Lytle Cross Country put on a strong performance Saturday at the FEAST Invitational as four Lady Pirate varsity runners placed in the top 35 and all runners placing in the top 100. The Pirates were led by 8th place finisher Jose Cortez.
“It was a very fast, tough meet with lots of participants and we learned a lot of lessons out there,” according to Head Coach Gilbert Ruiz. “We had some great showings all the way down the program and hope to continue to improve and get ourselves ready for the championship season in October.”
Eisabel Guerrero set a personal record in the first race of the day which included the Lady Pirates. Her 12:34.83 and individual 5th place helped secure a 4th place team finish (164pts) behind FEAST (117), Bandera (120), and Boerne (148). There were 27 teams in the varsity girls division.
“The boys are finding a harder time to get started as two key runners have been sidelined with injury. Senior Jose Cortez is taking advantage of the time he has left as he finished 8th out of 241 in his second meet back after he too had been sidelined with injury all summer,” Ruiz said in regards to his Pirate varsity team.
Shout out
Coach Ruiz gave a shout out to Coach Scotello for help in taking the teams on two buses, which made it easier to transport the student-athletes.
Lady Pirates
5th Eisabel Guerrero 12:34, 27th Marissa Lopez 13:10, 33rd Moriah Gomez 13:29, 34th Samantha Mujica 13:29, 100th Dezmarie Ortega 14:27.
Pirates
8th Jose Cortez 17:12, 61st Johnny Alvarez 18:51, 71st Israel Andrade 19:13, 73rd Luke Estrada 19:16,
JV Lady Pirates
8th Jadyn Boroquez 14:27, 42nd Nivea Sanchez 15:44, 74th Rose Scotello 16:57, 94th Lia Corral 18:11.
JV Pirates
55th Jared Aguinaga 19:47, 59th Yandel Esquivel 19:56, 66th Daniel Mercado 20:03, 98th Donovan Cortez 20:37, 119th Gaustino Ruiz 20:56, 226th Aaron Martinez 22:43, 255th Aiden Zimmerlie 23:25.
Up next
All Lytle teams compete at the Bulldog Invitational in Bandera Saturday, September 11. The varsity Lady Pirates begin the day’s races at 9:00am directly followed by the varsity Pirates at 9:30am. The JV boys are up next followed by the JV girls, and middle school participants.
By Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer