Teams, individuals qualify for regional

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Several area athletes qualified for the region cross country meet last week as they finished strong in their respective district meets.

Five teams – Gonzales boys, Luling boys, Luling girls, Shiner boys and Shiner girls – and a trio of individuals earned spots in the Region IV Meet Saturday in San Antonio. The top three teams and top 10 individuals in each district meet earn berths in the region meet.

District 26-3A

GIDDINGS – It’s been a while since the Gonzales cross country program qualified a team for a region meet. But thanks to a second-place finish, the Gonzales boys team became the first cross country team since 2008 to qualify for a region meet as the Apaches beat every competitor except Giddings at the District 26-3A Meet Wednesday at Camp Tejas in Warda.

“Our guys did well and I knew they would get out of the district meet,” Gonzales coach Cully Doyle said. “I really wanted the girls to get out and am disappointed that they didn’t because they ran their hardest (Wednesday). But I’m proud of our kids and excited about the future of the program. The sky is the limit for us.”

While the Gonzales girls finished fourth – one spot away from region-meet contention – one Lady Apache ended up qualifying for the region meet. Kristiny Magallanez finished 10th in the girls race.

“I could’ve run better,” Magallanez said. “I need to pace myself more and need to keep practicing and training.”

Considering the circumstances, Magallanez has nothing to lose and everything to gain from here on out. This is the first year she has run cross country.

Gilbert Chavez, on the other hand, has higher expectations. He finished second in the district race, but feels like he should’ve done better.

“I took off slow and thought the course was going to be tougher than it was,” Chavez said. “But I think I can get back down to the 16s at regionals and should finish in the top 10.”

Chavez, a senior, is making his third region meet appearance in four years. His career-best time is 16:31, but he ran 17:55 on Wednesday.

Also competing for the Apaches on Wednesday were Dalton Couch, Alan DeLeon, Sergio Garcia, Jose Olade, Eduardo Rubacabra and Ashton Williams.

District 28-2A

SEGUIN – A perfect score catapulted the Luling boys to a first-place finish last Tuesday at Starcke Park in Seguin. The Eagles finished 1-2-3-4-5 in the race to claim 15 points and the District 28-2A crown.

Ryan Flores won the race with a time of 16:08.131, while Jose Campos was second just six-thousandths of a second with a time of 16:08.137. Brian Guerrero, Danny Castillo and Fabian Guerrero finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, to round out the perfect score.

“I just got this burst of energy toward the finish line and was motivated to catch Jose,” Flores said. “I didn’t think I’d hold on as long as I did, but it was just one of those things. It was awesome.”

Luling, the two-time defending state champion, will move on to its next test of defending the Region IV-2A crown on Saturday. This marked the eighth year in a row that the Eagles claimed the district championship.

Nixon-Smiley finished fourth as a team, but will still be represented at the region meet. Junior Tristan finished 10th overall and will be the lone Mustang in San Antonio on Saturday.

“I gave it my all and finished,” Tristan said. “I feel confident going into the region meet since I ran the course at the UTSA Meet earlier this year.”

On the girls’ side, Luling edged Karnes City, 30-34, to claim the team championship. Kristaly Munoz and two-time defending 2A state champion Carley Glass finished first and second, respectively.

“I’ve been training as hard as I can and get after it,” Munoz said of her first individual district championship. “We need to push a little harder (on Saturday). If we do that, we’ll go to state.”

District 28-A

SHINER – Even the rain couldn’t slow down the Shiner girls cross country team on Oct. 22. The Lady Comanches garnered 93 points to edge out Louise (94) and Falls City (95) for second place, and were led by Kristin Schacherl’s fifth-place finish.

“It’s the same for everyone else,” Shiner coach Michelle Winkenwerder said. “Everyone else had to run in the rain so no one had an advantage over anyone else.”

In addition to Schacherl’s finish, Maggie Grosenbacher, Meloni Berger, Shanan Pardy, Keely McCarthy, Tabitha Blaschke and Kaci Jamison also represented Shiner. In addition to the Lady Comanches, the Shiner boys also qualified as the third-place team for the first time since 2002.

“I’m proud of my teams, especially the boys,” Winkenwerder said. “People don’t understand how difficult of a sport cross country is and all the perimeters that come with it.”

District 32-A

The Waelder cross country program will have representation at the region meet as well. Antonio Morales finished ninth in the District 32-A Meet Oct. 22 at Moulton.

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