It didn’t take very long to find out which team was going to win the girls meet at the District 2-6A cross country championships Thursday at UTPB Park.
After the sixth Midland Legacy runner crossed the finish line, it was all too clear. The girls run 3 miles.
The Lady Rebels dominated the meet, finishing with 19 points total to repeat as 2-6A champions and keep their undefeated season going.
“It’s been like that all year,” Legacy head coach Ulises Martinez said. “They’re still undefeated. The whole entire year, they’ve brought that same energy. They run as a pack. They came out here very confident. They’ve had so much success this whole year. We did well at Plano and they realized that we’re a better team than last year. We knew this was coming.”
Not only did the Lady Rebels win the team title but freshman runner Abigail Hinojosa won the individual title, finishing in a time of 18 minutes and 40.7 seconds.
“I’m just really proud of my team,” Hinojosa said. “We all really worked hard. I don’t think this would’ve been possible without them.”
Hinojosa had little to no trouble in winning the race, finishing seven seconds ahead of the nearest runner.
“I was thinking that this is my chance to set a personal record and do something great and there’s nothing that’s going to stop me except myself,” Hinojosa said.
Six Legacy runners finished in the top seven, helping set up the Lady Rebels with an easy victory.
Wolfforth Frenship’s Zyla Deshone was runner up, finishing second with a time of 18:47.4.
Legacy’s Mia Regalado was third in 19:22.9 while Kyndall Jones was behind her at 19:30.6 and Isabella Reyna was fifth at 19:32.5.
Nicole Patel was sixth at 19:46.4 and was followed by Marielly Kamali who was seventh at 19:47.3.
Frenship took second with 57 points while San Angelo Central placed third with a score of 85.
The top three teams advance to regionals.
Permian was fourth with a score of 101 while Odessa High was fifth.
Permian’s Briannah Garcia led the Lady Panthers with a 10th place finish with a time of 20:27.1.
Her teammate Emma Aguirre was 12th in a time of 20:43.
Odessa High’s Raquel Martinez was 13th in a time of 20:51.2.
The Lady Rebels will now be turning their attention to the Class 6A Region I cross country meet on Oct. 23 at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock
“Last year, our goal was to be a top 15 team but then some unfortunate stuff happened during the race,” Martinez said. “We dropped down to 22nd. This year, we should do better.”
