By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s first look at the proposed course for the District 30-6A Cross-Country Meet went pretty well for the Rams and Queens.
Saturday, the annual Del Rio Invitational Cross-Country Meet emanated from Del Rio High School and not Del Rio Middle School as it had since its inception. The reason for the course change wasn’t malicious or rooted in some other necessary action, but rather to “change things up,” according to Del Rio head cross-country coach Vicky Perez.
Perez explained that the new course layout, which had runners traversing the dirt roads and fields behind Walter Levermann Ram Stadium and the Del Rio Freshman School, was a little more challenging than the middle school course and offered a new look for runners.
She also added that Del Rio would be the site for this year’s district cross-country meet, so she wanted to test the possible new course and see how it would perform.
Del Rio’s girls finished first in the Class 5A/6A Varsity Girls division, beating district rivals Eagle Pass High. The Queens’ top five runners all finished in the top 10, earning Del Rio 23 points for the win. Eagle Pass placed four of its runners in the top 10 and wound up with 34 points.
Eagle Pass C.C. Winn also competed in the race, but did not field enough runners for a complete team.
Del Rio’s Emily Torres led the way, taking first place in a time of 19:47.2, nearly one minute faster than runner-up Victoria Bartlett from Eagle Pass, who finished in 20:41.2.
It’s the second consecutive individual title for Torres. She kicked off the season by winning the Uvalde Cross-Country Invitational meet.
Joining Torres in the top 10 from Del Rio were Kimberly Gloria, who was third in 20:52.9; Mackenzie Pulliam, who was fifth in 21:27.8; Sydney Ballard, who was seventh in 22:04.8; and Nayeli Cordova, who was ninth in 22:40.7.
Also competing for the Queens were Cassandra Martinez, who was 12th in 23:04; Skylar Urias, who was 14th in 23:30.7; and Grace Rodriguez, who was 17th in 24:40.3.
Del Rio’s boys were runners-up in the Class 5A/6A Varsity Boys division, as Eagle Pass took the team title convincingly with 21 points. The Eagles’ top five runners all finished in the top 10 while Del Rio had just three runners crack that threshold.
Eagle Pass C.C. Winn finished third as a team.
Ely Losoya was Del Rio’s top male runner, finishing second in 16:27.3. He was joined in the top 10 by Mikael Perez, who was fifth in 17:19.3; and Juan Lopez, who was 10th in 18:30.6.
Andres Rivera was 15th for Del Rio in 19:18.5, and Joe Chavez was 20th in 20:24.3.
Del Rio’s boys were first in the Class 1A/4A, 5A/6A Boys JV race, earning the top spot with 51 points. They edged out Crystal City, who finished with 56 points. Comstock was third followed by Brackett, Eagle Pass High and Uvalde. Nueces Canyon was also represented.
Del Rio’s top runner was Joshua Reyes. He finished ninth overall in 19:19.9. He was one of two Del Rio runners to finish in the top 10. Joining him was Jose Ramirez, who was 10th in 19:29.6.
Reyes and Ramirez were part of a trio that finished one right after the other. Rounding out the trio was Joseph Fuentes, who was 11th in 19:53.
That became a theme for the young Rams as three runners would finish back-to-back-to-back twice more in the race.
The next Del Rio trio across the line was David Martinez, Jonathon Mendoza and Eric Flores. They finished 15th, 16th and 17th in times of 20:17.5, 20:19.5 and 20:21.8, respectively.
After Jose Martinez was 19th in 21:02.3, and Roy Dominguez was 21st in 21:27.1, the final trio hit the finish line. Aiden Dueñez, Owen Southam and Armando Garcia were 24th, 25th and 26th in times of 21:43.7, 21:44.1 and 21:44.9, respectively.
Rounding out Del Rio’s runners was Alonzo Narvaez, who was 54th in 28:05.7.
In the Class 1A/4A, 5A/6A Girls JV race, Uvalde took top team honors with 34 points. Comstock was second with 54 points followed by Nueces Canyon, Del Rio JV, Crystal City and Eagle Pass JV. Brackett, Eagle Pass C.C. Winn and Rocksprings were also represented in the race.
Alexa Leon was Del Rio’s top finisher, crossing the finishing line in 14:59.4 and taking 14th overall.
Also competing for Del Rio were Karen Palacios (19th, 15:15.6), Natalie Cordova (23rd, 15:27.4), Payton Becker (26th, 15:58.8), Marina Jimenez (27th, 16:07.8), Amaris Leon (29th, 16:10.1), Isela Gonzalez (34th, 16:35.1), Elie Zavala (36th, 16:38.4), Kaylee Hernandez (37th, 16:38.6), Yanelly Paloa (41st, 16:54.5), and Perla Perez (59th, 21:32.2).
Del Rio also took first in the 7th and 8th Grade Girls division as they were the only school to field a full team.
Del Rio’s Devyn Casillas won the girls junior high division in a time of 16:17.4. Teammate Gabriela Diaz was second in 16:45.7.
Camila De Los Santos was fourth in 18:14.1, and Camila Fernandez was sixth in 20:17.3.
In the girls middle school division, the top seven places went to Del Rio runners.
Leading the way was Elise Mierden as she finished first in 14:38.6.
Ayla Elizondo was second in 14:49.2, Ryland Ross was third in 14:54, Sophia Leon was fourth in 18:10.0, Zoe Martinez was fifth in 18:15.9, Analise Dominguez was sixth in 18:19.5, and Anahi Flores was seventh in 18:27.3.
Del Rio’s Alexander Perez was first in the boys junior high division. He completed the race in 12:58.6, nearly two minutes faster than his next closest competitor.
Abraham Cardenas was the only other Del Rio runner in the race, finishing fourth in 15:33.3.
Four Del Rio runners competed in the boys middle school division.
Jacob Smith was the top runner from the group, taking fourth in 13:50.6. Samuel Curtis was fifth in 13:52.0, Alejandro Martinez was seventh in 15:14.7, and Kevin Olveda was eighth in 15:33.4.
The varsity and junior varsity teams are scheduled to travel to Castroville this weekend to compete in the Medina Valley Invitational.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
