CROSS COUNTRY | Kilgore's Almanza, May to state meet! / KHS, Sabine well-represented at regionals
Oct. 27—It seems like each year now when the University Interscholastic League holds its state cross country meet, which hosts the very best of the best high school runners from all classifications in Round Rock, there's always at least someone from the Kilgore News Herald's coverage area competing.
This year will be no different.
Kilgore High School is sending two runners — Ryan May and Ruby Almanza — to cross country's biggest prep stage, the UIL State Cross Country Meet, to be contested next Friday and Saturday at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.
And there were some near misses: all of Kilgore's boys and girls teams were at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie on Monday, competing, as were Sabine High School's teams, in the UIL Region 2 meet.
To qualify for state, one must finish on one of the top teams that qualify as a unit, or be one of the top-10 finishing individuals from teams that did not qualify.
May and Almanza, who each ran in the top five of all of their meets this season, didn't get in as a part of the KHS teams, but they did qualify on their own. May finished at number 15 among boys runners amidst a field of 171, with a time of 17 minutes, 33.80 seconds, but several of the 14 runners in front of him also made it as a part of their team, so May's time was more than good enough to qualify.
May, coached by Phillip Lane, will try and defend the honor of the Bulldogs' boys team, who went collectively last year to Round Rock.
Almanza, who is coached by Todd BonDurant and was a top-three finisher all season, had another great time, finishing the two-mile run in 12:03.51, at number 14 of 166 runners. And just like May, several of the runners in front of Almanza were also on teams that qualified, so her time was also more than good enough to send her to Round Rock.
And also like May, Almanza will be running for her teammates, who regularly send runners to Round Rock, and most recently went as a team back in 2017.
As mentioned, both KHS boys and girls teams ran in regionals at Grand Prairie.
Also running for BonDurant's Lady Bulldogs at regionals were Danna Requena (12:28.31), Maci McNew (13:29.67), Aliyah Veloz (13:31.14), Samantha Rodriguez (13:47.16), Lexi Lara (13:48.62), and Gemma Sanchez (13:50.38).
Kilgore's Lady Bulldogs finished sixth as a team, in a field of 21 teams. Celina won the girls team run, followed by Sanger, Kaufman, Melissa, Mabank and Kilgore, then the remainder of the field. Kilgore's Bulldogs finished ninth, in a field of 24 teams. Kaufman won the boys team competition, followed by Melissa, Sanger, Kennedale and Pleasant Grove rounding out the top five.
Also running for the Bulldogs in that 5,000 meter run in addition to May were Zachery Gutierrez (18:40.28), Josue Rosas (18:41.45), Jorge Aleman (19:15.05), Gustavo Trejo (19:30.55), Yamir Sanchez (19:56.12), and Isaac Gutierrez (20:53.37).
As mentioned, Sabine's cross country teams, both boys and girls, also competed in Grand Prairie, in the UIL Class 3A Region 2 meet, also at Lynn Creek.
Kevin Maldonado, just a sophomore, led Sabine's boys, checking in at number 29 out of 179 runners, in 16:43. Caleb Cox followed (19:04), then Anthony Aguilar (19:53), Oscar Gonzales, Robert Chubboy, Francisco Perez and Randy Rodriguez. Sabine's boys checked in at number 11 in the team standings, out of 42 teams.
For Sabine's girls, Daynne Trevino checked in at number 34, also out of 179 runners, in the time of 13:14. Emma Logan was the second Lady Cardinals' finisher (13:41), followed by Hailey Aguilar (13:50), Fior Garcia, Kooper Bogenschutz, Greta Chubboy, and Reese Rutland.
The Lady Cardinals were seventh in the team competition, of 29 teams.
Sabine cross country is coached by Jason Heffner.
