Area runners compete in UT Tyler meet

A number of Cherokee County schools competed in the Tyler Lee- UT-Tyler Cross Country Classic Saturday, Sept. 7.

Jacksonville varsity girls secured second place (83 points), behind Rockwall (73). Rounding out the top three was Tyler Lee (137).

The junior varsity team placed third (112) behind Rockwall (69) and Tyler Lee (107). Bullard’s junior varsity women took the 11th spot (249).

Jacksonville varsity boys finished 17 (428) in their division.

In the small school category, Troup finished fourth (166) in the women’s two-mile race. The top three teams were Mineola (54), Crandall (90) and Canton (100).

Bullard came in eighth (260) and Rusk finished 20th (510).

In the men’s varsity small school division, Bullard finished ninth (246) and Rusk 22nd (554).

In the junior varsity division, Jacksonville finished 14th (350), Brook Hill finished 22nd (644) and Bullard, 30th (791).

JACKSONVILLE

Lead runner for the Jacksonville varsity girls was again Taylor Gutierrez, placing sixth. Her time of 20:14.24 was an improvement of nearly 0.37 over her previous finish. Reyna Munoz took 14th place with a time of 21:06.77, an improvement of approximately 0.45 seconds. Alexia Davis finished 20th, with a time nearly 1.65 seconds better than her previous race.

Other runners for Jacksonville completing the course were Lesly Munoz (22:02.96), Michelle Medellin (22:12.43), Lixsel Vega (23:21.61), Dayana Munoz (24:26.53), Tori Snyder (25:30.55), Rebeca Toledo (27:11.85) and Naomi Beale (27:53.62).

The Jacksonville JV, in a two-mile competition, had a top placement of seventh by Aly Toledo whose time was 14:10.25. Destiny Garcia was 12th with a time of 14:19.61. Additional Maidens finishing the race were Juliza Cabrera, Jasmine Adame, Erika Garcia, Nathaly Martinez, Litzy Martinez, Katie Tavera, Gisele mares and Diamond Jaramillo.

In men’s varsity, Marco Hernandez was the lead Indian with a time of 18:11.09. Kevin Nava (18:50.01) and Juan Rios (18:52.03) weren’t far behind.

Other runners completing the course were Chris Gallegos, Francisco Gomez, Oscar Servin, Chrystian Gonzalez, Alexis Medellin, Martin Escareno, Ramiro Alvarez, Coper Coughlin and Erick Castillo.

The top runner for the men’s JV team was Anthony Porras (20:13.73), followed by Aaron Mendez (20:28.73) and Lisandro Escareno (20:52.57). Additional runners were Jacinto Flores, Osvaldo Rodriquez, Angel Camacho, George Herrinton and Miguel Pinuelas.

BULLARD

Hayden Jeffus completed the Tyler Lee Classic in second place with a time of 16:46.76, just behind first place runner Jacob Garcia of Center (16:42.45). Harrison Meador finished with a time of 19:37.78 and Caleb Carmichael in 19:45.17.

Additional runners for the Panthers were Aiden Skanes, Zach Tannery and Hagen Hodges.

The JV team’s top runners were Antonio Vidal (23:03.71) and Antonio Medina (23:11.43). Other runners representing Bullard were Gustavo Balderez, Walker Stegall, Caleb Jellison, Zach Arryo, Christian Lundgren, Landon Santiago, Read Blakeney and Blake Seib.

The Bullard varsity had a high finish in sixth place by Emily Hardy (12:33.08). Maddie Carlile finished in a time of 14:23.36, Lucy Moore in a time of 14:50.53 and Berlyn Grossman in 14:58.22.

Additional runners included Ana Moreles, Erin Berry and Karleigh Hagen.

The top runner for the Bullard junior varsity women was Jaden Jeter (15:41.18). The remainder of the JV team completing the course consisted of Madelyn Roberts, Payton Brown, Jessica Lundgren, Sierra Brown, Reagan Stegall, Abby Petty, Cami Younger and Anne Marie Jones.

RUSK

In women’s varsity, Alyssa Hardy was the first runner to cross the finish line for Troup, completing the course in a time of 14:36.87. Next across the line for the team were Lauren Boudreaux (15:27.88) and Zuri Flores (16:20.38).

Teammates included Kristen Long, Chassidey Lusk, Melanie Santos, Haylee Gray, Jazmin Vences and Jalissa Swindell.

In the men’s varsity run, Xavier Torres was the first Eagle to finish, with a time of 21:18.57. Eli Delauga completed the course in 21:40.20, Derek Session in 21:50.57 and Abraham Flores in 23:56.91. Others running for Rusk were Wyatt Smallwood and Damian Mendez.

TROUP

Danielle Puckett was top finisher for the Troup Lady Tigers. She completed the race in 13:40.80, shaving over a minute from her previous race time. Sarah Neel was next to cross the finish line for Troup. She completed the course in 14:01.24, a 14 second improvement. Merigold Hunter (14:06.48) improved her time by six seconds, Meredith Howell (14:24) by nearly a minute and Valerie Guthrie (15:56.97) by over a minute. Hadley Derrick completed the course in 14:44.90, but did not compete in the previous event.

Maddie Howell was the top finisher for the junior high girls. She placed 22nd with a time of 15:21.76. Alexa Splawn completed the course in 17:44.23 and Yanely Jaines in 18:42.74.

The men’s varsity had three runners compete. They were Wade Gardner (21:51.39), Josh Fort (22:04.86) and Matthew Sides (23:41.38).

The junior high boys took the 11th position with their top runner, Jeremy Swell completing the two-mile course in 13:18.29. Christian Howell finished with a time of 13:26.91.

Other Tigers in the race were Bryce Wallum, Eugenio Uribe, Daniel Uribe, Kash Hardy, Sean Flood and Jaden Hart.

Jacksonville will participate in the Hallsville Invitational Saturday, Sept. 14.

Rusk, Alto and Troup are scheduled to run in the East Texas Invitational at New Summerfield Saturday, Sept. 14.