Lions, Lady Lions advance to Regionals

Varsity Lions earn 20th consecutive district title

The Lockhart Boys Varsity Cross Country team ran to their 20th consecutive district championship on Saturday.
The Lions hosted the District 26-4A Championship Race at Lockhart City Park, and the hosts blew away the competition, capturing the team title with a low 41 points. Steele High School finished in second

with a total of 54. Last year’s district runners-up, the Lehman Lobos, scored 69 points to capture the third and final spot in the Regional Finals, which will be held in San Antonio on Saturday, Nov. 3. Rounding out the top eight teams were New Braunfels with 70 points, Del Valle with 130, New Braunfels Canyon with 164 points, Schertz Clemens, who scored 187 and finally the Hays Rebels, who scored 213 points.
Junior James Bonn led the way for the Lion harriers, pacing the other Varsity runners for the first mile of the race. Bonn finished third overall with a time of 18:40.
Bonn could have certainly won the individual title if he had not been unselfish and sacrificed his personal goal for the good of the team, Head Coach Scott Hippensteel said.
The course itself is the most challenging and lengthy one the Lions will run all season. With hills and an extra 500 meters, the Lions times were much slower than what they run on a normal Saturday.
Junior Marcos Gonzales had another great run, placing fifth with a time of 18:44. Junior Xavier Thomas has continually improved his running times all season. His dedication paid off on Saturday as he placed eighth in 19:10. Sophomore Ryan Gonzales, despite injuries, pulled off another strong performance as he finished ninth with a time of 19:14. Sophomore Roy Garcia finished with a great kick as he placed 16th in 19:39. Junior Cameron Peters who has gotten better and better as the season went on, placed 17th overall with a time of 19:47.
Sophomore David Dihn had to retire from the race with a recurring injury.
“I was very pleased with the way these kids stepped up on Saturday,” Hippensteel said. “Only James Bonn ran in the Varsity District race last year. With an entirely new line-up, we were able to compete against a very strong district and win. I am very excited to see what these guys are able to do in the future. I think this is a great young bunch of hungry athletes.”
Lockhart was only able to enter two runners in the JV race. The two Lockhart runners did not disappoint, finishing first and second overall. Junior Alfredo Maderal won the race with a time of 20:17, followed closely by teammate and fellow junior Jose Medina, who finished second in 20:25.
The Lockhart Freshmen also captured the District Championship with a perfect score of 15 points.
Kyle Medina led the way, covering the two-mile course in 11:34. Mitchell McCree finished second with a time of 11:47. Kevin Silva was the third Lion runner with a time of 12:28. Brooks Pittman was the fourth Lion runner, finishing in 12:31. Moses Ramirez was fifth in 12:31, while Mack O’Neil finished in sixth with a time of 12:34.
For the fourth consecutive season, Lockhart’s Lady Lions advanced to the Region IV-4A meet after their third-place finish at the District 26-4A meet on Saturday.
The Lady Lions’ finish was behind the very solid Steele High School Lady Knights, who were crowned District Champions with a team score of only 28 points. The Hays Lady Rebels finished as the runner up with 68 points. The Lady Lions 71-point score was just behind Hays, and Canyon was the fourth place team at 78 points. Behind Canyon in team scoring were New Braunfels and Lehman.
Sophomore Jordyn Platt and junior Alyson Gonzales finished sixth and seventh over the 1.93-mile course in 12:06 and 12:07 respectively. The duo ran a very hard race early and were placed third and fourth throughout the race before narrowly being ousted at the end.
Just behind the duo was junior Mary Woody with her 10th-place finish in 12:10. All three girls ran equivalent to their personal best times for 3200 meters over the challenging City Park course and will receive All-District honors for their excellent efforts.
Following Woody was senior Aly Daily, whose 12:40 time was good for 21st place as the Lady Lions’ number-four runner. Daily ran a solid race and was followed by sophomore Alex Maderal (13:02 in 28th place), junior Jannah Platt (13:08 in 29th place), and injured senior Livi Massey, who finished the course in 30th place at 13:13, despite running with a hurt foot.
The Junior Varsity team finished in second place behind Steele High School with a very solid team effort as well. Freshman Alissa Casteel led the charge with a sixth place finish in 12:55. Casteel was followed by fellow top 10 finisher, sophomore Bianca Juarez in ninth at 13:11. Freshman Karsyn Stark placed 11th in 13:25, sophomore Kelsey Daily was 17th in 13:48, and sophomore Jade Ramirez placed 18th in 13:51.
Rounding out the top seven were juniors Tera Alford (25th) and Shelby Ohlendorf (26th).
Alysia Peralez and Rebecca Woody ran in the Freshman Division, finishing fourth and seventh respectively.
The Lions and Lady Lions will travel to the Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio for the Region IV Regional Championships on Saturday. The Girls 4A race will begin 1 p.m., and the Boys race will follow at 1:30 p.m.
(Courtesy of Scott Hippensteel and Lee Datesman)
Editor’s note: The Boys and Girls teams would like to say “Thank You” to everyone who came out to support the team last weekend. The Lions also want to thank the City Parks Department headed up by Bernie Rangel for always helping to ready the park for the meet. We would also like to say “Thank You” to the Lion Booster Club and to all the workers who helped to make the District meet a great Lockhart event. -kb