Cross Country sprints for gold

Javelina Cross Country ran past the competition this weekend with first place finishes for the men’s and women’s teams. 

In the final meet before the Lone Star Conference Cross Country Championships, the Javelinas secured wins at the Pirate Invitational that took place at Old Settlers Park.  The top runner for the women’s team was freshman Monica Yanez who secured a first-place finish with a time of 26 minutes and 20.3 seconds.  On the men’s side, freshman Devin Robles was the first Javelina to cross the finish line at 28 minutes and 42.5 seconds, which got him a second-place finish. 

Yanez’s time had her ahead of the next runner by almost a full minute.  Senior Victoria Jaime and junior Larissa Sanchez Gonzalez weren’t far behind finishing fourth and fifth.  Jaime came in at 28:06.4 and Sanchez Gonzalez finished at 28:43.9.  Senior Carnecia Scott picked up an eighth-place finish with a time of 29:54.0.  The final Javelina to cross the finish line for the women’s team was junior Lauren Rodriguez who finished 12th in 32:22.4, which put the Javelinas score at 18 for the win over Sul Ross which had 37.

On the men’s side, junior Jasiah Patterson was the second Javelina to cross the finish line in fourth place with a time of 30:07.6.  With just one person between them, junior David Tellez picked up a sixth-place finish in 30:27.8.  Also finishing in the top 10, junior Angel Martinez finished in 30:50.6 which helped him to an eighth-place finish.  Freshman Matthew Aparicio secured the win with a time of 32:04.6 and an 11th place finish.

“I feel our performance was great.  We all showed up and gave it our best and our best was able to get us first place as a team,” Tellez said.  “This meet was definitely a confidence booster for us.”

The Javelina Cross Country team will have a few weeks to recover and prepare for the LSC Cross Country Championships in Silver City, N.M.