Last Saturday, Lytle’s high school Cross Country teams ran in the Islander Splash in Corpus Christi at Dugan Stadium, the site of the upcoming October 25 Regional Championships. The Lady Pirates placed 4th of 40 teams, while the Pirates were 6th of 34 teams.
“It was a hot, humid day on Saturday,” said Head Coach Gilbert Ruiz but “it was a chance to run at the regional course that we hope to get back to.”
Lady Pirates
The girl small school division presented the Lady Pirates with their biggest challenge of the season.
“The Islander Splash was the biggest meet they will run in all year,” according to Ruiz as 334 runners competed in their division. “We didn’t have a particularly great meet, but it was good enough to finish 4th out of 40 schools. The team defeated all the 3A schools present and lost to three 4A schools, including the #6 (La Feria) and #5 (Bandera) teams in 4A.”
Eisabel Guerrero led the Lady Pirates with her individual 5th place, 13:11 finish. Samantha Mujica was a top 30 individual coming in at 28th with a 13:52.
Dezmarie Ortega (79th), Moriah Gomez (84th), and Jadyn Bojorquez (112th) also placed in the top third.
Pirates
The Pirate team ran against 33 other top programs in the small school division, as 305 runners took to the course in the humid conditions. Placing 6th as a team, Ruiz is pleased with the progress both his top runner and his young runners are making at this time.
“As they continue to battle through all their injuries, in the meantime it has given others an opportunity to gain some valuable experience,” said Ruiz. “The boys finished 6th out of 34 teams losing to only one 3A school in Brownsville IDEA Frontier.”
The Pirates placed high in the team rankings considering three of the five scoring runners are freshmen in Johnny Rey Alvarez, Luke Estrada, and Yandel Esquivez.
Jose Cortez continues his brilliant season, placing 17th individually with an 18:47. Alvarez (55th), Estrada (57th), Esquivez (62nd), and Jared Aguinaga (79th) rounded out the top five in Lytle’s scoring column.
Girl team ranks
1st La Feria 53, 2nd Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway 80, 3rd Bandera 156, 4th Lytle 238, 5th Boerne 257, 6th San Antonio Cole 257, 7th Sinton 259, 8th Johnson City LBJ 267, 9th Robstown 286, 10th La Vernia 286, 11th Skidmore-Tynan 321, 12th Beeville Jones 346, 13th Devine 378.
Lady Pirates
11th Eisabel Guerrero 13:11, 28th Samantha Mujica 13:52, 66th Marissa Lopez 14:34, 79th Dezmarie Ortega 14:44, 84th Moriah Gomez 14:48, 112th Jadyn Bojorquez 15:12, 183rd Nivea Sanchez 16:16, 235th Rose Scotello 17:13, 295th Lia Corral 19:23, 328th Alize Sanchez 22:34.
Boy team ranks
1st La Vernia 88, 2nd St. Joseph Academy 95, 3rd Bandera 129, 4th Boerne 130, 5th Brownsville Frontier College Prep 145, 6th Lytle 230, 7th San Antonio Cole 266, 8th Zapata 268, 9th Devine 270, 10th Vanguard Rembrandt 279.
Pirates
17th Jose Cortez 18:47, 55th Johnny Rey Alvarez 20:09, 57th Luke Estrada 20:11, 61st Yandel Esquivez 20:21, 62nd Israel Andrade 20:26, 79th Jared Aguinaga 21:00, 193rd Tristan Lopez 23:45, 255th Aaron Martinez 26:25, 259th Aiden Zimmerlie 26:36.
Up next
All of Lytle’s XC teams including the Jr. High Pirates and Lady Pirates compete in Randolph Saturday, September 25.
By Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer