By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Brackettville’s Abraham Morales is looking to add a little more hardware to his personal trophy case.
The senior is headed back to the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet after winning the Region IV Boys individual championship. He won the title in a time of 16:47.80, well ahead of the runner-up, Connor Bartek of Goldthwaite.
This is Morales’ fourth consecutive trip to the state meet, but this will be the first time he competes as an individual. In each of the past three years he’s competed as a part of the Brackett team. At this year’s regional meet, Brackett finished fifth, just missing out on a return to state.
His teammates gave it their all.
Ricky Rangel, who competed at state twice before, finished 18th at the region meet in 19:38.82. Edgar Valdez, who was also a two-time state competitor, was 52nd at this year’s regional meet in 21:15.76. Hayes Bonner, who ran in his first state meet last year, was 70th at regionals in 22:13.99. Freshman Malachi Yoder was 83rd in 23:15. Freshman Jeremy Creech was 105th in 24:47.23. Freshman Santos Buitron was 112th in 25:30.85.
Morales earned a pair of state championships in track and field this past spring. He won the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter championships and is a favorite to repeat in 2022.
Local cross country fans will recognize Morales from his performance at this year’s Del Rio Cross Country Invitational Meet. He won the 1A/4A Varsity Boys race in a time of 16:14.2.
Brackett’s boys weren’t the only representatives of the Tiger family to run at the regional meet.
The Tigerettes finished seventh as a team with 230 points. Shiner took first with 72 points followed by Mason in second with 97 points and Goldthwaite in third with 118 points.
Sophomore Anna Lewis led the team with a 20th place finish. She just missed out on qualifying for state by four spots. Her time of 13:53.20 was about nine seconds off the pace for making it to state.
Junior Reagan Hay was 31st in 14:17.22. Junior Talia Moses was 54th in 14:55.44. Junior Emma Paxton was 99th in 16:30.71. Freshman Aaliyah Bueno was 109th in 17:16.56. Freshman Hannah Laub was 116th in 17:44.45.
This year’s state meet will be held Friday, Nov. 5 and Saturday, Nov. 6. Morales is scheduled to compete Saturday at 9 a.m. in the 5K race.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
