Trejo qualifies to State Cross Country Meet

For the first time in more than 15 years, Lockhart Girls Cross Country is going back to the state meet.

Lady Lion sophomore Cristal Trejo qualified on past Saturday with an amazing performance, finishing 12th overall at the Region IV-5A Cross Country Meet in San Antonio out of 188 finishers with a time of 19:44.9 over the 5K course. Cross country qualifying rules sta

te the top four teams of each region, plus the 10 best individuals from non-qualifying teams qualify for the state meet. Trejo captured the ninth individual spot to qualify in the regional race that represented the Top teams and Individuals from each district in Region IV.

“This is a huge accomplishment for not only Cristal but for each girl on the cross country team,” said Head Girls Coach Reuben Ortiz. “They are a team, and as a team they show up for practice each day together, they help push each other, learn from each other, and take the good and the bad together. For this race, Cristal not only had to use every ounce of talent and training she has, but she also had to use great racing strategy to keep working her way up the pack. We had a game plan and she followed it near perfection. We have already gone over all the positives and the negatives in her race and she is ready for state.”

Lockhart Cross Country has a rich tradition of sending student-athletes to the state meet as a team or as an individual qualifier. In the past 25 years a male or female has been sent 23 of those years.

“This is another step forward for Lockhart athletes,” Ortiz said. “But this is another big step for girl athletes, as there has not been a Lockhart female cross country runner at the State Meet since 1997 when Kristy Bonn placed third. Also, since this is the first year Lockhart has ever moved up from the Class 4A Division to the new Class 5A Division, Cristal is the first Lockhart student-athlete ever to compete at the state meet in the 5A Division.”

The 5A Division race is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. this Saturday, Nov. 8 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, Texas. The length of the race will be the standard 5 Kilometer (3.1 mile) length.