Ponies dominate district cross-country meet again
The seventh-grade girls, eighth-grade girls and seventh-grade boys each placed first, while the eighth-grade boys finished second.
Coach Karen Naumann said the eighth-grade boys missed winning the title by three points.
But they did have the only individual champion thanks to Joe Portillo’s winning time of 11 minutes 48 seconds.
As a team, the seventh-grade girls scored 28 points to Lampasas’ 28. The difference was Julia Weber’s time of 15:19 was better than the Lady Badgers’ fifth runner.
The Lady Ponies were led by Sarah Stripling, who placed second in 13:03. Haley Coulter was third at 13:28, while Haley Stephens was fifth at 13:43.
Amanda Thomas finished 10th at 14:19, Julia Weber was 13th at 15:19, Lauren Parten placed 16th in 16:03, Lyndsie Long was 17th at 16:19, and Karina Palacio finished 19th in 16:34. Leah Greenwell placed 22nd in 16:43 and Blanca Fonseca was 31st in 17:31.
Marble Falls won the eighth-grade girls division with 16 points in front of Lampasas with 43 points.
The eighth-graders were led by Mary Myrick’s fourth place in 13:58, Elsa Diaz’s sixth-place finish in 14:13, Katelyn Corely’s seventh-place finish in 14:36, Kelsey McCasland’s eighth place at 14:39, and Jessica England’s 10th place at 14:49.
The seventh-grade boys scored 28 points to Lampasas’ 61.
J.T. Watson led the seventh-grade boys by finishing third in 12:58. Austin Bird was fifth in 13:18, Mike Stripling placed seventh in 13:20, Jordon Wright was eighth in 13:44, Cody Skipper finished ninth at 13:50, Aidin Parnell was 10th at 13:53, Luke Herring placed 11th in 14:33, and Bryan Miller finished 12th in 14:39.
Cody Seeling and Parker Heath were 21st and 22nd, respectively, in 15:48, Alex Gonzales placed 23rd in 16:08, Josh Warren was 24th in 16:18, and Micah Wooten finished 29th in 21:13.
Other eighth-grade boys’ times include Chris Rodriguez and Brandon Garcia at 12:50 for eighth and ninth place, Adrian Battles in 12:51 for 10th place, and Jerad Grenwelge in 14:33 at 19th place.
Westridge won the division with 40 points, while Marble Falls scored 43.
The Marble Falls Middle School cross-country program began in 1996. All four teams have won district titles for seven consecutive years and at least three in six straight seasons.