Lions dominate Regionals, move on to State race

The Lockhart Lions placed all seven of their runners in the top 26 places to win the Region IV Regional Championship on Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Brooks Base Golf Course in San Antonio. The Lions recorded a score of just 48 points. It was the ninth time in the past 14 seasons Lockhart has won the Regional Title. Lockhart also won in 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and

2004.
Cedar Park Vista Ridge finished second in the team standings with 82 points, while Mercedes placed third with 96 points.
Junior Rory Tunningly turned in a great race for the Lions as he placed fourth out of 175 competitors. Tunningly covered the hilly 4,900 meters (3.05 miles) in just 15 minutes and 15 seconds.
“I was very pleased with the way Rory ran Saturday,” said Coach Scott Hippensteel. “I think when he gets out in the front our other runners gain confidence and move up to the front of the race.”
Seniors Nick Yunkun and Jonathan Fitzgerald ran almost stride for stride as they finished in seventh and eighth. Yunkun ran a time of 15:26 while Fitzgerald finished only one second later. Sophomore James Bonn placed llth in 15:33, while freshman Ryan Gonzales completed the team scoring as he placed 18th with a time of 15:53.
Seniors Clay Culpepper and Sean Smith placed a very strong 23rd and 26th with times of 16:04 and 16:11 respectively.
The top three teams in the 24-team field will advance to this Saturday”s State Championship in Round Rock. The meet will be held at Old Settler”s Park with the Lion harriers running at 10:20 a.m.