Yoakum, Bandera, and Huffman Hargrave stood between the Devine Arabian Cross Country team standing on the post-race award stage as one of the top three teams at the TAMU Islander Splash Invitation. Yoakum (114), Bandera (119), and Huffman Hargrave (128) topped the Arabian 4th place, 192-point performance.
Those four teams listed above were the only teams to score in the 100’s out of 42 complete teams entered into the small-school division while only four additional teams scored in the 200’s. Forty-second place Falfurrias tallied a whopping 1,089 points.
Region IV Cross Country is one of the toughest if not the toughest region in the state of Texas. State Champion teams and top 10 places coming out Devine’s region is a regular occurrence. This Arabian version is working toward getting back to the State Meet for the second consecutive season.
Senior Esperanza Mendoza led all Arabians with a 13:52, 34th place finish. Sophomore runner Yessika Garza (39th-13:59.11) and junior Brianna Bowyer (40th-13:59.17) finished neck and neck at the finish line.
Audrey Longoria (46th-14:03), Kristina Moralez (56th-14:13), Kelli Geyer (104th-14:50), and Brianna Bernal (154h-15:25) rounded out the Arabian results.
Top 10 and local teams: 1st-Yoakum-114, 2nd-Bandera-119, 3rd-Huffman Hargrave-128, 4th-Devine-192, 5th-San Antonio Cole-226, 6th-Rockport-Fulton-233, 7th-Comfort-246, 8th-Gonzales-248, 9th-Zapata-315, 10th-Skidmore-Tynan-324, 18th-Crystal City-508, 21st-Dilley-681, 23rd-Pearsall-670, 35th-Lytle-853.
Up next
All Devine Cross Country teams compete in Comfort Saturday, September 28 before hosing a pre-district meet in Devine on Wednesday, October 2.
By Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Arabian XC makes big splash at Islander Invitational
