This Bandera Bulldog news is brought to you by:
|
|
|
Download & Print
Courtesy Photo
October 14, 2024
Bandera Boys XC advances to regionals for 5th straight year
By Brady Keane
The Bandera Prophet
The Bandera boys cross country team is heading to the Class 4A Region IV Championships for a fifth straight year after placing third at the District 26-4A Meet in Seguin on Thursday.
The Bulldogs, led by first-year Head Coach Aidan Keane, narrowly edged New Braunfels Long Creek for the final qualifying spot while finishing behind Davenport and Fredericksburg.
“It was an exciting day as we accomplished one of our season-long goals to get back to the regional meet,” Keane said. “We only brought back two runners from the top seven of last year’s team, and we had a lot of guys step up in a big way to keep that regional qualifying streak alive against some tough competition.”
Ruben Ruiz-Palacios was one of the two returners for Bandera and he put on a strong showing for the Bulldogs, placing seventh overall and posting a time of 17:45. The team’s other returner, Zach Goodin, was the second Bandera runner to finish with a time of 17:54. Ruiz-Palacios, Goodin and Ayden Sarver each made a pass in the final stretch to get the necessary three points to advance, with Sarver posting a final time of 19:19.
Adan Sixtos ran a 19:53, Zayne Clark posted a 20:40, Michael Verhey ran a 20:46 and Hayden Swalve posted a 21:16 to round out the top seven for the Bulldogs.
“We faced some adversity in the race with a few of our runners getting hurt but pushing through to the finish,” Keane said. “We knew it was going to be fast because of what was on the line, and that last mile was at a really fast pace. Our guys did exactly what they needed to do down the stretch to finish the job.”
The Bulldogs will now shift their focus to the Regional Meet in Corpus Christi on Oct. 21, where they will have a chance to advance to the state meet. Based on season-best times, Bandera is seeded 9thth in the region. La Feria, Hidalgo, Davenport, Harmony Excellence, Port Isabel, Floresville, La Vernia, and Fredericksburg hold the top spots, though each team is separated by a combined total of just 13 seconds among its fastest times from its top five runners.
The top four teams from Region IV will advance to the 4A state meet at Old Settlers’ Park.
“We fought hard last week and now are looking forward to getting to practice together for another 10 days with an extended season and a chance to make it to state,” Keane said.
JV Bulldogs claim district title
At the JV level, the Bandera boys claimed their first district championship since 2021 behind a strong race from newcomer Cooper Cale.
Cale placed third overall with a time of 20:46 to lead the way for the Bulldogs, as the team combined for its best race of the season. Other runners included Luciano Martinez in 6th (20:59), Walter Roque in 7th (21:02.63), Dominic Garcia in 9th (21:19.49), Carter Rissmiller in 14th (22:11.59), Michael Ramirez in 15th (22:31.40), Tristan Wilson in 20th (23:12.16), Keaton Sarver (22:57), Kelton Raab (24:11), Adrian Aguiree (25:10.24), Marcus Gonzales (26:06.41), Dominic Segovia (27:12) and Porter Barnard (27:16.92).
The Bulldogs, led by first-year Head Coach Aidan Keane, narrowly edged New Braunfels Long Creek for the final qualifying spot while finishing behind Davenport and Fredericksburg.
“It was an exciting day as we accomplished one of our season-long goals to get back to the regional meet,” Keane said. “We only brought back two runners from the top seven of last year’s team, and we had a lot of guys step up in a big way to keep that regional qualifying streak alive against some tough competition.”
Ruben Ruiz-Palacios was one of the two returners for Bandera and he put on a strong showing for the Bulldogs, placing seventh overall and posting a time of 17:45. The team’s other returner, Zach Goodin, was the second Bandera runner to finish with a time of 17:54. Ruiz-Palacios, Goodin and Ayden Sarver each made a pass in the final stretch to get the necessary three points to advance, with Sarver posting a final time of 19:19.
Adan Sixtos ran a 19:53, Zayne Clark posted a 20:40, Michael Verhey ran a 20:46 and Hayden Swalve posted a 21:16 to round out the top seven for the Bulldogs.
“We faced some adversity in the race with a few of our runners getting hurt but pushing through to the finish,” Keane said. “We knew it was going to be fast because of what was on the line, and that last mile was at a really fast pace. Our guys did exactly what they needed to do down the stretch to finish the job.”
The Bulldogs will now shift their focus to the Regional Meet in Corpus Christi on Oct. 21, where they will have a chance to advance to the state meet. Based on season-best times, Bandera is seeded 9thth in the region. La Feria, Hidalgo, Davenport, Harmony Excellence, Port Isabel, Floresville, La Vernia, and Fredericksburg hold the top spots, though each team is separated by a combined total of just 13 seconds among its fastest times from its top five runners.
The top four teams from Region IV will advance to the 4A state meet at Old Settlers’ Park.
“We fought hard last week and now are looking forward to getting to practice together for another 10 days with an extended season and a chance to make it to state,” Keane said.
JV Bulldogs claim district title
At the JV level, the Bandera boys claimed their first district championship since 2021 behind a strong race from newcomer Cooper Cale.
Cale placed third overall with a time of 20:46 to lead the way for the Bulldogs, as the team combined for its best race of the season. Other runners included Luciano Martinez in 6th (20:59), Walter Roque in 7th (21:02.63), Dominic Garcia in 9th (21:19.49), Carter Rissmiller in 14th (22:11.59), Michael Ramirez in 15th (22:31.40), Tristan Wilson in 20th (23:12.16), Keaton Sarver (22:57), Kelton Raab (24:11), Adrian Aguiree (25:10.24), Marcus Gonzales (26:06.41), Dominic Segovia (27:12) and Porter Barnard (27:16.92).