Lions Cross Country off to a whirlwind start

By Coach Scott Hippensteel                         

Three meets in just 13 days kicked off the 2025 boys cross country season, and they were all ran before the first day of September. It’s been a whirlwind start.

     On August 16, the Lion harriers traveled to the Yoakum Invitational. Lockhart has had a lot of success at Yoakum over the years, winning the early season meet many times.

     This year, however, the Lions finished second out of seven teams. Gonzales won the meet with 48 points, followed by Lockhart with 73 points, just two points ahead of Goliad, who finished third with 75 points.

     Junior Ethan Herrera led the way for Lockhart as the overall winner of the race in a field of 70 competitors. Herrera held back early in the race to help his teammates, leaving him with a lot of ground to make up when he finally went after the leader from Gonzales High School. With less than 400 meters to go, Herrera surged past the leader and secured the win with a time of 12 minutes, 12 seconds for the 2.25-mile race.

     On August 23, the Lions hit the road again, traveling to the first-ever Stockdale Brahma Invitational.      Lockhart finished third out of the seven teams competing. Gonzales once again won the team title with 35 points, followed by Yoakum with 47, and Lockhart with 65.

     The race at Stockdale was a bit longer measuring 2.9 miles. Lockhart looked strong through the first mile and a half and was still leading near the two-mile mark before a couple of the top five runners faded over the last mile.

    Once again, Herrera led the Lions, finishing second overall after being outkicked in the final 50 meters. 

        For the first time in his high school career, senior Paul Muñoz was the second Lion finisher. “Paul has worked really hard to make himself a competitive runner during his high school years, and it’s great to see him keep improving.”

    On August 29, the Lions hosted their 38th annual Hippensteel Invitational at Lockhart City Park.

     Twenty-five high schools competed in two races. Thirteen schools raced in the 1A–4A division, followed by 12 schools in the 5A–6A division, with teams traveling from as far as Brownsville, Texas.

     A total of 59 boys from Lockhart High School participated. The Lockhart Cross Country team competed, but there was also a large group of Lockhart Soccer players, along with athletes from tennis, football, basketball, baseball, golf, and even members of the band.

     Herrera once again led the Lion harriers. He covered the 2.1-mile course in 10 minutes, 23 seconds, which converts to about 9:52 for two miles. “I thought Ethan ran a really good race. He went out fast, which will make him a better runner in future meets.” Herrera placed second overall out of 102 runners.

Freshman standout Rafael Urbina finished 49 seconds behind Herrera, placing 14th with a time of 11:12.       

      Sophomore Irving Ferretiz rebounded from a difficult outing at Stockdale to claim the number three spot on Lockhart’s roster, finishing 21st in 11:28.

     Junior Jaidyn Slussler had his second consecutive solid race, placing 39th in 12:00 as the team’s fourth man. “I see Jaidyn getting more confident every race.”

Rounding out Lockhart’s top five scorers was senior Connor Zea, who placed 40th with a time of 12:02.

     Other Lions who had outstanding performances included Daniel Martinez, Euladio Figueroa Aviles, Paul Muñoz, Josiah Rodriguez, Christian Branch, Oswaldo Sanchez Vasquez, Keaton Archer, Alejandro Rocha, Ethan Gamez, Jonathan Davis, Derek Morgan, Rodrigo Barahona, Juan Garcia Amaya, Liam Moctezuma, Eric Valencia Maldonado, Rafael Roballar Lopez, Ben Perales, Hayden Brast, and Javier Medina.

     The Lockhart Boys Soccer team had an outstanding day on the cross-country course, leading the Junior Varsity squad to a second-place finish out of 18 JV teams. “The fact that our soccer team could come out and place second like that is amazing. It is a testament to the type of athletes we are putting out there on the soccer field. These guys are really good athletes. I also want to thank Coach Vasquez, our Boys Soccer coach, for encouraging these guys to compete. I also want to thank Coach Hudson, our Golf coach, for getting his guys out here as well.”

     On Friday, September 5, Lockhart’s Boys and Girls Cross Country teams will travel to Decker Lake in Austin to compete in the Austin ISD Invitational.