Cross-country dreams built in Highland Lakes

In Texas, football and basketball are the “sports.” That’s something we come to expect — and for those who have leanings in other sports — accept.

But I don’t do so willingly. I enjoy both of those sports. But they aren’t the only sports. In fact, if I had to pick a Highland Lakes sport it would be cross country. “Blasphemy,” you say. Well, send all your complaints, opinions and e-mails to the circular file or my editor. I don’t care. Usually, I endure the criticisms and counter-arguments. But this time, I think I’m more right than wrong.

The reason I go with cross country is based on the success the area high schools and club teams have had during the past several years — even a decade. You can’t argue with the triumphs the Llano cross-country team continues to have. I don’t know what they put in the water over there, but it cranks out runner after runner.

This year, the Llano girls captured second in state as a team. Last year, they finished fourth. 

I think the University Interscholastic League has a standing reservation for the Llano girls. They’ve run so many times at the Old Settlers Park state meet site, you could consider it their home course.

But it’s not just Llano. 

Year in and year out, Burnet fields a tough squad. Even when they were at the 4A level, the Bulldog runners competed against schools with a lot more student numbers to support their cross-country program. But the Bulldogs found away to get to the front of the pack.

Logan Neighbor even advanced to the state meet this year. 

Earlier this month, Burnet graduate Kourtney Aylor competed in the NCAA Division II cross-country championship as a member of the Midwestern State University squad. This area puts runners in college as well as in state meets.

And Faith Academy fielded its  first girls cross-country squad this season. They celebrated the inaugural year by running all the way to the Texas Private and Parochial Schools state meet.

Not bad for a first year.

Though the Marble Falls program has stumbled a few times, the team rebounded this year thanks to a good coaching staff as well as strong runners. This is a program that graduated two state champions in the past eight years — Anissa Angelosante and Leonel Manzano. And Manzano wasn’t just a good runner, he was a dominant one.

He won three of the four state cross-country meets he entered. And just in case you didn’t know, Manzano went on to compete in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics in track and field. During those years, the Mustang girls earned a district title and advanced to the state meet.

Not bad for a sport that’s often a “back-burner” activity. Let’s face it. Very few people have the desire or fortitude to put in the miles of running it takes to be successful, or simply compete, in cross country. Though it’s a “team” sport, it’s also a very lonely one. 

Marble Falls assistant cross-country coach Jonathan Jarrett told me earlier this year the key to successful running isn’t what athletes do once the season starts, but what they do in the months leading up to the competition. One thing he instituted this year was a summer running program for his students.

This summer running is something the top runners understand. Even without a coach prompting him or her, the good cross-country athlete is out there putting down the miles. 

No crowds are cheering them on. No coaches are yelling for one more rep in the weight room. No, it’s just one person relentlessly pounding the pavement.

Even during the season with the exception of the state or one or two other major meets, the spectators generally consist of parents, other teams and coaches. The bleachers aren’t exactly filled with legions of cheering fans.

Yet, these kids run. 

Steve McCannon of the Highland Lakes Track Club even gets younger kids to hit the path. He’ll take 14 to the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics Cross Country Championships this year. The middle school coaches such as Marble Falls Middle School’s Karen Naumann continuously get kids excited and involved in cross country.

To me, it says a lot about a kid who will get up in the morning (usually before the sun rises), tie on his or her running shoes and go for a five- or six-mile jog without anybody telling them to. One year at the state meet I saw a high school team wearing T-shirts that simply said, “Our sport is your sport’s punishment.”

Anybody who will compete in a sport like that deserves my, no, our recognition. Even if they don’t grab the headlines or their programs don’t get the money other sports receive, they keep running and remind us what dedication is all about.

So, cross country isn’t just a sport — it’s a passion.