Lady Lions compete well at Arkansas Chili Pepper

Special to the LPR
The Lockhart Lady Lions Cross-Country team traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas to compete at the University of Arkansas Chili Pepper Cross-Country meet, known as one of the top meets in the country for colleges as well as high school cross country runners. It has hosted the NCAA D-I National Cross-Country Championships on numerous occasions.

The Lady Lions competed in the Open Division and placed 21st out of 73 teams entered with almost 500 runners on the line when the gun fired. Another Texas school, Lucus Lovejoy, was the overall team champion.
Sophomore Adriana Rodriguez was the first Lion to cross the finish line. Rodriguez used a good start to run with the leaders through the mile mark and held on mile 2 and 3 to finish 63rd overall with a time of 21:38 over the 5k course.

Senior Amyrss Flores ran an equally impressive race to finish 169th overall with a time of 23:33. Flores’ time was her season best.

Freshman Clarissa Martinez-Olvera was the third Lockhart runner to cross the line. Using a strong second half, Martinez-Olvera worked her way to a personal best 5k time of 23:40 and placed of 177th overall. Junior, Ryleigh Lindsey, was Lockhart’s No. 4 runner. Lindsey’s time of 24:31 was a season best, finishing in 230th place. Junior Mayra Varillas picked up key points for the Lady Lions as the key 5th runner. Varillas finished in 247th place with a time of 24:50. Senior Jazmine Reyes-Trejo and Sophomore Hadley Moorhead finished at the Lady Lions pushers. Reyes-Trejo finished in 321st place with a time of 26:04, while Moorhead ran a personal best of 26:13 in 324th place.

“It was a very impressive day for our team,” Lockhart Head Girls Coach Reuben Ortiz said. “These ladies sacrificed a lot to represent the City of Lockhart. I’m so proud of them. I couldn’t ask for anything more from them. When you compete in big meets like this, you either race and run your best or just run and get swallowed. They raced.

“We missed a few of our key contributors due to sickness and injury rehabilitation. But our goal is to be as close to full strength for District as we can. The girls’ side of our district has one of the top teams in the state and more than likely the top runner in the state. It’s stacked from top to bottom.”
The Lady Lions will take the next week off to prepare for the 25-5A District meet. It will be held at Lockhart City Park on Thursday, Oct. 13.