny Guerrero.

Marco Leon was the runner for New Summerfield in the junior varsity division. He finished sixth with a time of 21:04. Miguel Munoz came in 10th (22:06) and Juan Guerrero finished 11th (22:07). Others on the team included Brian Mendoza, Jose Suarez, Tony Uribe, Juan Arredondo, Sovan Van, Jose Flores and Ruben Suarez.

Runners finishing in the top 15 for the junior high girls included Leslie Deanda, fifth, 15:08; Esme Luna, 10th, 16:10; Zuliemy Torres, 11th, 16:52; and Jamie Suarez, 15th, 17:32. Mariana Luna completed the course in a time of 17:46, finishing 17 and Natalie Melendez placed 18th with a time of 18:01. Also running were Kelly Espinoza (19:31), Cielo Uribe (19:32) and Maritza Sanchez (20:11).

Junior high boys took four of the top five spots including Omar Porras, first, 12:58; Bryan Torres, second, 13:05; Axel Hernandez, fourth, 13:22; and Angel Jimenez, fifth, 13:23. Others placing in the top 15 were Ja’Quion Johnson, 12th, 13:56; Joshua Mendoza, 13th, 14:00; Brian Vargas, 14th, 14:12; and Kevin Taylor Jr., 15th, 14:51. Jonathan Mendoza finished just outside the top 15, taking 16th place with a time of 15:06.

Other junior high runners included Marco Lara, Rudy Avalos, Brayden Lueckemeyer, Guillermo Vargas, Daniel Torres, Jack Torres, Carlos Munguia, Bronson Johnson, Brandon Guerrero, Kaden Nichols, Denny Medellin, Brian Wallace, Trenton Henderson and Angel Torres.

Rusk

Three of the girls’ varsity members for Rusk completed the course among the top 15 runners. Maddie Baldwin placed tenth (14:19), Alyssa Hardy, 11th (14:25) and Isabel Torres, 13th (14:42). Zuri Flores finished 25th (15:33) and Lauren Boudreaux was 27th (15:46). Other runners included Tori Green (16:22), Melanie Santos (17:01), Kristen Long (18:21) and Chassidey Lusk (19:01).

Runners on the boys’ varsity included Xavier Torres (21:43), Derek Session (22:23), Derek Session (22:23), Wyatt Smallwood (22:25), Abraham Flores (23:08), Damian Mendez (23:37) and Paden Wilcox (28:27).

Girls junior varsity runners included Haylee Gray (19:46), Shelby Gray (20:04), Jalissa Swindell (20:18) and Jazmin Vences (20:54).

Junior high boys in the competition included Kaleb Baldwin who came in third with a time of 13:18 in the 3200-meter run. Caison Arnwine finished 18th (15:07). The junior high was also represented by Ace Blankenship (17:35) and Kyle McNew (18:40).
Kaitlyn Hardy (19:01) and Ashlyn Long (19:22) represented the junior high girls.

Troup

Troup’s varsity girls placed in the top three spots at the East Texas Invitational with Marigold Hunter earning top honors (13:27), Danielle Puckett, second (13:38); and Sarah Neel, third (13:48). Meredith Howell finished in the top ten, taking eighth place with a time of 14:13.

Two varsity boys completed the 5,000-meter course in the top ten. Wade Gardner placed eighth (21:49) and Josh Fort, ninth (21:56). Matthew Sides also represented Troup, completing the run with a time of 28:35.

The junior high girls were represented by Maddy Howell who finished in eighth place with a time of 15:50.

Four junior high boys were among the top 15 runners. Bryce Wallum took sixth (13:25), Christian Howell placed seventh (13:29), Eugenio Uribe was 10th (13:43) and Daniel Uribe (13:50). Other runners on the junior high team included Jayden Hart (16:51) and Emanuel Gonzales (20:53).