The Tiger and Lady Tiger cross country teams competed in their final race of the pre-district schedule last Thursday as they prepare to make a run at a district championship this weekend. The varsity boys and varsity girls along with both JV teams ran well at the Lindale Eagle Invitational as the varsity boys finished 2nd overall and the varsity girls took 4th . The JV girls finished 9th and the JV boys came in at 14th .

Senior Geovanni Calderon set the pace for the Tigers with a 3rd place finish coming in at 16:49.4. He narrowly edged out teammate Lee Davis who finished in 4th at 16:55.2. Gilberth Landaverde completed his normal top ten finish crossing the line in 6th at 17:14.5. Other finishers were Aidyn Botello (19th – 18:12.2) and Alex Rivera (29th – 18:58).

Junior Briana Gonzales was the only top ten finisher for the Lady Tigers, coming in 10th with a time of 22:05.9. She was followed by Marlyne Mendez in 19th at 23:42.1 and Abigail Retana in 22nd at 23:53.8. Other finishers were Lizbeth Alvarez (23rd – 23:54.6) and Karen Hernandez (27th – 24:54.3).

In the JV boy’s division, David Buendia had the best finish at 15th with a time of 19:33.4. Oscar Otero finished 66th at 21:25.4 followed by Michael Carrero in 96th at 22:06.6. The rest of the finishers were Axel Contreras (136th – 23:19.5), Skylar Guereca (142nd – 23:33.2), Saul Alvarado (156th – 23:59.5), Gabriel Garza (160th – 24:40.5), and Riley Guereca (179th – 26:44.9).

Freshman Jennifer Luna took 8th for the JV Lady Tigers coming across the line in 15:02.1 in the two-mile run. Valerie Colocho came in 12th at 15:17.2. Other finishers were Serenity Goss (60th – 17:18.1), Audrie Mendoza (74th – 17:48.4), and Noelia Robles (94th – 18:33).

All teams will participate in the UIL 5A District 15 Meet held at Mount Pleasant High School this weekend Oct 11-13. Teams participating will include Hallsville, Longview, Pine Tree, Marshall, Texas High, Tyler, and Whitehouse.

By Drew Barkley
Photo by John Whitten

The Tiger Varsity XC team includes L-R Geovanni Calderon, Gilberth Landaverde, Lee Davis, Aidyn Botello, and Alex Rivera.