Helping athletes compete on next level
Olympian Leonel Manzano, a 2004 graduate of Marble Falls High School, runs with Marble Falls High School cross-country team members Cody Goodman (left), A.J. Berryhill, Rene Perez, Robert Vidal (black shirt) and Isaiah Vidal Tuesday. Leonel Manzano promised to run with the Mustangs a month ago after he was the guest speaker at a pep rally.
Photo by Virgil Belk/Hill Country Sports Images
MARBLE FALLS — Football and fall may be synonymous, but track and field is year-round in Burnet County.
Cross country and track and field seasons are held separately — the fall and spring, respectively — for high school athletes. But members of the Highland Lakes Track Club continue to train and compete all year, helping athletes keep in shape during the off-seasons and inspiring others to get fit.
“You can continue your training year-round with our winter cross-country program just now getting under way,” HLTC volunteer Jim Weil said. “We welcome any kids from any local area.”
Coach Steve McCannon runs practices three days a week. Athletes compete at a divisional level where they can earn the opportunity to compete at a regional and from there earn a bid to compete at nationals.
The club has also produced five collegiate runners, including Olympian and 2004 Marble Falls High School graduate Leonel Manzano, five-time NCAA champion for The University of Texas at Austin.
Other collegiate runners and former HLTC members include Courtney Aylor for Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls; Ashley Laughlin for UT-Austin; Mary Nunnally for Samford University in Montgomery, Ala.; and Andrew Plentl for Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.
The track club will also host the first-ever Manzano Ranch Run Nov. 15 at Boulder Creek Farms, 7420 RR 1431 East, in conjunction with the Marble Falls Daybreak Rotary Club. Entry is $25 for adults and $15 for students, with the money being split between the HLTC and the Rotary Club. The track club uses the money to send its athletes to track meets, including the national meet in Virginia. The first meet of the season was held Oct. 25, and the regional meet is for Nov. 22.
No matter the result, though, McCannon is hoping the club will motivate potential runners to take their first steps.
“If you see people around you being active, you’re more likely to be active,” McCannon said.
Weil said that McCannon would like to see running become a part of the city culture as it is in Austin.
“Steve was in Austin, and noted that all the kids run up and down the trail at Zilker Park and along (Lady Bird Lake), and we don’t have a place here to do that.”
Both McCannon and Weil would like to see trails installed on the 130 acres of land at RR 1431 and Phillips Ranch Road acquired by the city of Granite Shoals in the spring. While there are no definite plans for parks on the land to date, they are a possibility, according to Pete Watson, chairman of the parks committee for Granite Shoals.
Membership in the Highland Lakes Track Club is $25. Anyone seeking more information may contact Steve McCannon at smccannon@nctv.com.