Lady Lions fare well against men at Gonzales Invitational
Special to the LPR
The Lockhart Lady Lions cross-country team traveled to nearby Gonzales to compete at the Gonzales Invitational with a mixed squad as some runners took the week off to rehab injuries, while others traveled to the UIL band competition.
The race for the Lady Lions was originally slated to be a 2-mile course for varsity girls, but LHS Head Coach Reuben Ortiz’s team opted to move up and compete in the Junior Varsity Boys Division in the 3.1-mile course.
In varsity competition, sophomore Adriana Rodriguez led the varsity squad over the 3.1-mile course. Rodriguez finished the course in 21:46. Her time would’ve placed her 17th overall in the JV Boys Division. Senior Christy Gonzalez was not far back, pushing past a young man from Beeville at the finish. Gonzalez finished as Lockhart’s No. 2 runner with a time of 23:04 that would have placed her 27th overall.
Junior Ryleigh Lindsey ran a season-best of 25:09 that would have placed her 40th overall. Next was a wave of Lady Lions with senior Amryss Flores (26:10) and Mayra Varillas (26:12), then juniors Emma Forester (27:16) and Ashley Ramirez (27:21) battled a small group of young men at the finish in an impressive fashion. Senior Jazmine Reyes-Trejo also competed.
“We wanted to get a longer tougher workout this meet so I asked to move the Varsity Girls into the Junior Varsity Boys Division,” Ortiz said. “Race officials were fine with the move, but midway through the race they told me they were going to separate girls’ and boys’ places since we were beating a couple of boys teams. I told them that was fine, we just came here to compete, team finish was not important to us.”
In the Junior Varsity Girls division, Lockhart only had one representative due to the decision to rest a few injuries and loss of runners due to band competition. Sophomore Hadley Moorhead started off very conservative, then worked her way up to the middle of the pack at the mile mark and used a late push at the end to finish in Top 20 medal honors — 17th overall. Moorhead completed the 2-mile course in 17:29.
“Hadley got a late start to the season but is starting to show what she is capable of,” Ortiz said. “She’s definitely a hidden gem, and just needs time and training.”
The Lady Lions will travel to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville f on Oct. 1 or its annual Chili Pepper Invitational. It is considered one of the most prestigious meets in the United States.
