On a beautiful fall morning Saturday, the Liberal High School Cross Country team traveled to Wichita to compete in the Wild Wind Cross Country Festival at Trinity Academy. With nearly 200 runners and 21 teams in the Boys Varsity race and 145 runners and 16 teams in the Varsity Girls race, the Liberal runners competed well on the hilly, 5K course.
Caleb Zamora led the way for the Varsity Boys with a near PR of 18:30 for 50th place, followed by EJ Martinez in 125th place with a time of 20:00.04. Piero Huaman was just a mere 14 seconds behind EJ, catching several runners in the home stretch, and capturing 133rd place in 20:14. Next for the LHS runners was J’Kobe Contreras in 157th with a time of 21:02. Brandon Ailon rounded out the top 5 and the scoring for the Redskins with a time of 21:31 and 166th place. Other runners included Cain Ortiz, 22:41, Elian Escobar, 23:28, Tanner Denoyer, 24:29, and Oscar Jimenez, 25:13. The Boys finished in 19th place
For the Lady Redskin Varsity Team, Sofie Lucena, who is having a remarkable season, was first through the chute for Liberal with a time of 22:26, good for 39th place. Sophomore Sandra Ventura was next for the ladies with a time of 23:57 and 75th place, followed closely by Rubi Alvarez in 77th at 24:01. The next three runners for the Lady Redkins bunched well and were just 9 seconds apart. Alondra Gonzales finished in 97th place with a time of 25:05, followed by Jhovana Cruz in 99th at 25:12, and Julieana Hernandez in 101st with a time of 25:14. Sophia Mercado wrapped it up for the Redskin girls in 118th place at 26:44. The Girl’s team finished in 12th place.
On the JV side of the Meet, for the Boys, Tyler Wesley ran a 24:58, and kicking it at the finish, Elliot Vasquez came in at 27:40.
For the Girls JV Ana Chitic was just out of medal contention as she finished in 26th place with a time of 27:35. Next was Jayloni West with a time of 30:49, followed by Jazmin Portillo finishing in 32:34.
The Liberal Redskin Cross Country Team hosts WAC on Thursday at Willow Tree Colf Course with a start time of 4:00 PM.
