Lady Lions finish fourth, Smith advances to Regionals

Temperatures in the upper 40s and a stiff north wind greeted the cross country runners at Lockhart City Park on Saturday morning.  The Lady Lion Cross Country team placed fourth at the District 27-4A Championships, scoring 88 points behind third-place finisher Alamo Heights, who had 73 points.

Boerne Champion won the varsity girls race with 37 points, followed by Kerrville

Tivy with 61 points.

The Lockhart squad was led by senior Olivia Smith, who covered the 5,000-meter course in a time of 21:34. With less than 800 meters to go, Smith was able to move up from ninth to sixth place.

By finishing in the top 10, Smith not only earned All-District honors, but also earned a spot at the Region IV Cross Country Championships in San Antonio this Saturday.

Freshman Moira Salinas finished in 15th overall (22:26), earning All-District honors.  Sophomore Gabby Escobedo placed 18th (22:55), senior Alex Lindsey finished 24th (23:15), junior Nessa Rios came in 29th (23:31), and senior Ali Colurciello rounded out the team with 38th place (24:37)

In the junior varsity race, junior Sierra Steele led the Lockhart runners with a 58th place finish and a time of 28:12 over the same 5,000-meter course. Freshman Melanie Jones was not far behind with a 62nd place finish (28:29).  Senior Mercedes Gutierrez completed the JV squad with a 69th overall finish (29:24).

“I am very proud of our team,” said Coach Tim Bayliss. “This is the first year that the girls distance was 5K, and it was a big transition. We had a chance of finishing in the top three today, but Tivy and Alamo Heights proved to be tough competitors. The girls ran their hearts out today. We scored 108 points last year at district, and to score 88 points this year shows how much our team improved. I am very excited for Olivia to earn a trip to regionals. She has worked so hard the past several years. I know she will represent Lockhart High School well at the Regional Meet.”

The Region IV Cross Country Championships will be this Saturday at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio. The Girls 4A race is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.  Congratulations Lady Lions on a successful cross country season!