Lion harriers race for bronze at State

The Lockhart Boys” Cross Country team captured bronze medals at the UIL State Championships this past Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Old Settler”s Park in Round Rock.
Fort Worth Northside won the team title with just 62 points and was easily the class team in the field of 12 schools participating. Northside placed third at the 2004 State Meet and returned their top five fin

ishers from that team. Northside runners placed 1st, 2nd, 15th, 19th, and 25th overall.
Boerne High School, the defending champions, finished as the State Runner-Up with 94 points. Boerne”s top five runners finished in 6th, 7th, 27th, and 44th places overall.
Lockhart High School finished a very strong and respectable third place in the team standings with 115 points. Saturday marked the 8th time in 9 years that the Lion Harriers have made their way onto the awards stand by placing among the top three teams at the State Championship. Lockhart”s top five runners placed 12th, 18th, 22nd, 31st, and 32nd overall out of 84 team competitors.
“I was extremely proud of the way our runners battled during the race,” Coach Scott Hippensteel said. “The windy conditions made long sections of the course very difficult.”
Rounding out the top six teams were Klein Oak with a score of 134 points, district rival Elgin was 5th with 141 points, and Mesquite Poteet finished with a total of 153 points.
Lockhart was led by sophomore Rory Tunningly who placed 12th with a time of 16:45. Senior Justin Platt, who finished the 2005 season by getting better every week, was the second finished with a time of 17:00 earning him 18th place. Junior Nick Yunkun finished in 22nd with a time of 17:06. The number four finisher for Lockhart was junior Clay Culpepper who placed 31st in 17:18. Junior Jonathan Fitzgerald and senior Stoney McCrary finished as Lockhart”s fifth and sixth runners placing 32nd and 33rd with identical times of 17:20. Junior Sean Smith finished as the seventh man for the Lions as he placed 50th with a time of 17:45.
“As far as a team effort I could not have asked for anything more from this group. The split between our first and last runner was exactly 60 seconds,” Coach Hippensteel added.
Although they did not compete on Saturday, a great deal of the 2005 team success should be given to the following runners: senior James Silva, senior James Saldana, senior Frankie Rodriguez, junior Scott Woody, and junior Nic Alford.
“Once again the 2005 Cross Country team would like to say thank you for making this year another great one,” Coach Hippensteel said. “Thank you parents, students, school administration, the Parks Department, and the community of Lockhart for everything you have done.”
(Courtesy of Scott Hippensteel)