Marble Falls runners advance to regional meet
Marble Falls’ Marissa Williams (right) heads out on the District 25-4A cross-country course Monday. Williams finished 22nd overall with the girls’ team placing fifth. Though no girls advanced to the regional meet, the future looks strong for the team that features two sophomores and one freshman.
LAMPASAS — The Marble Falls High School boys’ cross-country team did something Monday it hasn’t done in recent memory, maybe ever, even when Olympian Leonel Manzano was part of the squad.
The boys’ team qualified for the regional cross-country meet after finishing third overall at the district competition.
And they did it with Manzano, a 2004 Marble Falls High School graduate, former state champion and 2008 Olympic track and field athlete cheering them on.
“This is pretty exciting for us,” said head coach Stephen Sanders. “Not only did we do something that no other boys’ (cross-country) team from Marble Falls has ever done as far as anyone knows, but we also had Leonel Manzano here watching.”
The Marble Falls girls finished fifth as a team.
The top three teams and top 10 individuals advance to the regional meet Nov. 8 in San Antonio.
The top boys team was Killeen followed by Pflugerville Hendrickson and Marble Falls. The top three girls teams were Lampasas, Lake Travis and Hutto.
For the boys, Manzano’s brother Jesus Manzano led the Mustang charge by finishing fifth overall in 16 minutes and 36 seconds. Anjel Guerrero wasn’t far behind in seventh place in 16:51.
Rene Perez rounded out the top 10 finishing the five kilometer course in 16:56.
“Our top three boys did what we expected them to do,” Sanders said.
A.J. Berryhill stepped up to become the Mustangs’ No. 4 competitor with a 27th finish, while Isaiah Vidal and Robbie Morrison finished 28th and 29th respectively.
Robert Vidal rounded out the Mustangs with a 32nd-place finish.
“I don’t think we finished as strong as we needed to,” assistant cross-country coach Jonathan Jarrett said. “We’re going to have to work much harder for the regional meet.”
Killeen’s DreVan Anderson earned the gold medal in the boys’ race with a time of 16:25.
For the Marble Falls girls, Whitney Pittard posted her best time of the season to place as the squad’s lead runner. She ran the 3.2-kilometer course in 13:29 to finish 14th overall.
“I wanted to get a good time and that’s my best this season,” she said. “I just didn’t want to regret anything. So I went all out.”
Freshman Sarah Holden finished 18th overall with sophomore Marissa Williams coming in 22nd.
Katie Mosher and Katy Cooke finished 26th and 34th, respectively.
One of the significant factors the girls’ squad has going for them is their youth. Williams and Pittard are both sophomores while Holden is a freshman.
Williams said the positive things that have happened so far this year coupled with the squad’s youth only mean bigger payoffs in the future.
“We have some really good runners,” she said. “I think we’re just going to keep improving.”
Pittard said there’s even a couple of eighth-grade runners who, when they move to the high school next year, will be capable of contributing to the squad.
Sanders said he was proud of both teams.
“They’ve had to overcome some adversity this year,” he said. “We’re the only (cross-country) team in our district without an athletic period. So some of these kids get up at 4:30 in the morning to come out and practice. These kids have risen to the occasion.”
Photo by Daniel Clifton