Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
The Lady Pirate Cross Country team rebounded quite nicely from their Islander Splash showing to take the third spot of 38 teams in the HOKA Invitational at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock this past Saturday morning. Lytle scored 181 points to finish behind nemesis Poth who scored 120 and Hamilton who posted 173.
“We have three new girls on the team and I wanted to give them the opportunity to compete at the HOKA Invitational which will hopefully pay dividends in November if we can return,” said Head Coach Gilbert Ruiz.
The HOKA meet and State are run on the exact same course providing the team a chance to accurately visualize what they need to do to be one of the top teams standing on the medal stand at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
“After having our worst outing last week at the Islander Invitational, the girls bounced back as they only finished behind the number two teams in 3A (Poth) and 2A (Hamilton).”
Frances Scotello and Klayre Cook cracked the top 25 with Scotello coming in at 16th place and Cook crossing the line at 25th in a field of 294 competitors. Scotello was the only Lady Pirate to beat the 13-minute clock as she came in with a time of 12:40. Cook finished with a time of 13:04.
Vanessa Ayala was the third Lytle runner in as she came in 48th with a time of 13:28 followed by Laleina Reveira who was 50th with a time of 13:29.
Svetlana Lopez was the fifth and final team-point contributor as she finished 58th with a time of 13:38. Samantha Mujica placed 68th with a time of 13:46.
Third place came with plenty of bragging rights as well as the Lady Pirates topped 2A #1 Goldthwaite and two additional 3A teams in #6 McGregor and #9 Dalhart.
“It again proved that if we can just stay focused with such a young group that we can return to the State meet and maybe challenge for that 3rd place medal again.”
Congratulations to the Lady Pirates and best of luck between now and that time you cross the line for the final time in 2023 at the State Meet!
Top 10 team rankings
1st Poth 120, 2nd Hamilton 173, 3rd Lytle 181, 4th Farwell 188, 5th Goldthwaite 196, 6th McGregor 211, 7th Dalhart 218, 8th Lorena 228, 9th Muenster 276, 10th San Antonio Cole 329.