San Diego's Joey Barrera edges Hebbronville's Custer to win regional cross country title

(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)

The Class 3A boys 5K produced some of the best drama of the Region IV Cross Country Championships at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Dugan Stadium on Tuesday.

Hebbronville's Gary Custer, who was unbeaten in competition this season, entered the chute alongside San Diego's Joey Barrera and Lytle's Johnny Rey Alvarez.

The Hebbronville senior seemed to have a leg up in the final 10 meters, but Barrera overtook him in his final strides to win the regional crown by less than one second. Barrera would clock 16:29.53 while Cuter crossed in 16:30.38.

While it was the third straight state qualification for Custer, Barrera made it for the first time, finally catching his nemesis after the two had run in several of the same meets all season.

"Gary is an amazing runner and he has pushed me to my limits and today I wanted it. I wanted to go after that. I was chasing Gary the whole time. We battled and battled and I pulled through," Barrera said. "Coming into the chute, I was third and I knew I had to go. I was right there. 'I can take this.' "

San Diego coach Alex Tunchez said that it came down to belief and hard work. From the beginning of the season to Tuesday's regional meet, Tunchez said Barrera has slowly gained on Custer, after starting the season more than a minute off his pace.

"His goal was state," Tunchez said. "He told me 'Coach, whatever it takes, I'll do whatever you ask me to do.' He is a testament to what happens when you work hard. In cross country you can't fake being good. You have to work at it.

"It shows. It is a testament to what he has done all year. Nothing special, just working hard and belief in the system."

The Class 3A boys race was fruitful for Corpus Christi area runners. Custer finished second and Mathis' Dominic Padron was seventh.

"It was close and I kind of slowed down and didn't really run through the finish line," Custer said. "I'm going to work hard the next two weeks and hopefully pop out at state. Since last year, I've been looking at and planning for this year."

Padron also returns to the state meet.

"I finally set a PR with a 16 (minute time)," Padron said. "I've been trying to break that for three years now. It was a good day for all of us. I like this course. Knowing it is two laps around. I like the new hill that they added. Hopefully in two weeks I can get down to a 16:30 and get Top 10."

More: UIL cross country: Shane Stawar, Bianca Bosquez lead Corpus Christi qualifiers for state

Breaking through

Carroll sophomore Elaina Lucido improved by 16 spots from 2023 to finish in the top 10 in the Class 5A girls 5K race. Lucido's positioning claimed a state berth for the Tigers' distance runner.

"It was definitely a little hotter, since we ran a little later in the day," said Lucido, who finished ninth (19:14.22). "Since it is a new course, we were able to come and practice here so we knew where the miles were and where to push."

Lucido said that the addition of Alice in the district this realignment helped her because the competition with Coyotes' sophomore Aubrey Garcia pushed her.

Garcia also qualified for state despite moving from Class 4A to Class 5A this season, stretching the course distance from a 3,200-meter course to 5K. Garcia finished 16th overall.

More: Corpus Christi high school cross country: 2024 Region IV Meet Results

Lucido was the first Corpus Christi girls runner to finish inside the Top 10 in Class 5A at the regional meet since Calallen's Brooke Barrington and Carroll's Jolyssa Cortez in 2017.

In Class 3A, Bishop's Kaydence Schroeder earned the only area berth at state with a 17th-place finish.

The McMullen County girls won the Class 1A team title with six runners inside the Top 10, while the school's boys team finished second.

Region IV Cross Country Championships

at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Dugan Stadium

CLASS 5A

BOYS

Team standings: 1. Weslaco East 69; 2. McAllen 80; 3. Boerne 80; 4. Boerne Champion 94; 5. Leander 157; 6. New Braunfels 221; 7. Donna 241; 8. Cedar Park 252; 9. Liberty Hill 258; 10. McAllen Memorial 305

Individual standings: 1. Nathan Salinas, Sharyland, 15:52.47; 2. Charlie Houck, Champion, 15:56.69; 3. Gage Horejsi, Leander, 16:08.71; 4. Carsten Bain, Boerne, 16:22.28; 5. Roehl Rodriguez, McAllen Memorial, 16:25.54; 6. Channon Davis, SA Wagner, 16:25.74; 7. Alexander Nava, Weslaco East, 16:29.60; 8. Aaron Nava, Weslaco East, 16:32.44; 9. Valor Menn, Boerne, 16:36.16; 10. Ethan Herrera, Lockhart, 16:36.75

Other state qualifiers: 11. David Zuniga, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:38.77; 13. Javier Ramirez, Eagle Pass Winn, 16:40.40; 15. Malik Dekli, Leander, 16:46.90; 19. Kai Sepulveda, Harlingen South, 16:52.60; 23. Juan Aguinaga Jr., Edcouch-Elsa, 16:58.91

GIRLS

Team standings: 1. Smithson Valley 39; 2. McAllen 79; 3. Boerne Champion 125; 4. Laredo Nixon 177; 5. New Braunfels 202; 6. Liberty Hill 212; 7. Leander 220; 8. La Joya Palmview 240; 9. Mission Sharyland 283; 10. Corpus Christi Carroll 295

Individual standings: 1. Brady Solnasky, SV, 18:05.58; 2. Dana Rojas Vazquez, McAllen, 18:20.82; 3. Savana Moya, New Braunfels, 18:43.57; 4. Kenzi Ramirez, McAllen, 18:45.11; 5. Lilly Koenig, SV, 18:58.23; 6. Yazmin Guerra, PSJA Southwest, 19:04.73; 7. Genesis Ramirez, La Joya Palmview, 19:13.27; 8. Dana Rodriguez, Edinburg Vela, 19:13.61; 9. Elaina Lucido, CC Carroll 19:14.22; 10. Mia Perez, Smithson Valley, 19:18.86

Other state qualifiers: 13. Sofia Lauren Garza, Mission Sharyland 19:32.57; 17. Laura Jonas, Liberty Hill, 19:44.35; 19. Aubrey Garcia, Alice, 19:56.83; 20. Emerald Aguirre, SA Southside, 19:57.36; 21. JJ Arellano, Leander Rouse, 20:08.37

CLASS 3A

BOYS

Team standings: 1. Lytle 60; 2. SA Great Hearts Norhtern Oaks 128; 3. Vanguard Rembrandt 140; 4. Altair Rice 150; 5. Progresto 154; 6. IDEA Pharr 210; 7. IDEA Brownsville Frontier 243; 8. San Antonio Cole 253; 9. IDEA Weslaco Pike 259; 10. Mathis 268

Individual standings: 1. Joey Barrera, San Diego, 16:29.53; 2. Gary Custer, Hebbronville, 16:30.38; 3. Johnny Rey Alvarez, Lytle, 16:33.79; 4. Joel Telles, ISEA Wslaco Pike, 16:52.71; 5. Krish Vijayvergia, GH Northern Oaks, 16:53.31; 6. Mario Luna, Vanguard Rembrandt, 16:56.37; 7. Dominic Padron, Mathis, 16:57.30; 8. Cooper Warrick, Stockdale, 16:59.56; 9. Aaron Miranda, Vanguard Rembrandt, 17:00.71; 10. Lucas Salazar, Lytle, 17:06.52

Other state qualifiers: 12. Nathan Villarreal, Progreso, 17:18.96; 13. Ilias Braxton, SA Cole, 17:21.55; 18. Martin Villarreal, Progreso, 17:35.36; 19. Raul Delgado, IDEA Pharr, 17:35.85; 20. Victor Reyna, IDEA Weslaco Pike, 17:37.17

GIRLS

Team standings: 1. Poth 95; 2. San Antonio Cole 114; 3. Hondo 132; 4. Vanderbilt Industrial 160; 5. Universal City Randolph 160; 6. Stockdale 176; 7. Lytle 190; 8. SA Great Hearts Northern Oaks 205; 9. Progreso 234; 10. Yoakum 265

Individual standings: 1. Sophia Bendet, Randolph, 11:19.74; 2. Aubrey Milam, Randolph, 12:01.86; 3. Brooklyn Albert, Poth 12:37.49; 4. Peyton Keller, Stockdale, 12:55.76; 5. Elizabeth Felcman, Hallettsville, 12:58.41; 6. Katherine Zinnante, Cole, 13:03.49; 7. Kate Simons, Industrial, 13:05.91; 8. Madison Teague, GH Northern Oaks, 13:08.74; 9. Desiny Villegas, SA Cole, 13:13.45; 10. Rylee Ellis, Poth 13:16.32

Other state qualifiers: 11. Juliet Alcott, GH Northern Oaks, 13:18.96; 12. Svetlana Lopez, Lytle, 13:27.26; 13. Meadow Guillen, Luling, 13:28.12; 16. Naomi Cotero, IDEA Pharr, 13:36.12; 17. Kaydence Schroeder, Bishop, 13:37.76

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: San Diego's Joey Barrera edges Hebbronville's Custer to win regional cross country title