Elks, Lady Elks Run Down District Championships
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
ELKHART – The District 18-3A Cross Country Meet was held on Tuesday, Oct. 18 and featured three teams from Anderson County. The district is comprised of seven teams. They are: Buffalo, Elkhart, Frankston, Leon, Malakoff, Teague and Westwood.
The Elkhart Lady Elks’ varsity team, individually, went 2-4-10 and captured the team title as their top five runners all finished in the top 25. The Elkhart Elks also captured the team title, led by William Harris who finished first individually.
In both the girls and boy’s competitions, the Elks won first, the Malakoff Tigers and Lady Tigers finished second and the Teague Lions and Lady Lions took home third place. 
The top three teams and the top 10 individuals advance from the district to the regional meet. An individual qualifier may also be a team member of one of the qualifying teams, according to the UIL Cross country rules and regulations. The regional meet will be held on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Kate Barr-Ross Park in Huntsville.
The competitions were held at Elkhart High School and the Regional Qualifiers – listed by the runners’ order of finish, the name of the runner, the school represented and the times recorded – are as follows: 1) Lizette Aguilera – Teague – 13.25.78; 2) Madison Crader – Elkhart – 13.39.32; 3) Tori Salley – Leon- 13.48.05; 4) Melanie Barnett – Elkhart – 13..51.74; 5) Abni Arrezola – Teague – 13.58.18; 6) Hailey Myers – Malakoff – 14.09.11; 7) Carolyn Thompson – Teague – 14.20.55; 8) Tyler Wittram – Malakoff – 14.27.81; 9) Martha Cruz – Malakoff – 14.44.89; and 10) Kathryn Esparza – Elkhart – 14.44.75.
Other runners from each school included: Buffalo – 18) S. Donaldson; 21) T. Cleveland; 23) D. Reyes; 27) S. Early; 28) A. Garcia; 32) K. Rhodes; and 35) N. Garcia
Elkhart – 11) Monique Ashford; 16) Annalisa Trevino; and 25) Megan Bailey.
Leon – 13) Katherine Rodriguez; 19) Nadoly Reimer; 26) Stephanie Vandergrift 29) Makayla Vandergrift; and 30) Jobeth Eddings;
Malakoff – 12) Payton Wilbank and 14) Cameron Roberts;
Teague – 17) Niany Aguilera and 24) Mayra Rodriguez.
Westwood – 15) Karson Lafitte; 20) Jordyn Cobble; 22) Katy Espinoza; 34) Drew Hawk 36) Leslie Ornelas; and 37) Madeline Colley.
On the boys’ side, the Regional qualifiers – listed by the runners’ order of finish, the name of the runner, the school represented and the times recorded – are as follows: 1) William Harris – Elkhart – 19.29.40; 2) Tony Umanzor – Westwood – 20.09.95; 3) T. Sanders – Buffalo- 20.34.21; 4) Brando Castillo – Westwood – 20.40.43; 5) Holden Ray – Malakoff – 20.43.48; 6) Dustin Angel – Teague – 20.46.07; 7) Daniel Merry – Leon – 20.48.78; 8) Chandler Prnka – Malakoff – 20.50.44; 9) Brady Johnson – Elkhart – 20.54.99; and 10) Peyton Faulk – Teague – 20.59.23
Other runners from each school and their placings included: Buffalo – 16) B. Renteria; 18) B. Sanchez; 23) S. Avalos; 26) L. Shaw 28) E. Grisham; and 34) Z. Jackson
Elkhart – 11) Josh Lawson; 14) Gavin Pollard; 15) Colton Willis; 24) Andy Chicas; 35) Zack Fogle
Leon – 25) Shelby Wats
on and 39) Joey Sandoval
Malakoff – 13) Jatarrion Walker; 17) Tyler Crews; 20) Chris Boose; 21) Francisco Arvizu; and 22) Sean Boose
Teague – 12) Dylan Angel; 19) Devin Angel; 27) Chance Morgan; 29) Celyron Taylor; and 30) Morgan Smith
Westwood – 31) Xavier Billups; 32) Carlos Hernandez; 33) Nolan Kelly; 37) Jaren Turner; and 38) Derilyn Johnson
After the meet, Elkhart Cross Country Coach Kodi Huff commented on her runners’ performances. “It was close. I knew it would be close and I knew the girls were going to have to do well. I didn’t know a lot about Malakoff, but I knew Teague was going to be on our heels. Then, Malakoff ended up beating Teague. I knew they were going to have to run to win first.”
Coach Huff added, “The boys, I didn’t know how they would do. I thought it might be between them and Malakoff. I didn’t know how well they would run. Sometimes they run better than others.”
“We had three girls qualify individually and two boys qualified individually. For the boys, this is their third district championship in a row. For the girls’, I know this is their tenth year or more as district champs. They all did a good job. I was very pleased,” she said.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
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