Marble Falls cross country sweeps Lometa meet

CAPTION: The Marble Falls boys varsity teams wins the Lometa Invitational thanks to the efforts of Brazos White (left), Hunter Holder, Logan Hargrave, Matthew Ozuna, Connor Yaklin and Colton Rutland. Courtesy photo

The Marble Falls High School cross country program dominated the Lometa Invitational Sept. 10 thanks to winning the boys and girls varsity and the boys junior varsity divisions.

While the meet drew about a handful of teams, coaches challenged the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs to run their best times of the season and set their own paces without being concerned with what anyone else was doing.

The result was just about every runner turned in a new personal best or a new season best. For the Mustangs, the results were even more impressive considering they won the division without Tyler Hamblin, Graham Goggans and Owen Martin. The trio competed at the Southlake Carroll Invitational Sept. 7.

Head coach Brenda Gonzalez said she was pleased to see her runners compete with the purpose of simply seeing what they can really do.

“We were racing against the clock,” she said. “To come back with 13 season bests, I call that a victory. They ran against the clock and beat it.”

Gonzalez said this isn’t the first time she has taken Marble Falls runners to Lometa, pointing out it was a popular choice when she was a Marble Falls Middle School coach years ago. The course’s setup is ideal to simply encourage runners to put their best effort out there without worrying about beating specific opponent where placements, especially at district, regional and state meets, are incredibly important. Instead, they were told to simply run their best and let the results take care of themselves.

And coaches could see for themselves the impact of weeks of training and the mentality of each of their runners.

“It provided them the opportunity to get out there,” Gonzalez said. “You’re competing against your (individual) selves.”

She was happy to see Brazos White win the boys varsity race and the Mustangs go 1, 2, 3 and 4.

“He did his job because he pushed the pace,” the coach said. “It allowed someone else to take the lead.”

As she thought back to the finishes of each race, Gonzalez smiled.

“I liked what I saw,” she said. “To see joy on their faces is what makes the day.”

Marble Falls will compete at the Round Rock McNeil Invitational Sept. 20 at Old Settler’s Park, site of the state meet.

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RESULTS

BOYS

Varsity

1, Brazos White, 18:49.9; 2, Hunter Holder, 18:54.8; 3, Logan Hargraves, 19:21; 4, Matthew Ozuna, 20:12.5, 8, Connor Yaklin, 21:08.9; 11, Colton Rutland, 21:54.5

Junior varsity

1, Landon Fletcher, 22:15.4; 2, Santiago Gaytan, 23:09.4; 3, Hudson Dehorty, 23:59.6

GIRLS

1, Reese Massey, 12:21.5; 2, Chloe Ellis, 14:15.9; 4, Ines Ruiz, 14:54.5; 7, Savannah Hamblin, 16:13.9; 9, Hadalye Hernandez, 17:02.9; 11, Abigail Henderson, 17:09.1; 17, Katelynn Folts, 21:10.4

CAPTION: The Marble Falls Lady Mustangs win the girls varsity divisions thanks to great performances by Katelynn Folts, Abbie Henderson, Hadalye Hernandez, Savannah Hamblin, Ines Ruiz, Reese Massey and Chloe Ellis. Courtesy photo