Bulldogs advance to regionals
The boys team bucked the perennial district hierarchy and captured second place out of seven squads in the 5K event. As a result, the entire boys team consisting of Logan Neighbor, Tyson Denton, Matt Breneman, Garrett Rowe, Ivan Palacios, Andrew Nylander and Matt McCrae will advance to Lubbock Nov. 8 for the regional meet scheduled for an 11.30 a.m. start. The top three teams and top 10 individuals at the regional meet will qualify for the state meet Nov. 15 at the Old Settler’s Park course in Round Rock.
The Bulldogs finished just behind Fredericksburg, which were crowned district champions and ahead of Liberty Hill. Llano was a close fourth followed by Wimberley, Ingram and Canyon Lake. The top four teams were separated by the narrowest of margins.
“They did great,” Burnet head coach Stuart Dixon said. “The keys to the team victory were Neighbor and Denton placing fifth and seventh, respectively, and Breneman finishing 17th and breaking up Liberty Hill’s pack of runners. Palacios, Rowe and Nylander all did a great job of breaking up other team’s packs and ran in a pack of their own.”
By finishing among the top 15 runners, Neighbor, who is competing in his second varsity year, and senior Denton qualified for all-district honors. Neighbor was all-district and a regional qualifier a year ago. Denton has won the dual honors for three consecutive years.
The Lady Dawgs finished fourth in a field of six teams. They were led by senior Jayme Wills, who placed 12th with her personal best of 12 minutes 59 seconds over the 3,200-meter course. Wills, who was an academic all-district and regional qualifier in 2007, missed qualifying for the regional meet by only four seconds.
“Jayme has been a tremendous leader for our girls team,” Dixon said. “She competed hard every week and really gave it her all to try and make it to the regional meet.”
Dixon praised the girls for their efforts, but added the team faced tough competition from Llano, Liberty Hill and Fredericksburg, who are traditional state powers.
In the boys junior varsity division, Josh Wilson ran to a fifth-place finish followed by Levi Seymour at 11th and Erick Yanez at 13th.
Also competing in the district meet were seniors Nickia Ober, Andrea Clendennen, Liliana Ramirez and Matt McCrae. Overall, Burnet graduates nearly a dozen seniors.
“I coached most of the seniors since I got here two years ago when they were sophomores,” Dixon said. “So, I have developed a close relationship with most of them. They have been a real joy to coach and are a quality group of individuals who will be fantastic leaders in the future.”
A corps of other runners also participated including junior Lidia Rodriguez, sophomore Aimee Clendennen and freshmen Kirsten Williamson and Claire Carpenter.
“The young runners like Logan will be looked upon heavily to be leaders for the next couple of years,” Dixon said. “They will need to establish the work ethic necessary for us to continue this success. On the girls side, Kirsten will be looked upon to progress as a runner and a leader.”