SPORTS — Del Rio’s girls, boys cross country teams qualify for regional meet

By Brian Argabright

The 830 Times

Del Rio’s cross-country program took the first big step towards keeping its State streak alive by earning a spot at the regional meet.

The varsity girls team finished second and the varsity boys team finished third at the District 30-6A Cross-Country Meet Friday morning in Eagle Pass, assuring that Del Rio would be well represented at the Region IV-6A Meet in Corpus Christi Monday, Oct. 24, at the Dugan track and soccer stadium at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

The top three teams and the top 10 runners not assigned to a qualified team advanced from Friday’s meet to the regional meet. Last year, Del Rio’s varsity girls team and varsity boys team member Ely Losoya advanced.

Del Rio missed out on winning the varsity girls team championship by eight points. The Queens placed three of its runners in the overall top 10 and four in the top 15, but the difference came down to the fifth runner for Del Rio and eventual district champions Laredo Alexander, whose fifth runner finished 12 spots higher than Del Rio’s fifth runner.

Laredo United finished third to qualify for the regional meet as well.

Defending girls district champion Emily Torres, a junior, just missed out on back-to-back titles as she finished second to Alexander’s Sofia Peña by just over nine seconds. Torres, who was Del Rio’s top finisher, finished in 19:21.6 while Peña crossed the finish line in 19:12.0.

Del Rio’s other top 10 finishers included senior Kimberly Gloria, who was fourth in 19:25.8, and freshman Ryland Ross, who was eighth in 20:08.8.

Senior Skylar Urias was 14^th in 21:07, senior Cassandra Martinez was 30^th in 22:32.6, senior Nayeli Cordova was 31^st in 22:41.6, and senior Mackenzie Pulliam was 41^st in 25:27.4.

Laredo LBJ cruised to the varsity boys team championship, winning with 27 points. Four of the Wolves runners finished in the top 6 overall. Laredo Alexander was second with 69 points, and Del Rio was third with 70 points. Alexander edged Del Rio by placing two of its runners in the top five overall while the Rams had just one.

Senior Mikael Perez was Del Rio’s top finisher, taking seventh place in 17:06.7. Senior Damian Espinoza was 13^th in 17:19.9. Losoya, a junior, was 15^th in 17:23.2. Junior Jonathan Mendoza was 17^th in 17:41.1. Senior Jose Ramirez was 18^th in 17:41.4. Senior Rolando Rios was 21^st in 17:55.3, and senior Joseph Fuentes was 28^th in 18:21.1.

In the junior varsity division, Del Rio’s girls finished third as a team while the boys finished second by just three points.

Del Rio junior Alex Rodriguez won the boys race in a time of 18:15.7. Teammate Andres Rivera, a senior, was second in 18:28.6. Rounding out the Rams runners in the 10 was junior Jose Martinez, who finished sixth in 19:01.0.

Freshmen teammates Samuel Curtis and Antonio Padilla finished just seconds apart. Curtis was 14^th in 19:33.1, and Padilla was 15^th in 19:35.6.

Teammates Emiliano De Luna and Miguel Buitron finished closer than that. De Luna, a junior, and Buitron, a freshman, each finished in 19:53.8. De Luna was awarded 18^th place, Buitron got 19^th place.

Also running for Del Rio were freshman Jose Vielma (22^nd, 20:07.2), senior Joshua Reyes (26^th, 20:18.5), junior Adrian Garcia (27^th, 20:23.6), sophomore Steven Waller (28^th, 20:28.1), sophomore Will Fooshee (33^rd, 20:36.6), freshman Leonardo Rangel (34^th, 20:45.5), freshman Alfredo Garcia (35^th, 20:51.3), freshman Andres Garcia (37^th, 20:56.2), freshman Jacob Smith (40^th, 21:07.7), junior Jose Ortiz (44^th, 21:30.1), freshman Kevin Olveda (48^th, 21:53.6), junior Owen Southam (54^th, 22:30.4), junior Valdemar Hernandez (55^th, 24:13), and freshman Joaquin Taylor (62^nd, 26:32.1).

In the junior varsity girls division, Laredo United South easily won the team title with 18 points. Its top five runners all finished in the top 10. Laredo United was second with 46 points, and Del Rio was third with 58 points.

Junior Cynthia Rubio was the top runner from Del Rio, taking fifth in 23:20.4. Junior Kaylie Morales joined her in the top 10, finishing 10^th in 24:09.1.

Junior Payton Becker was 12^th in 24:30.7, freshman Nereyda Martinez was 14^th in 24:51.9, senior Natalie Cordova was 17^th in 25:22.6, freshman Zoey Martinez was 19^th in 25:38.7, and freshman Carolyn Leija was 26^th in 26:11.6.

Also running for Del Rio were senior Isela Gonzales (27^th, 26:12.4), junior Melina Ortiz (33^rd, 27:40.8), and freshman Arianna Martinez (39^th, 28:04.3).

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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com