The Mount Pleasant High School cross country team completed their first meet in Commerce on Saturday testing their preseason training and endurance. The Tigers and Lady Tigers all competed to kick off their 2021 season with the boys looking to defend their district title.

The boys’ varsity team had a strong start scoring 92 points with an overall third place team finish out of eleven teams. Pedro Robles led the way with a seventh-place finish and a time of 17:59. Geovanni Calderon(18:28) finished 13th and Jonathan Sandate (18:37) finished 16th. Other runners were Christopher Escobar (19:02, 24th), Gilberth Landaverde (20:05, 40th), Sahir Ramirez (21:23, 54th), and Esteban Trejo (21:59, 62nd).

The girls’ varsity team finished 11th out of 16 teams with a team total of 269 points. Top finisher for the Lady Tigers was Araceli Landaverde with a time of 16:07. She was followed by Noemi Rios (16:35), Jasmin Landaverde (17:32), Karen Hernandez (18:18), Vicky Landaverde (18:20), Arlette DeJesus (18:30), Giselle Delgado (19:32), and Audrey Mendoza (21:01).

The boys JV team competed as well securing a 15 out of 20 finish. Andre Alaniz was the top finisher with a time of 20:40. He was followed by David Buendia (21:57), Oscar Otero (24:45), Christian Vargas (26:45), Saul Gonzalez (27:01), Andrew Gonzalez (27:09), Joaquin Arguello (27:09), and Jovanny Luna (31:09).

The cross-country teams are coached by Jesus Garcia and Bryan Trickey. The Tigers and Lady Tigers will compete again on Saturday, September 4 in Tyler.

By Drew Barkley

Photo by Jesus Garcia