Outside expectations weren’t high for La Feria’s boys cross country team heading into the 2022 season, fielding a roster with three freshman, three juniors and only one senior.
The Lions, however, didn’t read into the expectations from the outside world, capturing the District 32-4A and Region IV-4A team titles en route to a state meet berth.
They continued to block out the noise Friday, following their regional championship with second place in the Class 4A team standings during Day 1 of the UIL State Cross Country Championships at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock.
“These guys have worked hard from the beginning, just like everybody else, but I feel like these kids overperformed,” La Feria head coach Luis Zuvieta said. “The expectations everybody had for our team weren’t very high. At the end of the day, we were able to perform and get on that podium. We’re just grateful to be able to do what we have done.”
La Feria finished with 107 points, second to just Canyon High, which tallied 40. In cross country, the team with the lowest score wins. San Elizario finished third with 147.
Leading the charge for the Lions were two of their freshmen runners, twin siblings Armando and Anthony Morales. Armando, the Region IV-4A individual champ, finished 17th with a time of 16 minutes, 40.1 seconds, followed by Anthony, the District 32-4A individual champ, in 18th with a time of 16:40.9.
Two juniors and the team’s lone senior rounded out the Lions’ top five, leading La Feria to the silver. Juniors Evan Torres (17:05.8) and Christopher Velazquez (17:40.3) finished 31st and 60th, respectively, with senior Julian Dominguez (17:37.9) coming in 58th.
With four of their top five runners set to return, along with freshman Nathan Salinas and junior Benjamin Lara, the Lions have their eyes set on continuing to raise the bar next season.
“The message is the same for everybody now. We’re not going to stay complacent with what we do,” Zuvieta said. “We’re not going to worry about external noises outside. We’re just going to continue to do what we do. Our motto is simple. We don’t dream of winning; we train for it. We’re going to stick to that. We’re not going to stay complacent with being happy with what we did. We know we have to come back. We’re going to have a bigger target on us now, but we’re going to continue hitting it.”
Outside of the Lions’ team finish, four individuals earned spots in the top 10 in their respective classes Friday. The top 10 finishers from each class earn medals during the state meet.
Edinburg North’s San Juanita Leal highlighted the top individual performance of the day, finishing fourth (17:57.70) in the Class 6A girls 5,000-meter run to improve her finish from last year by 19 spots.
Lewisville Flower Mound took home the top three spots in the race, with Nichole Humphries (17:36.40) coming in first followed by Samantha Humphries (17:36.40) and Alexandra Fox (17:48.60).
La Feria’s Liana Navarro added more hardware for the Valley, finishing sixth in the Class 4A girls 3,200-meter run in 11:46.20. Her finish tops her placing during last year’s state meet, in which she finished seventh.
“I’m very happy with the way I finished,” Navarro said. “I’ve been able to improve every year. I’ve worked for that. I’m just happy that I’ve been able to keep on going and be healthy. … Next year I hope to get top five. I’m hoping to improve at least one more spot. It’ll be my senior year, so I have to end it well and healthy.”
Santa Maria’s Mia Picazo was the fourth Valley runner to earn a top 10 spot Friday, finishing 10th in the Class 2A girls 3,200-meter run. She clocked in at 13:00.70.
The UIL State Cross Country Championships continue at 8:30 a.m. today featuring runners from Class 3A, 5A and 1A. Class 3A takes the stage first, followed by Class 5A at 10 a.m. and Class 1A at 11:40 a.m.
For full results of Day 1 of the UIL State Cross Country Championships visit RGVSports.com.
