Lions XC place 16th at state meet

LISD

The Lockhart Boys Cross Country team traveled to Round Rock’s Old Settlers Park on Friday, Nov. 3, to run in the Class AAAAA State Championship. It was the 23rd time in the past 34 seasons dating back to 1990 that Lockhart has qualified and run in the championship.
Lockhart placed 16th of the 16 teams that had qualified for the race. The Lions went out fast and after the first mile and were in 7th place in the team standings. By the time they had reached the two-mile mark, they had fallen back to 14th place in the team standings and after they had finished the 3.1-mile (5,000 meter) race the Lions were in 16th place.
Lucas Lovejoy easily captured the team title with just 56 points, Georgetown placed second with 109 points, and Boerne Champion finished in third with 160. Lockhart, which was scoring 191 points at the mile mark and 302 points at the two-mile mark, finished the day 367 points.
Lockhart senior Zeke Sanchez led the Lions as he placed 47th individually with a time of 16 minutes and 50 seconds.

Sanchez was followed by senior Carlos Terrazas in 63rd with a time of 17:04.

Freshman Ethan Herrera placed 76th in 17:22. Herrera was the sixth best freshman runner in the race. Junior Alejandro Cruz placed 89th in 17:42, and was followed by senior Mason Nino in 92nd with a time of 17:43. Senior Cole Frey was the sixth Lion finisher 106th place with a time of 18:15, and freshman Ivan Gonzalez finished as the seventh man for Lockhart as he placed 107th in 18:16.
“I was really proud of our team this year,” Lockhart Head Coach Scott Hippensteel said. “We may not have finished like we wanted to at the state meet, but nobody can fault our effort, these kids battled all year. Our senior class was amazing. From the time I found these guys in 7th and 8th grade, they have been nothing short of wonderful to coach.

“We finished second at our district meet, which was easily the deepest district I have ever coached against. Finishing as the regional runner-up was the highlight of the season, and maybe the best race I have seen Lockhart run in years. To place second in a region of 72 high schools was awesome.”