In only her first year at the varsity level, Hays High freshman Abby Parra will soon be taking on the best cross country runners the state has to offer.
On Monday, Parra secured a 6th place individual finish at the UIL Region IV championships in Corpus Christi, which officially punched her ticket to the UIL state cross country meet in Round Rock.
Parra, who finished the 5,000-meter course in 17:00.42, is the only Hays CISD athlete who will compete at the state meet, which will be held Nov. 3 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.
Parra continues a trend of Rebel cross country runners competing for a state title. Parra follows in the footsteps of Hays High alumna Gabby Bosquez, who reached the state meet in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017, along with former Rebel runner Esmi Fuentes, who reached state in 2015.
Earlier this month, Parra captured bronze at the District 25-6A meet in Round Rocks, while also taking first place overall at the Hays High invitational meet at Lake Kyle Park.
On the boys side, Lehman High junior Jose Cano narrowly missed a chance at state when he finished 25th out of 187 runners. Lobo freshman Esteban Garza finished 45th overall.
The Hays Rebel boys cross country team, which had seven athletes in contention at region, captured 12th out of 25 teams.
Rebel senior Daniel Garraway and junior Jaden Tumale were neck-in-neck and finished the race in 51st and 52nd, respectively.
Results from the Region IV cross country championships
Girls Hays
Abby Parra 17:00.42
Boys Hays
Daniel Garraway 15:04.79
Jaden Tumale 15:05.62
Kip Appleton 15:26.79
Preston Jones 15:41.73
Omar Guzman 15:49.63
Chase Bennett 15:50.20
Aidan Vocke 16:16.70
Lehman
Jose Cano 14:45.24
Esteban Garza 15:02.25
