The Canyon girls team won its second straight UIL Class 4A state championship Saturday at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. [Provided photo]
For full results from Saturday’s UIL state meet click on this link. http://mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=12655
The Canyon and Gruver girls cross country teams were the highlight from the Texas Panhandle at the UIL state meet at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock on Saturday.
The Lady Eagles defended its Class 4A state title from a year ago.
It came down to an exciting finish as the Lady Eagles (109 points) held off Celina (113 points) by four points to capture its second straight state championship under coach Ray Baca.
Canyon has now won 10 state girls cross country state titles. That’s second most for team titles in UIL history.
“Its a great feeling,” Baca said. “I was nervous coming into this meet because we’ve had injuries and a lot of girls have been sick. That’s been the story of our season, but someone always steps up. It was a combination of 12 different athletes stepping up. Winning back-to-back is hard. It’s a lot of self imposed pressure. But they handled it well.”
Freshman Abree Winfey topped all runners. Making her state debut, Winfrey, ran like a veteran, earning a bronze medal with a third place individual finish, clocking a personal-best time of 11:37.43 on the 2-mile track.
Canyon sophomore and Region I-4A winner Breanna Stuart followed in 10th, pacing an 11:49.69.
Hereford did the Texas Panhandle proud, finishing third to get on the team medal stand behind Canyon and Celina.
Malanie Jaquez led the Lady Whitefaces finishing in 12th place, running a time of 12:03.99.
Class 5A
In Class 5A, the Amarillo High shined with one its best performances. The Lady Sandies hopped on the medal stand, grabbing a bronze medal.
Brooke Latham and Cammie Mitchell both ran solid races on the 5K track.
Latham (18:37.60) finished 18th overall while Mitchell (18:48.60) was 26th.
Randall came in 10th as a team, however, sophomore Ariyah Gomez had the top time of all 5A Amarillo-area runners of 18:32.60 to place 14th.
Gruver girls claim UIL 2A state title
The Gruver girls team won the UIL Class 2A state championship Saturday at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. [Provided photo]
Gruver ran the best it had all season, scoring 62 points to beat second place Sundown (80 points) to claim the UIL Class 2A state championship.
The Lady Hounds had three runners finish in the top 15 that paced them to the title.
Junior Delaney Weaver anchored Gruver to the gold. Weaver came in third overall, clocking a 12:01.80. Sophomore Callie Conyers placed eighth, running a 12:22.33 and teammate Brenna Butler (12:40.33) was 12th.
Indivudually, Wellington sophomore Kyla Kane, the Region I-2A champion and defending Class 2A state champion, came one spot of defending her title. Kane was second overall with an impressive time of 11:38.82.
West Texas High’s Macy Higginbotham earned a fifth place finish with a 11:59.80 and Panhandle’s Brayleigh McGill (12:10.30) placed sixth.
Small school notes
Tulia’s Alexis Trammell placed ninth during the Class 3A run. Trammell was outstanding, running an impressive time of 12:02.23.
Bushland’s Tatum Fish ran at the UIL State meet for an eye-opening fourth straight time. The Lady Falcon ended her cross country career fininshing 29th (12:35:44).
During the Class 1A run Saturday morning, Valley’s Lana Belmares got on the medal stand and will take home a silver. Balmeras paced the course gracefully with a time of 12:17.65.
Boys
Ashley impresses for Canyon
Canyon’s Sam Ashley, left, took home a bronze medal Saturday at the UIL Class 4A state cross country meet in Round Rock. [Provided photo]
Canyon’s Sam Ashley had a banner day during the UIL Class 4A state meet.
Ashley helped his team to an eighth place finish, but individually came in third overall.
The Region I-4A individual champion and Eagles junior was able to nab a bronze medal by running a stellar race of 15:17.11. Judson Greer of Melissa was the individual champion with a time of 14:34.66.
In Class 5A, Amarillo High sophomore Isaac McGill clocked a 15:20.96 to place in the top 20. McGill was 16th overall.
Friona’s Adrian Legarretta was the highlight of the Class 3A meet. Legarretta finished in ninth running a 16:06.93.
During the Class 2A and 1A meet, a couple of regional champions placed in the Top 20.
In 2A, Region I-2A champion Elijah Brown (16:37.81) of Panhandle was 12th, and in Class 1A, Region I-A champion Alex Wilson (16:55.65) also placed 12th.