Like Monday, Texas Panhandle runners made their mark during Tuesday’s UIL Region I cross country championships at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock.
Region I-1A was definitely the showcase with a combined five teams on top of an individual champion qualifying for the Class 1A state meet.
The Amarillo-area girls side was dominant during the 2-mile race with Texline, White Deer and Valley all making it to Round Rock as a team. The Lady Tornadoes were second overall with 105 points, White Deer found the podium in third getting 187 points, and Valley was the final team to earn a spot taking fourth place (196 points).
Samantha Young led the Lady Tornadoes placing 11th overall running a time of 13:25.80. White Deer saw Kadence Cooper (14:06.1) place in the top 25, and Valley’s Hartlee Battey took home a bronze medal placing third with a 12:54.2.
Happy’s Kyla Slaughter highlighted the morning as the sophomore won her second straight individual regional championship by pacing the field in a time 12:30.8.
Other individuals qualifying for the state meet was Slaughter’s teammate, Sage Pearson (13:33.3). Claude’s Izzy Moon (13:05.7) placed fifth to advance, Yalexi Cisneros (13:12.7) of Hart was night and Hope McLain of Kress (13:13.7) was 11th.
On the boys’ side, the Hartley Tigers and Booker Kiowas have punched a ticket to the state cross country championships following the 5K race.
The Tigers took second overall with 115 points led by Asher Jennings fourth place time of 17:52.9.
Booker is headed back to Round Rock for a third straight. Gael Alvarez was the show stealer for the Kiowas as the senior won the individual championship clocking a time of 17:09.5.
The Texas Panhandle also had a plethora of individual qualifiers come out of regionals.
Valley’s Micah Ferrel won an individual silver medal running a 17:20.3, J’Lond Ferguson (18:28.8) of Happy had a top 10 finish in seventh. Lefors had a pair of runners advance in Tyler Howard (18:31.9), and Xander Alcozer (18:49.7).
Other qualifiers were Kelton Sims (18:36.90) of Fort Elliott, Kobe Vuittonet of Kress (18:40.1) qualified, Claude’s Lane Taylor (18:46.1), and Casen Powell of White Deer (18:55.1).
The Region I-5A and Region 1-3A races were held with Region I-1A on Monday.
There were no team champions in either classification but there were a handful of athletes heading to the state meet.
In Region I-5A, Palo Duro’s Fatah Farey was the lone Amarillo ISD runner to advance. Farey ran a time of 16:23.4 to get out as an individual during the boys’ race.
On the girls’ side, Lubbock High’s Amelia Anderson won gold with a winning time of 18:00.6. Though she didn’t advance, Amarillo High’s Kinley Davis (19:46.5) did place 16th.
In Region I-3A, Canadian’s Joseph Dominguez found the podium earning an individual silver medal clocking a 15:55. The District 1-3A champion will compete at state for a third straight year. Bushland’s Jacob Golladay (16:57.4) will join Dominguez as an individual finishing 14th
In girls’ action, District 1-3A champion Selah Smith was the lone Texas Panhandle runner to get out. Smith made it back to state for a second straight year following an eighth place time of 12:44.7.
Next up
The UIL Class 4A state cross country championships is set for Nov. 6-7 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.
Check out the results
For a look at the complete results from Tuesday’s Region I cross country championships, please visit https://mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=17287
Photo gallery by Joe Garcia III:
