Cross country: Odessa High shoots for 3-5A titles

Odessa High School’s cross country boys and girls teams have shown this season that they both can run ahead of the District 3-5A pack in a big-meet atmosphere.

The trick will be repeating the feat when it really matters — as in today at UTPB Park during the District 3-5A Championships.

“This week is for the gold and hopefully they’ve got that in their mind,” OHS girls coach Tracey Borchardt said. “It’s going to be interesting.”

The OHS girls won the Lubbock Invitational on Sept. 30 in a field that included 17 teams, including chief District 3-5A rivals San Angelo Central, Permian and Abilene High.

Meanwhile in the boys race at Lubbock, OHS was the top 3-5A finisher in fifth, followed by Central in seventh, Permian in eighth and Abilene High in 13th.

Both the boys and girls races figure to come down to those four teams, with the top three finishers on each side qualifying for the Region I-5A Championships while the unlucky

fourth-place teams will stay home.

“There’s not a team that’s just definitely ahead of everyone else,” OHS boys coach Randy Thompson said. “Permian’s done well this season, Abilene’s done well this season and Central’s done well. It’s one of those years that whoever has a good day is going to win it — it’s really that close.”

Central is the defending team champion in both the boys and girls divisions while Odessa High was runner-up in both divisions last year.

The OHS girls had a four-year run on 3-5A team titles ended while Odessa High’s boys had a two-year reign cut short.

Odessa High’s girls are led at the top of their lineup by sophomore Kirsten Taylor and four-year senior runner Lacy McKinney, with Gaby Valeriano, Tiffany Barrera, Mindy Navarette, Jordann Beason and Ariel Renteria needed to gain valuable points in a pack.

OHS is coming off a three-mile victory last week in Hobbs, N.M., which Borchardt hopes is a sign of good things to come.

“I feel the kids are back on track,” Borchardt said. “The downfall to it all is there’s only three teams going to go (to regionals) and there’s four teams, to me, that are just equally good. It’s going to be a matter of who shows up to race.”

Odessa High’s boys finished second last week in Hobbs, and Thompson said improvement throughout the team was evident from an earlier meeting against the Eagles in Carlsbad, N.M.

Hugo Corral is a senior coming off a state appearance and leads the way for the Bronchos along with fellow senior Terence Martinez, who is a solid No. 2 runner.

Roy Ramos, Ray Paredes, Ryan Herrera, Edwar Zubiate and Travis Phillips will be battling in the pack trying to bring the title back to the program.

“They’ve performed well the last two weeks and I think they’re ready,” Thompson said, noting a team title at the Odessa Invitational. “They’ve run better the last two weeks than they have all season long and I think they’re ready to come out and take care of business.”

ABOUT THE MEET

Thursday At UTPB Park

>> Varsity girls: 4:30 p.m.

>> Varsity boys: 5 p.m.

>> JV girls: 5:30 p.m.

>> JV boys: 6 p.m.

>> Defending boys team champion: San Angelo Central

>> Defending girls team champion: San Angelo Central

>> Girls runners to watch: Dale Wilson, Midland Lee; Jourdan Ellis, Abilene High; Lakeisha Johnson, Permian; Kirsten Taylor, Odessa High; Lacy McKinney, Odessa High.

>> Boys runners to watch: Hugo Corral, Odessa High; Bobby Hawes, San Angelo Central; Alex Aguilar, Abilene High; Terence Martinez, Odessa High; Ethan Flores, San Angelo Central; Jarred Murray, Permian.