Lockhart harriers win district titles

Lions win 19th district title

The Lockhart Boys Varsity Cross Country ran to their 19th consecutive District Championship on Saturday at Lockhart City Park. Conditions for the 26AAAA title race were almost perfect at race time.
Lockhart won the race with a team score of just 16 points, only one away from perfection. Lehman High School scored 79 points to capture

the runner-up trophy. New Braunfels was third with 83 points, Del Valle was fourth with 122 points, Steele was fifth with 132 points, Hays placed sixth with 151 points, Clemens was seventh with 176 points and New Braunfels Canyon finished eighth with 195 points. The top three teams advanced automatically to the Regional Championship, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. at the Brooks Air Force Base Golf Course in South San Antonio.
Junior Rory Tunningly paced his teammates for much of the race before pulling away easily over the last mile of the race. Tunningly became the 14th individual Lockhart Cross Country District Champion in the last 19 years. He covered the 3.3 miles (5,350 meters) of hilly park terrain in an outstanding time of 18:11.
Senior Nick Yunkun finished just 11 seconds behind Tunningly, capturing the runner-up position.
Senior Sean Smith ran a strong race finishing third overall in a time of 18:32. Senior Clay Culpepper placed fourth in 18:39. Completing the scoring for Lockhart was senior Jonathan Fitzgerald, who finished sixth in 18:51.
“I was very proud of the fact our top five runners all finished within 40 seconds of each other,” said Head Coach Scott Hippensteel.
Also running in the Varsity race were sophomore James Bonn, who placed eighth in 19:04 and senior Nick Alford, who placed 12th with a time of 19:27.
The Lockhart Junior Varsity team won their 18th District title in the past 19 years as Lockhart runners finished in first through ninth places.
Freshman Ryan Gonzales won with a time of 19:14. Junior Scott Castanon ran his best race of the year and placed second with a time 19:35. Castanon was followed by teammates Xavier Thomas third in 19:47, Cameron Peters fourth in 20:03, Scott Woody fifth in 20:03, Marcos Gonzales sixth in 20:14, David Dihn seventh in 20:25, Jose Medina eighth in 20:32, A.J. Maderal ninth in 20:36, and Alfredo Maderal 11th in 20:54.
The Freshman Boys won their 19th consecutive District Title with a perfect score of 15 points.
Roy Garcia raced to the individual title with a time of 10:31 over the nearly two-mile course. He was followed by Kenny Brite, who placed second in 11:35, Jose Espinose third in 11:35, Noah Tunningly fourth in 11:40, Kendall Till sixth in 12:46, and Matthew Jackson seventh in 13:52.

Lady Lions advance in tough district race

In one of the most competitive districts of Region 4-AAAA Saturday, Lockhart”s own Lady Lions advanced to Cross Country”s postseason with a third place team finish at the District 26-AAAA Championship race.
“While the Lady Lions fell short in their bid for a sixth title over the past decade, the girls” were very competitive,” said coach Lee Datesman.
The Lady Lions team score of 66 points was behind two solid competitors: Steele High School (48 points), and previously #10 state ranked New Braunfels (58 points). Lockhart”s third place finish placed them above fourth place Hays H.S., who was followed by Del Valle, Lehman, Canyon, and Clemens.
Leading the individual performances for the Lady Lions was junior Livi Massey, whose time of 12:01 over the 3000-meter course. Following just behind Massey was sophomore Alyson Gonzales, whose 12:07 time placed her tenth. Freshmen Jordyn Platt (12th place, 12:13) and Alex Maderal (l3th place, 12:16) were the Lady Lions third and fourth finishers. Maderal was the fastest number-four runner of any team on the course Saturday.
Junior Alyson Daily (25th place, 12:47) rounded out the top five for Lockhart as her performance solidified the girls” post-season berth.
Freshman Bianca Juarez (26th place, 12:49) placed just behind Daily, and sophomore Shelby Ohlendorf posted a gutsy effort with her 30th place finish in 12:57.
In the Junior Varsity race Sophomore Mary Woody used a mammoth finish to place fourth in 12:47. Sophomore Jannah Platt was fifth in 12:54 and freshman Kelsey Daily placed sixth in 13:00. Behind Daily was fellow freshman Jade Ramirez in 11th place, who ran the best race in her very young career, followed by sophomore Tera Alford and Junior Leandra Garcia.
The Lady Lion squad and coaches appreciate the continued support of the community as they work their way through the post-season.