McALLEN — Friday nights in Texas normally belong to high school football, with fans and athletes packing stadiums across the state. This Friday, however, the attention belonged to cross country in the RGV.
Under the bright lights of the McAllen Sports Complex, runners from across the Valley competed in the Friday Night Lights Bulldogs’ Cross Country Invitational.
“I wish we could do more of these,” McAllen Memorial’s Ayden Granados said. “It is a lot better than running in the sun. I don’t care what time we start, but when it’s 9 a.m. it’s, like, 100 degrees. Tonight, it was, like, 80. It just felt amazing.”
Granados and Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Naia Gracia delivered highlight performances during Friday’s meet, taking home gold in the boys and girls 5,000-meter runs, respectively.
Despite running with a cut on his left thigh and blisters on his feet, Granados set a personal best, finishing in 15 minutes 28.5 seconds, nearly 19 seconds faster than the next competitor. Harlingen High’s Dominick Luna (15:46.8) and McAllen Memorial’s Diego DeLeon (16:05.6) finished second and third, respectively.
“I feel good even though I was hurting,” Granados said. “Two days before we did a trial run, and I got a massive blister on my legs. I ran with a little blister cover, but it came off during the third mile. But I felt amazing running that.”
Gracia also set a personal record, finishing in 18:57.5 to top her previous best of 19:07.6 set last season. The victory marks the first of the season for Gracia, beating Harlingen High’s Ayianna Olivas (19:01.4) and Harlingen South’s Alexis Fonseca (19:02.9), who finished second and third, respectively.
While Gracia and Granados earned individual wins, Sharyland High dominated the team championships, with both the boys and girls coming out on top.
Nathan Salinas and Patricio Garza paced the boys team to victory, finishing in 16:21.4 and 16:23.9 for sixth and seventh, respectively.
Meanwhile, the girls’ top five runners all finished in the top 15, highlighted by Cecilia Cavazos and Albeza Heredia. Cavazos finished seventh overall in 19:55.5, and Heredia came in ninth (20:18.2).
Week 2 of the cross country season continued Saturday morning, with Kenneth White Junior High playing host to the 11th annual Mission “Fly like an Eagle” Invitational.
La Feria’s girls team flexed its muscles once again, capturing the team championship for a second straight week. The Lions took home the team crown during last week’s Yellow Jacket Invitational in Elsa.
“The team is doing so good,” La Feria’s Liana Navarro said. “Last year we just did two-mile meets and JV stuff. Now we’re coming out here and doing so good against the big schools. I’m just so proud and happy to see them keeping up and not giving up.”
Navarro paced the way for La Feria once again, picking up her second win of the season with ease, finishing 44 seconds ahead of the next closest competitor. Navarro clocked in at 20:06.1, with Laredo United South’s Kailey Salazar (20:50.91) and Edcouch-Elsa’s Rebecca Davila (21:10.05) coming in second and third, respectively.
“In the beginning, the front was very crowded because there was a really tight corner,” Navarro said. “Once I saw I had an opening, I chose to make my move and create distance. All the other miles I just tried to make a bigger and bigger gap.
“This is really helping me build confidence for the bigger meets coming up ahead. I hope to just keep doing this and getting more confidence and experience going into those meets.”
While Navarro added another gold medal to her collection, Weslaco East’s Aaron Nava picked up his first career win, finishing in 17:12.24 in the boys 5,000-merer run.
The Wildcats freshman broke away from the pack during the final leg of the race, creating more than 10 seconds of separation after being neck and neck with Mission Veterans’ Manny Flores and Donna North’s Benjamin Rubio, who finished second and third, respectively.
“I was pretty confident I could be for sure in the top five,” Nava said. “The rest was just mental throughout the race. I tried to stay with it and not lose focus. Then that kick at the end, well, pain is temporary, I just had to fight through that.”
For full team results and top-10 finishers from each event click here.
