Photo by Sam Farrell
October 3, 2023
Girls Cross Country finishes second, boys sixth in final tune-up before district
By Brady Keane
The Bandera Prophet
The Bandera girls cross country team cruised to a second place finish in the final race before the district meet last weekend, trailing only state-ranked Poth on the team leaderboard.
Carlye Niccum led the way for the Lady Bulldogs with an 11th place finish while Taytum Moeller and Emily Presa finished 17th and 18th, respectively, to help round out the top three finishers for the Lady Bulldogs. Merry Robinson was 23rd, Lori King was 31st, Riley LaLanne was 44th and Trinity Butler was 50th.
It was a breakthrough race for King, who bettered her time by almost 30 seconds on a very tough course in just her second race running at the varsity level.
The JV Lady Bulldogs also brought home a second-place finish, trailing Lytle by just two points. Kinlee Lawlis (3rd), Layney Bowman (6th), Kierstin Brown (9th) and Jazlyn Dickerson (10th) all finished in the Top 10 individually. Other JV finishers included Isabella Chapa (12), Riley Noon (16), Xoi Cook (23), Lauren Meier (26), Rosa Espino (29), Lydia Devigny (34), Dariana Mendoza (37), Celeste Martinez (41) and Onna Shaw (46).
The Lady Bulldogs will now shift their focus to the District 27-4A meet to be held at the Bandera City Park on Thursday, Oct. 12. Bandera will face a tough field of competitors as Fredericksburg enters the meet ranked No. 1 in the state while Davenport is ranked No. 3 in the state. The top three team finishers will advance to the regional competition.
“The biggest meet of the year is coming up,” girls coach Brooke Ashcraft said. “As always, we will be battling it out at the district meet against some of the best teams in the state. The girls are really focusing in and battling for spots on the team as they know every second counts.”
Bulldog boys finish 6th in Poth
The varsity boys also had a strong showing at the Poth Invitational and finished sixth out of 17 teams with 163 points.
The Bulldogs posted their best grouping of the season with just a 34 second split from the first through the fifth finishers. Junior Ruben Ruiz-Palacios and senior Mariano Casas led the Bulldogs by finishing side-by-side in 31st and 32nd. Senior Mack Robinson came in three seconds later, finishing 35th overall.
Sophomore Zach Goodin showed a ton of grit in his finish, outkicking a runner from La Vernia in the last 50 meters to beat him by .05 seconds. Goodin finished 44th overall, helping to seal Bandera’s position ahead of La Vernia in the standings.
Other varsity boys finishers included Fili Quintero (37), Nino Martinez (50), Hudson Jackson (58).
At the JV level, the Bulldogs finished 2nd overall out of six teams with 51 points. Ben Adamietz (7), Kyle Moore (8) and Ayden Sarver (9) finished in the Top 10 individually. Other finishers included Lane Timmons (13), Hayden Swalve (14), Carter Rissmiller (34), Keaton Sarver (36), Jacob Tuma (40), Walter Roque (41), Kelton Raab (43), Adan Sixtos (45), Michael Verhey (46), Dominic Garcia (23:08), Travis Niccum (24:47), David Roque (65) and Marcus Gonzalez (66).
The Bulldogs will also be back in action for the District 27-4A meet on Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Bandera City Park. The varsity girls’ race will start at 9 a.m., and the varsity boys at 9:30 a.m. The JV boys and girls will follow at 10 and 10:30 a.m.
“Poth was a great sharpening meet before district,” boys coach Sam Farrell said. “The varsity guys took care of business and beat some regional competition, and the JV guys also put in a strong performance. We’ve done well running together, we just need to be a little more aggressive earlier in the race to move up our grouping closer to the front.”
Carlye Niccum led the way for the Lady Bulldogs with an 11th place finish while Taytum Moeller and Emily Presa finished 17th and 18th, respectively, to help round out the top three finishers for the Lady Bulldogs. Merry Robinson was 23rd, Lori King was 31st, Riley LaLanne was 44th and Trinity Butler was 50th.
It was a breakthrough race for King, who bettered her time by almost 30 seconds on a very tough course in just her second race running at the varsity level.
The JV Lady Bulldogs also brought home a second-place finish, trailing Lytle by just two points. Kinlee Lawlis (3rd), Layney Bowman (6th), Kierstin Brown (9th) and Jazlyn Dickerson (10th) all finished in the Top 10 individually. Other JV finishers included Isabella Chapa (12), Riley Noon (16), Xoi Cook (23), Lauren Meier (26), Rosa Espino (29), Lydia Devigny (34), Dariana Mendoza (37), Celeste Martinez (41) and Onna Shaw (46).
The Lady Bulldogs will now shift their focus to the District 27-4A meet to be held at the Bandera City Park on Thursday, Oct. 12. Bandera will face a tough field of competitors as Fredericksburg enters the meet ranked No. 1 in the state while Davenport is ranked No. 3 in the state. The top three team finishers will advance to the regional competition.
“The biggest meet of the year is coming up,” girls coach Brooke Ashcraft said. “As always, we will be battling it out at the district meet against some of the best teams in the state. The girls are really focusing in and battling for spots on the team as they know every second counts.”
Bulldog boys finish 6th in Poth
The varsity boys also had a strong showing at the Poth Invitational and finished sixth out of 17 teams with 163 points.
The Bulldogs posted their best grouping of the season with just a 34 second split from the first through the fifth finishers. Junior Ruben Ruiz-Palacios and senior Mariano Casas led the Bulldogs by finishing side-by-side in 31st and 32nd. Senior Mack Robinson came in three seconds later, finishing 35th overall.
Sophomore Zach Goodin showed a ton of grit in his finish, outkicking a runner from La Vernia in the last 50 meters to beat him by .05 seconds. Goodin finished 44th overall, helping to seal Bandera’s position ahead of La Vernia in the standings.
Other varsity boys finishers included Fili Quintero (37), Nino Martinez (50), Hudson Jackson (58).
At the JV level, the Bulldogs finished 2nd overall out of six teams with 51 points. Ben Adamietz (7), Kyle Moore (8) and Ayden Sarver (9) finished in the Top 10 individually. Other finishers included Lane Timmons (13), Hayden Swalve (14), Carter Rissmiller (34), Keaton Sarver (36), Jacob Tuma (40), Walter Roque (41), Kelton Raab (43), Adan Sixtos (45), Michael Verhey (46), Dominic Garcia (23:08), Travis Niccum (24:47), David Roque (65) and Marcus Gonzalez (66).
The Bulldogs will also be back in action for the District 27-4A meet on Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Bandera City Park. The varsity girls’ race will start at 9 a.m., and the varsity boys at 9:30 a.m. The JV boys and girls will follow at 10 and 10:30 a.m.
“Poth was a great sharpening meet before district,” boys coach Sam Farrell said. “The varsity guys took care of business and beat some regional competition, and the JV guys also put in a strong performance. We’ve done well running together, we just need to be a little more aggressive earlier in the race to move up our grouping closer to the front.”