If the Permian boys cross country team was needing an extra boost of confidence before going into district next week, it certainly got it after finishing first as a team at the Odessa Invitational Thursday at UTPB Park.
The Panthers finished with a team score of 50, beating out Lubbock Monterey which finished second with 67 and Lubbock High which took third with 84 points.
Permian’s Devin Merrill finished third as an individual, clocking in with a time of 15 minutes and 49.3 seconds.
His teammates Dylan Chico and Braden Young finished eighth and ninth, respectively in times of 16:09. And 16:12.8.
“Every single one of our guys finished with a personal record. I can’t even put words together of how well they did and how fast they ran. They’re a strong group. It’s a young group. We have a bunch of sophomores. I have another two years with them and I’m excited for them. It was a great race for them.”
Torres said the team has been trying to stay together as a group during practice.
“We’ve been working on trying to stay as a group in practice and trying to stay together,” Torres said. “If we can stay together as a group, we can cut some places down and hopefully get to regionals. But the focus right now is just staying together and pushing each other throughout the race.”
Odessa High took fourth as a team with 108 points as Jordan Flotte led the team with a 15thplace finish in 16:26.8.
His teammate Alex Camacho was only two places behind at 16:37.3
“I think we did a little bit better than what we’ve done all season,” Odessa High head coach Ron Promesse said. “We’re looking forward to district and hoping we can be in the top three to qualify for regionals.”
The District 2-6A meet will take place at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 12 at UTPB Park.
“That should be a good benefit since the kids should be very familiar with this course after just running it today,” Promesse said.
Lubbock High’s Elias Gonzalez placed first as an individual, clocking in at 15:22.7 for his first victory of the season.
He was able to get past Presidio’s Eddie Eduardo (who finished in a time of 15:28.7) as the two battled it out for most of the race.
“Throughout the whole race I knew someone was behind me so I tried not to look behind me,” Gonzalez said. I did about twice and knew that he was going to be on me but as soon as I got the last 800, I tried to kick it in and everyone was saying I needed to go and telling him to go too and he was right behind me. I guess that last 200, I kept it steady and then at the final straightaway, that’s when I gave it everything I had.”
Alpine’s Cason Hatfield took fourth in a time of 15:51.6 while Lubbock Monterey’s Grayson Hastings was fifth at 15:51.8.
