Marble Falls runners shine as top finishers at district meet

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  Contributed/ Daniel Clifton Marble Falls freshman Reese Massey takes individual silver in the girls varsity race at the District 244A meet to advance to the regional meet for the first time.

  Contributed/ Daniel Clifton Marble Falls freshman Reese Massey takes individual silver in the girls varsity race at the District 244A meet to advance to the regional meet for the first time.
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  Marble Falls runners Graham Goggans (left) and Owen Martin look to finish the district race strong.

  Marble Falls runners Graham Goggans (left) and Owen Martin look to finish the district race strong.

While this year’s District 24-4A cross country meet had new members, the results were very similar to what they’ve always been.

Burnet punched return tickets to the Class 4A Region III meet thanks to finishing in the top three of both varsity divisions in a meet conducted Oct. 8 at Marble Falls High School.

But Marble Falls senior Tyler Hamblin earned his first individual district crown to lead the Mustangs to a silver medal as a team. He clocked 15 minutes and 54 seconds on the 5K course, 20 seconds faster than runner-up Luke Anderson of Salado.

"It's my first district title in anything,” Hamblin said. “I don’t have a word to describe it. I’ve worked so hard to get to this point. I’m excited. It’s what I want to do – to go out and lead and not lose at home in my last race on my home course.”

Mustang Graham Goggans was ninth in 17:21, Owen Martin fin ished 11th in 17:22, Brazos White was 22nd in 18:41, and Logan Hargraves was 23rd in 18:58.

“Tyler led the way,” head coach Brenda Gonzalez said. “Congrats on dominating the race, Tyler. The boys are headed to regionals – well done, gentlemen. Overall, it was a fantastic season for all 19 cross country athletes. Let’s keep having fun, keep running fast and continue this momentum into the next stage of the season.”

Before the race, Hamblin gathered with his teammates and told them Marble Falls runners perform well during district meets and have a tradition of advancing to regionals. He told them that two years ago, the Mustangs shocked the other district members by being the champions.

“This is our last race this season here,” he recalled saying. “We better make it a good one.”

The Bulldogs were third in the team standings paced by Isaias Zarate, who was fourth individually thanks to clocking 16:37. Gustavo Vegan fin ished 13th in 17:31, Isaac Vega was 15th in 17:32, Clark Yanez was 16th in 17:45, and Austin Moore was 20th in 18:21.

Salado was the team district champion.

Burnet won the junior varsity division, while Marble Falls was fourth.

The Lady Dawgs fin ished second in the varsity standings to advance to regionals. They were paced by Abby Bennight, who was eighth in the individual standings in 12:56 of the two-mile race. May Calderon clocked 13:19 to finish 10th, Marissa Aviles was done in 13:30 for 12th, Brooke Bowman crossed the line in 14:01 for 19th, and Hannah Webster clocked 14:21 to finish 28th.

Marble Falls freshman

Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

Reese Massey took silver in the individual stand- ings, finishing in 12:03.

The Lady Mustangs were sixth in the team standings. Other runners included Chloe Ellis, who was done in 13:43 for 14th, Savannah Hamblin clocked 14:30 for 31st, Ines Ruiz was 35th in 14:39, and Hadalye Her- nandez finished 48th in 15:05.

“The ladies had an outstanding season with many personal records and remarkable improvement,” Gonzalez said. “Special congratulations to Reese, who will be representing us at region- als - the first time in two years for the girls’ program. I’m excited to see what they bring in track season. The varsity girls placed sixth, an amazing accomplishment for the first girls' team in over four years.”

Massey has been training with the Mustangs, Hamblin said.

“I’ve been trying to push her,” he said. “She is very timid as a freshman. We’re trying to push her and let her know she’s good, and she can run at the next level.”

The Lady Mustangs were the runners-up in the junior varsity division, while the Lady Dawgs were third. Marble Falls runner Natalie Nagowski finished fourth in the indi vidual standings by clocking 14:11. Members of the soccer team competed with the Lady Mustangs; Natalie Nagowski took silver, and Sidney Solo- mon finished 11th.

“A huge shoutout to soccer,” Gonzalez said. “Great job ladies.”

The regional meet is Oct. 21-22 at the Kate Barr Ross Memorial Park in Huntsville.

Jennifer Fierro publishes reports about area youth athletic events on her website TexasChalkTalk.com. To send her a note, email fierrojennifer@yahoo.

com

RESULTS

BOYS Varsity

1, Tyler Hamblin (Marble Falls), 15:54; 4, Isaias Zarate (Burnet), 16:37; 9, Graham Goggans (Marble Falls), 17:21 (new personal record); 11, Owen Martin (Marble Falls),17:22 (new personal record); 13, Gustavo Vega (Burnet), 17:32; 15, Isaac Vega (Burnet), 17:32; 16, Clark Yanez (Burnet), 17:45; 20, Austin Moore (Burnet), 18:21; 22, Brazos White (Marble Falls), 18:41; 23, Logan Hargraves (Marble Falls), 18:58; 24, Colton Rutland (Marble Falls), 18:58; 24, Hunter Holder (Marble Falls), 20:06

Junior varsity

1, Adan Carreon (Burnet), 18:26; 3, Hays Bennett (Burnet), 19:11; 4, Josvanny Ramirez (Burnet), 19:22; 5, Matthew Ozuna (Marble Falls), 19:36; 6, Blake Feldt (Burnet), 19:51; 7, Christopher Hernandez (Burnet), 20:25; 8, Justin Calhoun (Burnet), 20:32; 13, Connor Yaklin (Marble Falls), 21:25; 16, Benito Bocanegra (Burnet), 21:55; 26, Landon Fletcher (Marble Falls), 23:19; 28, Santiago Gaytan (Marble Falls), 23:53; 30, Hudson Dehorty (Marble Falls), 24:10

GIRLS Varsity

2, Reese Massey (Marble Falls), 12:03; 8, Abby Bennight (Burnet), 12:56; 10, Maya Calderon (Burnet), 13:19; 12, Marissa Aviles (Burnet), 13:30; 14, Chloe Ellis (Marble Falls), 13:43 (new personal best); 19, Brooke Bowman (Burnet), 14:01; 28, Hannah Webster (Burnet), 14:21; 31, Savannah Hamblin (Marble Falls), 14:30 (new personal best); 33, Erica Flores (Burnet), 14:36; 35, Ines Ruiz (Marble Falls), 14:39; 48, Hadalye Hernandez (Marble Falls), 15:05 (new personal best); 49, Myricle Calhoun (Burnet), 15:11; 53, Abigail Henderson (Marble Falls), 16:29; 54, Katelynn Folts (Marble Falls), 20:28

Junior varsity

4, Natalie Nagowski (Marble Falls), 14:11; 11, Sidney Solomon (Marble Falls), 15:31; 12, Josie McDavid (Burnet), 15:49; 15, Naveah Perez (Burnet), 15:59; 17, Marigny Griffin (Burnet), 16:12; 18, Savannah Grif- fin (Burnet), 16:17; 19, Suzenna Perez (Marble Falls), 16:24; 20, Dulce Macias (Marble Falls), 16:26; 23, Avrie Wallace (Marble Falls), 16:39; 26, Ella Schooler (Burnet), 16:54; 27, Jaylee Messer (Burnet), 16:57; 29, Ruby Carrillo (Marble Falls), 17:03; 32, Ava Saldivar (Burnet), 17:30; 39, Ashley Ferreira (Marble Falls), 19:17