Stangs finish 15th at regional meet

SAN ANTONIO — The Marble Falls High School boys cross-country team finished 15th out of 24 teams at the Class 4A Region IV meet Nov. 8.

Head coach Stephen Sanders said he was pleased with the way his team competed, especially in the squad’s first appearance in the program’s history at the regional meet.

“Our kids ran the hardest I’ve ever seen them run,” he said. 

The Mustangs were led by Jesùs Manzano, who finished 23rd overall in 17 minutes 7.7 seconds. 

Anjel Guerrero was 40th in 17:34.2, while Renè Perez was 78th in 18:15.8 and Robert Vidal was 132nd in 19:07.9.

The final three were Cody Goodman at 153rd at 19:37, A.J. Berryhill was 154th at 19:38.8, and Robbie Morrison was 155th in 19:38.

Boerne, which is ranked No. 1 in the state, won the event with 29 points. 

The Greyhounds had four runners finish two, three, four and five. Their fifth runner finished 19th, Sanders said.

Mercedes was second with 121 points led by Alex De la Garza, who finished first in 15:41.2.

Sanders said the Mustangs held their own against the top two squads.

“In the first two miles, our kids stayed right with them,” he said. “Our kids ran the hardest I’ve ever seen them run. We knew what the times were. We stayed with them.”

Manzano finished his first mile in 4:20.

“We knew who we were up against,” Sanders said. “We went out fast. That was our only chance.”

The course was 3.1 miles, which was slightly longer than what the runners are used to.

What helped his squad, the coach said, was the psychological and pre-race preparations.

Assistant coach Jonathan Jarrett showed the runners clips of distance runner Steve Prefontaine, considered one of the greatest runners in American history.

“We worked them up with that,” Sanders said. “We bonded as a team better than we have.”

On the night of Nov. 10, teams were allowed to walk the course for three hours. 

“They saw a thousand kids running,” the coach said. “That picked them up.”

The Mustangs believed they had a chance, Sanders said, and they were drinking a lot of water prior to the start of the race. As a result the runners’ recovery time was shorter, he said.

Texas Lutheran University asked Sanders for more information on seniors Berryhill and Goodman. 

Some junior colleges have expressed interest in Perez, he said. 

Manzano, Guerrero and Morrison will return next season. All six athletes are expected to run for the track team and for the Highland Lakes Track Club in the offseason, the coach said.

Weight lifting and conditioning will be part of the offseason training as well, he said. 

“Once you get to where they’re at, there are a lot of tweaks,” he said. “We have to get a little stronger.”  

The Mustangs performed well considering they had to practice early in the morning and the only consistent training area they had was at the track at Mustang Stadium, 1511 Pony Circle Drive. 

The team was given a training area at the high school in the last several weeks. 

“We did the very best we could,” Sanders said. “I thought we did a good job for all the things that worked against us.” 

Photo by Daniel Clifton