Lions, Lady Lions run tough race at A&M

Lions face top-ranked schools at A&M
The Lockhart Boys Cross Country team ran to a seventh place finish at the Aggie Invitational on Saturday in College Station. The Lions were outpaced by top-ranked teams, including the three top-rated teams in Division 5A, The Woodlands, Southlake Carroll and Kingwood.
A total of 20 teams competed in Saturday”s race, with

an amazing 14 teams ranked within the top 10 in classes 4A and 5A. An example of the depth of the field was last year”s defending 5A State Champions (Corpus Christi King), placing 12th overall.
The Lion harriers were led by senior Nick Yunkun, who covered the 5,056 meter (3.2 mile) course in 16:53, placing him third in the field of 197 runners. Senior Jonathan Fitzgerald was the second Lion to cross the line, in 23rd place at 17:02, followed closely by junior Rory Tunningly (30th place in 17:16). A pair of seniors, Nic Alford and Clay Culpepper, rounded out the team scoring with 70th and 85th place finishes with times of 17:56 and 18:07 respectively.
Other Lockhart runners who competed were James Bonn (97th), Ryan Gonzales (138th) Christyan Gutierrez (140th), Marcos Gonzales (144th), Scott Woody (151st), Cameron Peters (154th), Xavier Thomas (159th) and Scotty Castanon (166th).
In the Junior Varsity race, Lockhart had four runners competing in the 250-man field.
AJ Maderal placed 133 with Roy Garcia and Jose Medina right behind in 136 and 144. Jonathan Farias rounded out the Lion runners in 238 place.
The Lockhart Boys and Girls Cross Country teams will travel to the UTSA Invitational in San Antonio on Saturday. The meet will be held at Brooks Base on the Southeast side of San Antonio. The Lockhart Boys Varsity team will run the first race of the day at 8:55 a.m.
(Courtesy of Scott Hippensteel)

Lady Lions place third at A&M Invitational
Another fine effort was posted by a youthful Lady Lion team on Saturday with the girls competing at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station. The Lady Lions faced 12 teams and well over 100 runners in a warm and humid environment in the 4A/5A race.
Livi Massey, an LHS junior, was the strongest runner in the entire race over the last mile of this two-mile Saturday, posting a career-best third place finish. Massey, only in 25th after a mile, rushed past runner after runner, as she displayed a perseverance which paid off with her excellent finish. Only a slow start may have been the difference between her third-place performance and an individual victory.
Massey led the girls to a third place team victory as well, behind large 5A schools Cy Fair HS and Morton Ranch HS, both from the Houston area.
Freshman Jordyn Platt also used a strong second half of the race to place 17th and was the second Lady Lion to cross the finish line Saturday. Sophomore Aly Gonzales placed 20th, just behind Platt and followed by freshman Alex Maderal as the number four runner. Following Maderal was fellow freshman Bianca Juarez, and rounding out the top seven were the Daily sisters, freshman Kelsey and junior Alyson. Also running well was the much improved Sophomore Mary Woody. Rounding the Lady Lion squad were Tera Alford, Jannah Platt, Jade Ramirez and Leandra Garcia.
The team travels to UTSA this weekend for its competition against quality competition from Region 4-4A.
(Courtesy of Lee Datesman)