Boys, Girls Cross Country Teams Place First At Meet

Cross+country+boys+and+girls+teams+placed+first+at+the+Lometa+meet+Sept.+16.+

courtesy of Hailey Bull

Cross country boys and girls teams placed first at the Lometa meet Sept. 16.

Brianna Miller, Reporter

The cross country team went to Lometa and dominated the competition  Sept. 16.

With two full varsity teams, all boys placed top 15 and medaled, and improved by at least 30 seconds on their times. Junior Tate Rainwater and senior Cody Hinson took first and second, finishing a full minute ahead of the competition.

Senior Cody Hinson and junior Tate Rainwater run ahead of the pack at the beginning of the race. Rainwater placed first and Hinson placed second. (Courtesy of Hailey Bull)

“So far this season we have seen major improvement in times and overall comfort,” Hinson said. “So, I feel pretty good about this season.”

The girls also placed first as a team and all of the runners medaled. Sophomore Brooke Coffeman and sophomore Nyla Long placed third and fourth, with the rest of their team following in quick succession.

“As a manager, this year I was really scared for our team,” team manager Hailey-Brianna Bull said. “A whole new district with teams we’ve never raced, and all the regulations with COVID, but our team has shown that we have no fear, with almost every runner medaling and getting first place.”

Before Lometa, the team traveled to the McGregor Invitational. McGregor is used as a preview for regionals. The girls placed first as a team while the boys placed third, with Hinson placing second and Rainwater placing third.

“Were rocking and rolling,” cross country coach Kiff Weimers said. “It feels like every meet everyone has personal records. I’m kind of sad that the numbers are down but the effort is phenomenal.”

The team plans to go to Gatesville for the Bill Bradley Invitational Saturday. They are going to race against Gatesville and Stephensville, their top competitors for the district. 

“We are neck and neck with Stephenville and Gatesville,” Weimers said. “On that point, Gatesville, they’re young, they went to state last year, so they are running state times, and we are not far off.”