The Levelland crosscountry team battled at the Lubbock ISD Invitational this past Saturday as they had nine athletes compete at the gruesome cross-country course of Mae Simmons.
Junior Saul Hernandez starred for Levelland on the day, placing third overall in the boy’s 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:29.90.
Coming in after him was junior Angel Miranda in 19:52.90 for 78th, junior Rene Franco in 20:30 for 93rd, junior Adden Luna in 20:40.10 for 97th and junior Adrian Diaz in 24:04.30 for 144th.
The Lobos finished 14th out of 24 boy’s teams with 388 points and an average time of 20:19.
The Loboettes weren’t eligible for a team finish with only four competitors, but the ladies were actually more well-rounded as a team in their individual finishes.
Freshman Valeria Villareal had their highest finish in the two-mile race, coming through in 14:60.60 to place 42nd.
Coming in after her was junior Avani Lopez in 14:54.10 for 63rd, junior Betty Ann Torres in 15:00.70 for 69th and sophomore Darlene Pina in 15:29.90 for 86th.
Overall, Levelland crosscountry fought hard at the Lubbock ISD Invitational, which Head Coach Justin Turner gave his thoughts on.
“We did pretty well. Mae Simmons is the hardest course in the state of Texas, so it was very challenging for us,” Turner said. “We’re about two weeks out from district and we’re just working. I like where we’re at, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
Noteworthily, Mae Simmons is also the site of Lev-elland’s district meet, so it was great for the athletes to get a run on the course under their belt, especially for those who had never ran it before as it’s regarded as a daunting task to complete.
But it even provided advantages beyond that for Levelland.
“It was huge for us to have this race because we also got to look at the district competition,” Turner said. “This race was very important because we were able to see where we’re at and what we need to look forward to for the next two weeks of preparation. The district is going to be pretty tough, but I’m confident and know that we can get it done.”
According to Coach Turner, the goal for both team is and has always been a district title, but they know what they’re up against.
They’ll take this meet and use it as a building block for the 4A-District Five meet on October 10 at Mae Simmons, which they’re working hard towards to achieve their goal.
“Practice wise, we’re going to do a lot of running at Lake Brashear. It mimics a lot of the surfaces that you run on because you run on grass, sand and hills. Team wise, it’s just all coming together and buying into what we want to do,” Turner said. “We’ve been plagued with a lot of injuries on both sides, so we haven’t been able to put a complete team together. We’re getting all the kids healthy, and the times are coming down, and I’m excited to see what we do in district.”
Come October 10, with better health and fitness, Levelland cross-country will look to capture the district championship.