The strong start to the cross-country season continued for the Hays boys and girls teams last Saturday.
The Lady Rebels finished second overall and the Hays boys finished third in the Temple Invitational Meet.
Lady Rebel Mariana Sigala won the individual meet on the girls’ side with a stellar time of 12 minutes, 31 seconds on the two-mile course famous for its intimidating hill.
“In the girls race, Mariana continued to look strong and I can tell she is really starting to tune up as we approach the important part of our racing season,” Hays head coach Cliff Buckley said. “The rest of the girls have become a very close unit and are starting to work with pack running, which should help us in the late stages of the season.”
Other Lady Rebels who helped the team to its strong second-place finish were Emily Crowell (10th, 13:13), Jennifer Colonnetta (16th, 13:34), Carly Hogue (21st, 13:53), and Rose Hyak (23rd, 13:59).
“It was a great day for racing,” Buckley said. “We finally got some cooler weather.
Buckley said he loves the test the “Temple hill,” which is a steep half-mile incline during the race, gives his team.
“We travel to Temple every year to challenge the hill," Buckley said. “I have seen many runners from other teams stop and walk as they overextend themselves on this hill. We have had a decent amount of success here, and our runners actually look forward to the obstacle, which is great. Because of their positive attitude they are able to pass plenty of runners who are mentally beat.”
Michael Normand led the boys team on the three-mile course with a fifth-place overall finish in a time of 16:17. Ryan McSpadden (6th, 16:20) followed right behind, and other Rebel varsity boys runners were: Jason Peed (14th, 17:01), Heath Agnew (16th, 17:08), and Logan Lindsey (23rd, 17:37).
“We have a lot of new runners this year and I think they are finally starting to figure out how to pace themselves effectively through a race,” Buckley said. “The best news for me right now is that all of the runners, boys and girls, have been coming in with a great attitude and are really trying to improve, for themselves and the good of the team.”
Hays will next compete in the Georgetown Invitational Meet on Saturday. After that, the Rebels will have only one more meet, Oct. 15 in Vista Ridge, before the District 27-4A meet Oct. 29 in Lockhart.
