by MARK CAUL
When coach Jay Sansom’s cross country squad reconvenes for pre-season workouts in the blistering August sun on Monday, they will be looking to improve upon last year’s eighth place finish at the Class 4-A Region III regional meet.
Last season, the Lobos were able to secure the school’s first-ever top-ten ranking after peaking at No. 8 toward the latter part of the season with a bevy of experienced seniors leading the way including departed four-year letter winner Juan Gordillo (Texas Lutheran).
The Lobos were able to capture titles at last season’s Zilker Park, Cedar Park and Texas State Invitationals as well as top three finishes at two other premier events around the area to warrant the ranking.
This year, Sansom will be relying on two savvy returning veterans and a host of talented, but unproven newcomers to carry the torch for his squad. The season gets underway on Aug. 29 at the Austin Independent School District Invitational Meet at Zilker Park.
“Last year we accomplished a lot and made strides towards some of our goals,” Sansom said. “Our focus coming into every season is to win district and then qualify for regionals (as a team). We lost some very strong runners, but we have some guys in place that I think will give us a chance to be successful this year.”
Junior Ramon Martinez will play a major role in the makeup of a team that will be attempting to halt the current six-year stranglehold Lockhart has had on the district title.
Martinez had a strong showing in last year’s regional meet, posting a time of 17 minutes, 12 seconds over a three-mile course, which stands as the top time for the handful of Lehman returnees. He will step into the lead runner slot vacated by Gordillo, who graduated in May.
Martinez, who didn’t perform quite as well as expected at last year’s regional meet, will be vying for a host of individual titles in only his third full season on the varsity level.
“Ramon definitely didn’t have his best race last year at regionals,” Sansom said. “But I think with a year of experience under his belt, he will be a huge part of our team again this year.”
Sansom is also counting on a couple of other runners to transition onto the course once the district meet rolls around.
“I’m looking for Ramon to have his best season yet because he has so much talent and he works extremely hard,” Sansom said. “I will be depending on him to help make sure all the other guys on the team are focused for each and every meet.”
Senior Eddie Chabarria and junior Javier Torres are the other two members returning from the regional qualifying team a season ago. Individually, they placed among the top half in district finishers and were both named to the District 26 4-A All-District Academic Team last season as well.
“Both Edwin and Eddie have some varsity miles underneath them now and they know what we expect from them,” Sansom said. “But they all have a great deal of talent and I’m excited to see what they can do this season.”
This season, Sansom has decided to scale back the competitive workload his team will endure throughout the season in hopes that they will be rejuvenated for district and regional runs late in the campaign.
“I want to make sure that we are well rested and ready to go at the end of the season,” Sansom said. “We will reduce the amount of meets we run in from eight to five but will still get in a good 12-mile run at Zilker Park sometime midway through the season. It will give our athletes a chance to reflect on what they want to accomplish at the end of the year and will give them a chance to do a little bonding as a team. Hopefully, it will also prevent us from wearing down late in the year.”
According to Sansom, defending regional champion Lockhart is again the clear-cut favorite in District 27 4-A, but he expects Hays, Canyon and Smithson Valley to present formidable challenges as well.
“Lockhart always has everybody’s attention,” Sansom said. “They are always well coached and seem to have an endless supply of great athletes going through their program each year. They will always be the team to beat in my eyes. But Hays is always very talented and I expect Smithson Valley to be tough as well.”
Sansom is very confident about the positive direction his program has taken since he arrived on Lehman’s campus five years ago.
“We went from having only 18 kids in our entire program when we started five years ago to reaching the regional meet the pastthree seasons,” Sansom said. “You never know what’s going to happen with high school kids from year-to-year but I have really been happy with the effort our kids have given us over the last few years. If we could win a district title or get a berth in the state meet, I think it would be another huge step for this program going forward.”
