Varsity, JV Lions place third on home course

The number one ranked cross country team in the United States made their way to Lockhart on Saturday to run in the 22nd Annual Lockhart Invitational.
Cedar Park High School, led by All-American Parker Stinson dominated the race with ease, earning first place with a perfect score of 15 points, but along the way inspired many of the young distance runners at the meet.
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The hosting Lockhart Lions finished in a respectable third place with 116 points, trailing district rivals the New Braunfels Canyon Cougars, who finished second with 112. The Luling Eagles and the New Braunfels Unicorns rounded out the top five of the 14 competitive teams, finishing with 132 and 141 points respectively.

Stinson, who won the USATF Nationals in the 10,000-meter race over the summer, won the race easily in 9:01.

Senior Lion David Dinh led the way for the Lion harriers for the second week in a row, covering the very challenging 3,000-meter course in 9:46, placing tenth overall in a very tough field of 177 runners.

“David is having a great season,” said Head Cross Country Coach Scott Hippensteel. “I think he is a very dedicated and determined young man.”

Despite a battle with tendonitis, sophomore Nate Moore was the second Lion across the finish line, coming in 15th overall with a time of 9:59.
Third place finisher Noah Tunningley, a senior, continues to improve with each race, according to Hippensteel.

Tunningley placed 23rd in the field, with a time of 10:12. Junior Mack O’Niell and sophomore Bobby Dihn finished out scoring for the Varsity Lions, placing 35th and 42nd overall, in 10:34 and 10:44 respectively.

Seniors Ryan Gonzales and Roy Garcia also ran at the varsity level, finishing in 49th and 64th places.

At the Junior Varsity level, a field of 180 runners toed the line.

Lion freshman Robert Uhr won the individual title in what Hippensteel called an “outstanding race.”

Although he stayed with the pack for most of the race, Uhr sprang to the lead in the last foot, Hippensteel said. He led Lockhart to a third place overall finish out of 15 teams, completing the course in 10:29.

For the second week in a row, freshman Derrick Hendricks ran a strong race as well, placing ninth overall. Other lion runners competing on Saturday included Joseph Anchondo (23rd), Xavier Espinoza (27th), Samuel Post (35th), Andrew Peters (37th), Eli Spring (38th), Mitchell McCree (42nd), Sebastian Llamas (50th), Mario Maciel (62nd), Colton Russell (87th), Carlos Anchondo (98th) and Nicholas Avey (115th).
(Courtesy of Scott Hippensteel)