Cross country: Hernandez, OHS boys advance to regionals

LUBBOCK There never was a question about who was going to win the boys individual title Thursday in the District 2-5A Cross Country Championships at Mae Simmons Park.

Permian sophomore David Hernandez made sure the same was true about the runner-up spot.

With Lubbock Coronado's Donovan Torres blazing to the title in 15 minutes, 36 seconds, on the three-mile course, Hernandez made a good account of himself by taking second in 16:35 - four seconds faster than the third-place finisher.

"I'm so happy," Hernandez said. "I was hoping for the top five, but I wasn't too sure if I could pull that off. (The race) kind of started off slow and I was just trying to hold my pace the whole way. All that hard work, it finally paid off."

By virtue of his finish, Hernandez qualified for the Region I-5A Championships, scheduled for Nov. 8 back at Mae Simmons Park. The top 10 individual finishers and top three teams earn regional berths.

Hernandez will be going as an individual based on Permian's fifth-place team finish, but he won't be the only ECISD entry next week.

Odessa High's boys claimed the third and final berth with 102 points, well ahead of fourth-place Amarillo High's 119. Amarillo Tascosa, by having individuals sweep from fourth through seventh, easily won the boys team title with 44 points while Lubbock Coronado was second with 85.

"We didn't perform very good, but I'm still very happy for the team," said OHS senior Eric Carrasco, who led his team with a 14th-place showing. "We still tried our hardest. We have to work more as a team and get more packed up."

Ryan Herrera followed Carrasco in 16th and Edwar Zubiate was 21st. Also, Kaleb Neptune was 25th and Maurilio Pando was 26th to round out the OHS team scoring.

Not far behind for the Bronchos was Adam Fuentez in 28th and Manuel Cruz in 29th, though head coach Randy Thompson said his team needs a faster start for better results next week.

"They have to have that drive to get out fast and that's what happened," Thompson said. "They did not get out and then at the mile mark they're trying to play catch up and then they're wearing themselves out. We had too many people passing us at the end and that's where we should be passing."

Hernandez didn't let anyone get by him and his Permian teammates - many of them running on the varsity for the first time at district - showed promise in their fifth-place finish with 135 points.

Jose Gonzales followed in 20th, Tony La was 34th, Daniel Hernandez took 37th and Ricardo Chavarria was Permian's last scoring runner in 42nd.

While they won't get to go on, Hernandez made sure the Permian banner will be relevant in next week's Region I-5A boys race.

"You never know what's going to happen," Hernandez said. "It's three whole miles. One slip, one trip can change the whole race. Next week I'm going to have to dig real deep. It's possible, but it will be hard."