Sandiettes, Tigers Win District Cross Country Titles

Latexo’s Kelsie, Curless Take Top Individual Honors

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

HOUSTON COUNTY – The six schools comprising District 20 AA in cross country made a Wednesday afternoon trek to compete in the District 20 AA Cross Country Meet held at the Shartle Ranch at Hickory Creek. With a slight breeze and cooler than normal temperatures, the conditions were perfect as the runners toed the starting line for the 1:00 p.m. start time.

The girls led off the day of racing with 38 runners from: Big Sandy; Centerville; Grapeland; Groveton: Latexo; and Lovelady.

When the final results were posted, the tallies showed the Grapeland Sandiettes had captured the district championship while the Centerville Lady Tigers finished second and the Latexo Lady Tigers finished third.

According to the UIL, “The top three teams and the top 10 individuals shall qualify from district to the regional meet. An individual qualifier may also be a team member of one of the qualifying teams.”

The individual girls’ results are shown below with their place, name and time.

For the Grapeland Sandiettes: 3) Kenya Woods – 13:35; 4) Cierra Simon – 13:37; 5) Ragan Bowie; – 13:47; 7) Teira Jones – 14:06; 11) Hannah Chipman – 14:44; 29) Mary Jane Watson – 17:40; and 31) Christi Shepherd – 17:58.

For the Centerville Lady Tigers: 2) Sarah Rivenbark – 13:17; 6) Michaela Kmiec – 14:01; 10) Kinsey Hardee – 14:29; 14) Katie Combs – 14:53; 17) Wager – 15:02; 34) Warren – 18:12; and 36) Evelyn Williams – 18:25.

For the Latexo Lady Tigers: 1) Maddie Kelsey – 13:07; 15) Shelby Abshire – 14:58; 16) Maggie Gibbins – 15:01; 18) Chloe Cook – 15:36; and 28) Taylor Upshaw- 17:04.

For the Lovelady Lady Lions: 12) Hannah York – 14:23; 13) Hannah Burleson – 14:51; 23) Skye Watts – 16:09; and 33) Olivia Wilson – 18:08.

For the Groveton Lady Indians: 8) Gabby Hernandez – 14:10; 9) Rainey Wars – 14:23; 19) Maicey Smith – 15:41; 22) Laken Arnold – 16:00; 21) Kyleigh Thornhill; 25) Emily Eccord – 16:30; and 26) Cait Antley – 16:42.

For the Big Sandy Lady Wildcats: 20) Bailey Whitehall – 15:43; 21) Kasie Overland – 15:46; 27) Alysen Renfro – 16:53; 30) Lauren Murphy – 17:50; 32) Christian Johnson – 18:06; 37) Charity Battise – 18:54; and 38) Remington Lawrence.

After the conclusion of the varsity girls’ portion of the meet, Grapeland Cross Country coach Anthony DeCello spoke about the district championship.

“I thought we did very well. I thought our girls performed fairly, all things considered, but I think we can do better when we go to regionals,” he said.

Asked to explain further, DeCello said Hannah Chipman had been under the weather “… and didn’t run as well as she has, but she toughed it out. Some of the other girls got better so I see this as a positive sign.”

The coach was also questioned about the times his runners posted.

“They’re starting to get better. Rather than just our placings (in a race), our times are getting better. I think as we progress to the next round – regionals – hopefully, they will continue to get better. I don’t we’ve peaked. We have a little bit more to go,” he said.

“I’m also really pleased with where Mark Hannah came in this year. He set a PR (personal record) and finished seventh. He will be heading to regionals, as well. Mark has been working really hard and he’s starting to peak at the right time,” DeCello added.

Once the varsity girls had completed their portion of the meet, the varsity boys took the course. The Latexo Tigers simply dominated the field with seven Tiger runners finishing in the top 10 to take home the District 20 AA championship. The Centerville Tigers finished second and the Big Sandy Wildcats finished third in the team standings.

The individual boys’ results are shown below with their place, name and time.

For the Latexo Tigers: 1) Tristan Curless – 17:47; 2) Carter Catoe – 18:15; 4) Timmy Curless – 19:46; 6) Justin Bobbitt – 20:19; 8) Eli Filer – 20:40; 9) Kase Miller – 20:43; and 10) Ryan Larue – 20:47.  50) Sonny Townsend – 22:42; and 81) Dolan Mullins- 26:14.16

For the Centerville Tigers: 3) Josh Franklin – 19:03; 5) Josh Apland – 20:00; 13) Cody Morgan – 21:31; 15) Ethan Williams – 22:43; 18) Justin Bowen – 24:09 19) Joseph Gillespie – 24:39; and 22) Riley Graham – 26:59.

For the Big Sandy Wildcats: 11) George Flores – 21:24; 12) Jose Celestine – 21:30; 14) Isaias Ortiz – 21:59; 16) Collin Kaleti – 22:52; 17) Walker Robinson – 23:34; 21) Clay Laird – 26:39; and 23) Chad Lilley – 27:08.

For the Grapeland Sandies: 7) Mark Hanna – 20:35.

For the Lovelady Lions: 20) Colby Tullos – 24:50 and 24) Seth Campbell – 27:09.

Latexo Cross Country Coach Jessica Cutshall also commented on her teams’ performances at the district meet.

“I’m relieved and I’m excited! We’ve been working on the girls’ side – looking at times – and it was neck-and-neck between us and Groveton. We strategized and hoped it would work out for us. Thankfully, it did,” she said.

“I’m really excited about that. It’s the first time in a long time we’ve taken a group of girls from Latexo to regionals as a team. Maddie Kelsie made it to regionals last year – but this year she got first!” Cutshall explained.

“All seven members of the boys’ team finished in the top 10,” she continued proudly. “I knew it would be a little bit easier (on the boys’ side) just looking at the data we’ve run. I told them not to go as hard as they could while we’re here at district. Our main concern is regionals,” she said.

The coach said there are six really good teams in Region III which Latexo would be competing against at the regional meet.

“Four of the teams which would probably get second, third and fourth – we’re really about on the same playing field. We have really been focused on planning for regionals rather than district,” she said.

Concerning he times posted by the Latexo Cross Country teams, Cutshall said Maddie Kelsie set a new PR with a 13:07. Her fastest previous time was recorded at 13:14.

“She hasn’t peaked yet. We’re hoping to shave a few seconds off of her time at the regional meet. The boys – I told them not to run themselves ragged,” the coach said.

The Region III Cross Country Meet is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 23 at the Kate Barr-Ross Park in Huntsville. The girls’ race begins at 11:50 a.m. and the boys will start at 12:15 p.m.

 

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].