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Cross Country Teams Tune Up for District Meets
The District 12-6A and 16-5A cross country meets are one week away and on Thursday, Killeen ISD’s teams went about preparing for those races in their own ways.
In each instance, the work continued to sow the seeds of success.
Chaparral stayed closest to home, training early in the morning around the vast space that surrounds Searles Stadium while Shoemaker traveled the farthest by trekking to Midlothian for its tune-up.
Meanwhile, Killeen, Ellison and Harker Heights essentially split the difference and headed to Belton for the Pro-Fit Last Chance Invitational.
Ellison’s Ethan Carranza blistered the winding, undulating 3-mile Heritage Park course in 15 minutes, 26.5 seconds to claim the Class 5A/6A boys individual gold, showing he’s on the right track in his attempt to return to the state meet for the second consecutive season.
“It’s definitely a good way to see where I’m at before the district meet,” Carranza said after picking up his second meet win of the season.
Carranza’s convincing triumph –– secured by 14 seconds –– was one of two top-10 finishes for KISD boys runners, though there were plenty of strong showings that yielded personal-best times across the board.
Anchored by Carranza and teammate Andy Harper’s (16:00.6) eighth-place finish, Ellison took the team silver behind Round Rock McNeil. Harker Heights was fifth and Killeen 14th. The top-five finishers from each squad count toward the final team score.
“It’s looking pretty good. People are stepping up. Andy, he ran 16 today. That’s been a big goal for him all season. And Mike (Rodriguez-Quintana), he ran pretty far under sub-17. So, we are definitely getting there,” said Carranza, whose Eagles won the district title a year ago. “We have a team that can compete for district.”
Mike Rodriguez-Quintana (16:28.2, 15th), Justin Rodriguez-Quintana (17:08.4, 26th) and Jaylen Henry (17:11.6, 31st) filled out the Eagles’ score sheet.
For Heights, Cody Zimmerman (17:06.0) was 24th, Reilly Vance (17:09.5) 27th, Blake Zimmerman (17:10.9) 29th, Christion Meiners (17:27.1) 52nd and Tanner McIntosh-Richter (17:28.7) 54th.
The Roos were led by Christian Matta (17:39.1, 67th), Gabriel Garcia (17:46.5, 74th), Jacob Roman (17:48.4, 76th), Emanuel Cantu (17:54.6, 81st) and Alphonse Lemaire (17:59.1, 85th)
In the girls 5A/6A race, a pair of KISD runners cracked the top-10 with Ellison’s D’Angeleigh Dombkowski (19:33.3) placing fourth and Harker Heights’ Kaitlyn Jackowski (19:50.6) crossing fifth. Killeen’s Jennifer Lozano went 20:47.0 to place 16th. Plenty of personal bests were established, too.
“Last year I was out for the end of track season and coming back this season I was nervous I wasn’t going to be able to get back up to where I was but I’ve actually been doing a lot better,” Jackowski said. “So, that’s really exciting.”
Overall, the Lady Knights and Lady Eagles tied for ninth and the Lady Roos placed 11th out of 18 teams.
Aubree Jones (22:12.2, 42nd), Lakia Hatch (22:46.4, 72nd), Elizabeth Kinsey (22:50.6, 74th) and Lillianna Lecounte (22:55.0, 78th) rounded out the Lady Eagles scoring group.
For the Lady Knights, Xenia Gutierrez (22:05.0, 40th), Makayla Otto (22:30.1, 64th), Isabella Dominguez (22:51.5, 77th) and Charlotte Krider (23:26.1, 86th) also were on the score sheet.
Along with Lozano, the Lady Roos counted Aaleyah Henderson (22:30.9, 66th), Tasia Smith (23:21.3, 83rd), Kayla Mockabee (23:22.6, 85th) and Jasmine Noyd (23:39.3, 92nd).
After finishing up her run Thursday, Dombkowski circled back and encouraged her teammates as they pushed for the finish line.
“Our team is like a family, so stopping and cheering for them when they need that motivation is something that I hold myself to. The team hit PRs today, and I’m proud of them because they are believing in themselves more,” said the senior, who is the defending district champ.
“I’m shooting for a low 19, high 18 (minute) race at district, and I’m going to force myself and push myself.”
Jackowski shared that the Lady Knights also have taken the right strides at the right time in order to contend next week.
“It’s exciting to see how far we’ve come as a team and how much our times have improved as a group,” she said. “The fact that we can stay together so well in a race, I’m excited to see how the rest of the season will go.”
Shoemaker’s morning in Midlothian at the Jag Invitational was highlighted by David Bluhm’s winning time of 17:29.57 in the boys race and the top-five performances of Cameron Roberts (21:27.83, third) and Kahlia Woodley (22:15.77, fifth).
The Grey Wolves were regional qualifiers last season.
More photos by Josh Weaver and Todd Martin from the Last Chance Invitational are here.
Click here for full results from the Last Chance Invite.
Click here for full results from the meet in Midlothian.
The district races are scheduled to start at 8 a.m. on Oct. 10 at Waco’s Heart of Texas Soccer Complex, beginning with the 6A girls followed by the 6A boys, 5A girls and 5A boys. Junior varsity races close out the competition. Ellison and Chaparral are in 5A, and Harker Heights, Shoemaker and Killeen in 6A.
Lozano, who was a JV runner last season and already has one meet win to her credit this season, said she is looking forward to the challenge of the 12-6A meet.
“I’m really excited about it. It’s really good competition. I just want to go there with a great mindset, and pace my miles and get them evenly to where I want them,” she said. “The team has been working really hard and we’ve grown so much lately. We’re in a great spot.”