Cross country season is picking up the pace, with each of the Ranch Cities’ schools competing at their respective district meets last week.
Both the Pilot Point Bearcats and Lady Cats finished second overall at the 2025 3A-District 10 meet hosted at Boyd High School.
Senior Ava Smith was the top runner for the Lady Cats, taking silver in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:53.92.
“We did really well,” said Jeff Price, Pilot Point head cross country coach. “We're in a really tough district for cross country, but both teams finished second, and there were a bunch of [personal records]. I think we had four or five PRS on both sides, so the kids ran really well, and we're really excited heading into regionals.”
Junior Madison Coronado finished in ninth place, with a time of 12:22.09, followed by senior Daiyton DeLeon, who finished 10th with a time of 12:29.21.
Sophomore Sophia Gomez placed 14th, with a time of 12:38.43, followed by senior Kaelyn Chaney, who crossed the finish line in 22nd place with a time of 13:11.63.
Senior Rylee LeMarr closed things out for the Lady Cats’, finishing 24th with a time of 13:20.66.
“Team-wise, I think we finally all kind of clicked together again, and we're looking to do the same thing but even better at regionals, so we're happy with advancing, but we're not done yet,” Smith said. “We're ready to keep surviving and advancing to state.”
Sophomore Giovanny Rodriguez set the pace for the Bearcats, finishing fifth in the 5000-meter run with a time of 17:32.06.
“I finished in the Top 5 and felt like I did great,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody has been running well this whole week, [and] I think we could go all the way.”
Senior Joel Alejos placed seventh with a time of 17:38.78, followed by sophomore Blake Warren, who finished eighth with a time of 17:42.85.
Junior Jesus Ramirez finished 18th with a time of 18:40.39, followed by freshman Jesus Martinez, who placed 21st with a time of 18:45.84, and junior Angel Garcia, who finished 22nd with a time of 19:12.17, rounding out the Bearcats runners.
“It felt like the work paid off, and if we could do it there, we can for sure do it at regionals,” Alejos said.
The Tioga Bulldogs finished third overall, and the Lady Bulldogs had one runner advance at the 2025 2A-District 13 meet held at Alvord High School.
“Our boys went in with a high expectation of winning district, and we kind of fell short of that; some of our runners didn't do as well as we hoped, but we still qualified as a team,” said Halie Martin, Tioga head cross country coach. “We had Ramsey Washington come in, who helped us out quite a bit in qualifying as a team, and then we had Nick [Oranday] and Alexis [Santoyo-Pina], who qualified in the Top 10. Jillian [Rodriguez] was our solo varsity girl runner who qualifi ed in the Top 10 to make it to regionals.”
Alexis set the tone for the Bulldogs, finishing fourth in the 5000-meter run with a time of 17:27.79, followed by Oranday, who placed seventh with a time of 17:37.76.
“We got third place in the team categories, and we're all working extremely hard, and for regionals, I think we're going to do extremely well,” Oranday said.
Junior Garrison Black finished 16th with a time of 18:54.19, followed by sophomore Maddox Rodriguez, who finished 28th with a time of 20:24.88, and junior Ramsey Washington who finished 31st with a time of 21:01.43.
Freshman Jillian Rodriguez was the Lady Bulldogs' lone regional qualifier, finishing eighth in the 1.X Mile Run with a time of 12:54.84.
The Aubrey Chaparrals had two runners, one Chap and one Lady Chap, qualify to compete at regionals at their performance at the 2025 4A-District 9 meet at Old Celina Park.
“I was proud of Abby [Turner] and Kaden [Plaugher],” said Kristin Giddens, Aubrey head cross country coach. “I knew that they had a really good shot to get out, and the Abbey finishing with a new PR and breaking the school record was awesome. Kaden is young, but he just runs, so I’m excited to see what he'll do these next two years, but overall, I’m proud of them and our team. They all gave their best effort.”
Turner took silver in the 3200-meter run with a time of 12:14.38, breaking the Aubrey ISD record of 12:22 set in 1985 by Gay Welch.
“It was a good race,” she said. “I knew that if I stepped out of my comfort zone that I could really push through that finish line and get that record and get a PR.”
Plaugher took bronze in the 5000-meter run with a time of 16:40.25.
“It felt really good, because all those practices and all that effort I put into it really paid off,” he said. “I’m hoping I can get Top 10 at regionals so I can go to state.”
Gunner Simon, Hannah Houghtaling, Ava Walton, Emma Cano, Kaylee Barber and Sydney Crawford also competed for the
