Mineola girls district champs as runners advance to cross country regional meet

Posted 10/17/19

“The season that counts starts today,” stated Mineola Cross Country Coach David Smith an hour before the runners lined up to determine who would proceed to the regional meet. 

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Mineola girls district champs as runners advance to cross country regional meet

Posted

“The season that counts starts today,” stated Mineola Cross Country Coach David Smith an hour before the runners lined up to determine who would proceed to the regional meet. 

It was a perfect morning for the district meet at Mineola school.

Cool temperatures, wind still, and practically zero humidity welcomed the runners. In a matter of minutes the three top-finishing teams and the top-ten individual varsity runners going on to regionals would be determined. There was a good bit of excitement in the air. 

In the girls division Mineola captured the district title with Edgewood and Rains joining them at regionals. The top ten individual runners from Wood County schools were Hannah Zoch, Juliana Stanley, Shylah Kratzmeyer and Alyssa Lankford from Mineola and Quitman’s Madyson Pence.

The Quitman boys team finished third, after Grand Saline and Rains, to secure their regional berth. Qualifying for regionals as individual runners were Quitman’s Brandon Jiminez and Mineola’s David Amador and Dalton Crowson.

The vitality of cross country running as a sport was reaffirmed at the district meet.

The varsity competition saw 67 athletes race while another 31 participated in the junior varsity. Most telling, 82 youngsters participated at the middle school level. The large number of young runners speaks well for the future of the sport in East Texas.   

The regional meet will be hosted on Monday, Oct. 28 at the Jesse Owens Athletic Complex, 9191 South Polk Street, Dallas.