By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
In its biggest meet of the season thus far, Del Rio hung tough with some of the biggest schools in the area.
Del Rio’s Queens finished second at the Medina Valley Cross-Country Invitational, falling only behind meet hosts Castroville Medina Valley. The host team finished with 66 points while Del Rio finished with 79 points. Ten teams competed in the varsity girls 5A/6A division.
While she did not finish first, Del Rio’s Emily Torres had another strong showing. The sophomore runner, who had won the first two meets of the season, finished fourth overall in a time of 20:01.
She wasn’t the only Del Rio runner in the top 10. Junior Kimberly Gloria was seventh in 20:42.8.
Torres and Gloria anchored the biggest varsity team to compete this season thus far. In three meets, Del Rio has finished either first or second in all three meets.
Senior Sydney Ballard was 25th in 22:03.2, junior Mackenzie Pulliam was 37th in 22:45.3, junior Nayeli Cordova was 41st in 22:51.5, junior Cassie Martinez was 45th in 22:59.7, junior Skylar Urias was 63rd in 23:59.7, and senior Grace Rodriguez was 77th in 24:37.5.
On the boys’ side, Del Rio finished seventh overall with 196 points. Alamo Heights was first with 47 points. San Antonio Central Catholic was second and Castroville Medina Valley was third. Sixteen teams competed in the varsity boys 5A/6A division.
Del Rio sophomore Ely Losoya was fifth overall in 16:55.4 and was the only Rams runner to finish in the top 10 in the race.
Junior Mikael Perez was 17th in 17:24.8, senior Joe Chavez was 61st in 19:00.2, junior Joseph Fuentes was 64th in 19:02.9, senior Juan Lopez was 79th in 19:20.8, sophomore Jonathan Mendoza was 88th in 19:35.1, junior Joshua Reyes was 94th in 19:43.4, and junior Jose Ramirez was 98th in 19:46.2.
The sub-varsity runners competed in the varsity 1A-4A divisions but did not compete for the team title.
In the boys division, freshman Jose Martinez was Del Rio’s top finisher. He was 66th overall in 20:10.6. Sophomore Eric Flores was 78th in 20:41.2. Sophomore Armando Garcia was 107th in 21:33.9. Junior Aiden Dueñez was 111th in 22:06.4.
In the girls division, junior Natalie Cordova was 68th in 15:13. Junior Marina Jimenez was 78th in 15:24.3. Senior Alexa Leon was 105th in 16:51.4.
In the middle school division, Del Rio Middle School’s girls won the 8th Grade Girls division with 29 points. Elise Vander Mierden won the race in a time of 14:24.7. She led a group of three Del Rio runners who finished in the top 10. Joining her were Ryland Ross, who was third in 14:42.3 and Ayla Elizondo who was sixth in 15:29.9.
Zoe Martinez was 16th in 17:11.2, Analise Dominguez was 26th in 17:44, and Jaslynn Montalvo was 40th in 19:36.4.
Del Rio Middle School’s boys were fourth in the seventh grade division. Abraham Cardenas was the top runner for Del Rio, taking sixth in 13:35.1. Antonio Burrola was 25th in 16:20.7, Antonio Scott was 45th in 19:52.2, Alexander Perez was 64th in 40:15.5, and Abraham Garcia was 65th in 47:01.8.
In the seventh grade girls division, Del Rio Middle School’s Camila Fernandez was 16th in 17:46.2, Camila De Los Santos was 17th in 17:48.3, and Eunice Martinez was 36th in 20:21.6.
In the eighth grade boys division, Jacob Smith was 12th in 13:35, Alejandro Martinez was 22nd in 15:07.2, and Kevin Olveda was 34th in 16:39.9.
The sub-varsity teams are scheduled to compete at the Spartan Invitational at Lindbergh Park in San Antonio Friday.
The varsity teams are scheduled to compete at the annual FEAST Invitational Saturday at the Old Verizon Amphitheater in San Antonio.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
