Sterling City Freshman Wins Regional Cross Country Meet

LUBBOCK, TX — Sterling City freshman Isa McGinnis continued her stellar season by winning the Region I-2A Cross Country Meet on Tuesday at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock.

McGinnis completed the two-mile course in 12 minutes, 8.1 seconds to win the race by 16.3 seconds over the rest of the field, which included 149 runners.

She highlighted an outstanding showing by the Concho Valley, which also saw the Sonora and Eldorado boys advance to state, along with a handful of individuals from around the area.

The top four teams and top 10 individuals not on qualifying teams advanced to the UIL state meet Nov. 1 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.

On the girls’ side, Coleman earned a state trip with a third-place finish, led by Victoria Guerrero with a third-place individual finish.

Other state qualifiers include Ballinger’s Lyla Aguero, who was 17th, and Christoval’s Sophie Nemec, who was 19th.

Gruver won the girls team title, followed by Clarendon, Coleman and Wink. 

Other area teams competing included Sonora in ninth, Ballinger in 11th, Miles in 12th, Christoval in 16th and Eldorado in 19th.

On the boys’ side, Gruver was also the team champ, followed by Sonora, Sundown and Eldorado.

Reagan County, which finished in ninth as a team, had two state qualifiers with Jordan Rodriguez, who was fifth, and Eli Luna, who was 11th.

Other area teams were Ballinger in 20th and Winters in 22nd.

Smyer’s Ismael Pizano ran away with the individual title in a time of 16:32.5, which was 29.5 seconds ahead of the field.

In the 6A division, Central’s boys finished in 12th place. Runners for the Bobcats included Cameron Hash in 38th, John Isiah Morales in 51st, Aiden Garcia in 54th, Sebastian Gonzales in 73rd, Landon Kauten in 126th, Genaro Duran in 165th and Brett Kure in 176th.

The Central girls were 22nd. Competing for the Lady Cats were Emma-Claire Beers in 139th, Natalia Mata in 146th, Miley Ragan in 148th, Brooklyn Stamps in 156th, Mackenzie Solsberry in 158th, Emily Cuellar in 166th and Aalyah Ramirez in 175th.