Lady Lions Cross Country split squads

By Anthony Collins

LPR Editor                                                      

     The Lady Lions cross-country teams hit two different courses this past week, giving both varsity and JV valuable race-day experience.

Varsity at Corpus Christi

     The varsity squad made the trip down to Corpus Christi on Saturday for the Islander Splash, the same course that will host the Region IV meet later this fall. It was a stacked field, with 40-plus teams from around the state. Lockhart finished 30th overall, holding their own despite missing three of their top runners.

      Sophomore Alicia Sanchez led the way in her first taste of regional-level competition, cracking the top 100 early and finishing 136th with a time of 25:11. Junior Melanie Garcia was next in at 26:39 for 177th, followed just seconds later by sophomore Aliya Parra in 179th (26:43). Sophomores Pyper Borneman (28:00) and Alicia Rodriguez (28:24) came through together in the middle of the pack, while sophomore Sofia Rodriguez (29:13) and junior Kendra Mendoza (29:53) rounded things out.

     “This was by far our toughest competition of the year,” said head coach Ruben Ortiz. “We knew that going in, and the girls accepted the challenge. We were missing three of our top runners due to injuries and other things, but even with that, we still beat out a few good teams.”

JV at Seguin

     The JV squad laced up on Thursday in Seguin and came away with a 3rd-place team finish out of five schools. The big story was junior Dayana Delgado, a varsity letterwinner from last year, finally cleared for her first race of the season. Delgado wasted no time making an impact, finishing 12th overall in 17:00 and earning a top 15 medal.

     Right behind her was junior Katherine Silva Garcia, who also medaled with a 14th-place finish in 17:14. Junior newcomer Sariah Johnson nearly joined them on the medal stand, taking 17th at 17:41. Freshman Macy Lockhart impressed in her debut, clocking 18:32 for 25th and looking relaxed all the way to the finish.

     A wave of sophomores followed: Jaslynne Perez (27th, 19:07), Allie Forester (28th, 19:22), and Xional Wombel (29th, 19:46). Seniors Yadira Ferretiz-Ollervides (31st, 20:40) and Janae Torres (32nd, 20:55), along with junior Alahni Herrera (33rd, 21:06) and sophomore Abigayle Stewart (36th, 23:59), rounded out the lineup.

     “We had a lot of new faces today,” Ortiz said. “Having Dayana Delgado back is huge for us, she was one of the main reasons we finished right behind San Antonio O’Connor but ahead of San Antonio Southwest in the team standings. Let’s not forget about our newcomers and how they are constantly improving to help our team. We have less than a month left until district, and we’re going to need everyone.”

     The Lady Lions are back in action Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Apache Running Invite in Gonzales.