HARLINGEN — Harlingen High’s boys and girls cross country teams delivered a dominant showing during Friday’s District 32-6A cross country championships at the Harlingen Sports Complex, with both teams claiming the individual and team titles for a second straight year.
A swarm of red was all fans saw when finishers started rolling in during the girls race, with six of the top seven finishers coming from Harlingen High.
Leading the way was Juliana Garcia, who took home the individual title with a time of 19 minutes, 17.2 seconds. The victory marked the first district title for the sophomore distance runner, improving from second place last season.
Garcia was followed by juniors Stephanie Suarez and Brianna Venegas, who came in second and third, respectively. Irene Ramirez, Mylee Martinez and Kaitlyn Camacho came in fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, with Destiny Duran coming in 10th to secure top-10 finishes for all seven of the Cardinals’ runners.
In the boys race, senior Osbel Cisneros captured his first district title, finishing in 16:22.5. Cisneros finished sixth during last year’s meet.
Cisneros was one of six Cardinals to finish in the top 10, with their seventh runner finishing just outside in 11th. Zachary Lamar and Jaylen Bravo each added top-five finishes, coming in fourth and fifth, respectively.
In District 31-6A, Edinburg North’s San Juanita Leal and Alexis Rodriguez took home the top spot in the girls and boys races, respectively, making it a sweep of the individual titles by the Cougars.
Leal recorded her second-best time of the season en route to first, clocking in at 17:42.8 for her third straight District 31-6A title.
Rodriguez followed Leal by winning the boys race in dominant fashion, coming in nearly 30 seconds faster than Mission High’s Josue Cisneros to secure back-to-back district titles. Rodriguez finished in 15:58.3, with Cisneros clocking in at 16:27.9.
While the Cougars swept the individual titles, Edinburg Economedes came out on top in the team standings during both the boys and girls races.
Senior Maddison Surita led the girls to the team championship, finishing second in 18:03.5, and Jesus H. Rodriguez was the boys top finisher, coming in third with a time of 16:34.9.
For full individual and team results from this week’s district cross country action across the RGV, visit www.rgvsports.com.
