Luling sending two teams to state again

Posted

SAN ANTONIO – Michael Barnett might still have a sore right hand and back after all the congratulatory handshakes and hugs he received on Saturday.

The Luling cross country coach had plenty of those from Luling fans as well as opposing fans and coaches after the feat his teams accomplished. Both Luling teams – boys and girls – qualified for the Class 2A state meet after finishing first and third, respectively, in their races at the Region IV-2A Meet Saturday at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.

This marks the second year in a row that both Luling teams qualified for the state meet. While Barnett was thrilled with this accomplishment, he was particularly proud of his girls team.

“Going in we felt like it was going to be a four-way battle for the three region spots between us, East Bernard, Johnson City and Vanderbilt Industrial,” he said. “It ended up being Johnson City, East Bernard and us, respectively.

“The girls ran well and it says a lot for both Kristaly (Munoz) and Carley (Glass) to run under 12 minutes.”

Just as they did in the District 28-2A Meet two weeks ago, Munoz and Glass finished first and second, respectively, in the region meet. Munoz won the race with a time of 11:28, while Glass – the two-time defending 2A state champion – was second with a time of 11:44.

Also running for the Lady Eagles were Ashlea Avila, Larissa Carmona, Maria Castillo, Shelby Drabek and Sydney Neumann. Luling had 115 points to finish third behind Johnson City (1st, 77 points) and East Bernard (2nd, 78).

On the boys’ side, Luling dominated by recording 36 points – 85 better than runner-up East Bernard (121). The Eagles placed all six of their runners in the top 17 – Jose Campos (2nd, 15:54), Danny Castillo (6th, 16:36) Ryan Flores (7th, 16:43), Brian Guerrero (8th, 16:49), Will Frazier (13th, 17:07) and Fabian Guerrero (17th, 17:21).

“You’re never at your peak,” Campos said. “The more committed you are the better you get. We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing – working as a team, training and doing the little things right.”

Luling is gunning for its third consecutive state championship on Saturday at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock. The Eagles and Lady Eagles will be the only area representatives at the state meet.

In addition to the Luling teams, there were three more area teams and a trio of area individuals competing in their respective region meets on Saturday. The Gonzales boys team (3A), the Shiner boys (A) and Shiner girls (A) were the other teams competing, while Kristeny Magallanez of Gonzales (3A girls), Junior Tristan of Nixon-Smiley (2A boys) and Antonio Morales of Waelder (A boys) also competed.

The Apaches were led by Gilbert Chavez, who finished 29th with a time of 17:39. This was Chavez’s third region meet during his four-year career.

“I hope to get a scholarship in cross country or track and field,” Chavez said. “Hopefully I’ll do better in track. I have two weeks off before I start track practice.”

Chavez will compete in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs for the Gonzales boys track and field team. While his high school cross country days are finished, he did make one bold prediction for his teammates who will return for the 2013 cross country season.

“The boys will win district next year,” Chavez said. “They have a lot of guys coming back, and Coach (Cully) Doyle is a heck of a coach.”

In addition to Chavez, the Apaches were represented by Dalton Couch, Alan DeLeon, Sergio Garcia, Max Moreno, Jose Olade and Ashton Williams. The Shiner boys were represented by Ethan Berger, Daniel Hernandez, Colby Jahn, Blake Mraz, Chase Schroeder and Ethan Zissa, and the Shiner girls were represented by Meloni Berger, Tabitha Blaschke, Clara Grosenbacher, Kaci Jamison, Keely McCarthy, Shanan Pardy and Kristin Schacherl.

Comments