LHS harriers advance to State Meet

The Lockhart Lion Cross Country earned a well-deserved trip to the 2005 State Championship race by placing second this past Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Region IV Regional Championship in San Antonio.
With four of the State”s top six teams in the Region, the Lion harriers knew they had their work cut out for them. Only the top three teams from a Regional field of 24 high

school teams would be able to advance.
Boerne won the race with 70 points as their top five runners placed 6th, 8th, 12th, 18th and 26th. Lockhart finished in the runner-up spot with 78 points. Lockhart”s top five finishers placed 7th, 13th, 15th, 20th, and 23rd.
It was a very hard fought battle for the third and final qualifying spot between Elgin and Cedar Park Vista Ridge. Elgin won the battle by just four points 105 to 109. Vista Ridge however had their top two runners place first and second overall out of 180 runners in the race.
Senior Justin Platt, who placed 7th overall with a fine time of 17:07, paced the Lockhart Lion team. Sophomore Rory Tunningly finished as the number two Lockhart runner in 13th place with a time of 17:20. A trio of juniors finished next for Lockhart led by Nick Yunkun in 15th with a time of 17:22, Clay Culpepper 20th in 17:48, and Sean Smith 23rd in 17:57.
Senior Stoney McCrary ran a strong race despite taking a hard fall early in the race. McCrary got back up to finish 34th with a time of 18:16.
Rounding out the top seven Lockhart runners was junior Jonathon Fitzgerald who placed 45th in 18:27.
By qualifying for the State Meet, Lockhart will be making their 14th team appearance in the last 16 years.
“The runners and coaches would like to say thank you to everyone who came to San Antonio last Saturday to support the team,” Head Coach Scott Hippensteel said. “The team would like to encourage as many people as possible to come out again this Saturday morning at 11 to cheer on the Lion harriers.”
The meet will be held at Old Settler”s Park in Round Rock. The park is located next to the Dell Diamond. The cost to get into the meet is five dollars. If you attend, allow time to park and ride the shuttle from Dell Diamond.
(Courtesy of Scott Hippensteel)