Lytle Independent School District

“For every finish-line tape a runner breaks – complete with the cheers of the crowd and the clicking of hundreds of cameras – there are the hours of hard and often lonely work that rarely gets talked about.”  

– Grete Waitz 

September 26, 2020, the Junior High Cross Country traveled to the FEAST course to compete in their first true two-mile race of the season. Today was not about medals and winning the race but about learning what two miles in competition is like. With 127 girls on the start line and 158 boys, the runners learned the importance of having a good start. 

The ladies started the festivities for the day running at 11am under a nice blanket of clouds and occasional drizzle during the race. It was quite different from the heat of Bandera. This time, the Junior High ran as a team and were not divided into 7th and 8th Grade. The team finished in 9th place out of 12 teams. The results for the race: 

Name - Time - Place 

Klayre Cook - 14:55 - 29th 

Kiki Sanchez - 16:31 - 58th 

Valentina Ayala - 16:47 - 60th 

Giselle Esparza - 17:28 - 75th 

Lunna Reyes - 18:07 - 89th 

Keira Gutierrez - 19:14 - 98th 

Isabella Sewell - 20:57 - 106th 

Shea Merrell - 23:52 - 122nd 

The boys ran the last race of the day and put the exclamation mark on the day. We started the day with the High School boys and girls both running new Personal Records and having Maurissa Lopez win the girls' two-mile race. The boys team finished 3rd out of 15 teams being bested by only Bulverde Academy and Seguin. The boys' team was not at full strength either which shows the strength of the team. Chase Guevarra joined us this year from Corpus Christi and ran in his first race. The pace was fast with the fastest runner completing the two miles in 10:30. Chase just missed a medal by two places but he is a great addition to the Cross Country family. The results for the race: 

Name - Time - Place 

Johnny Alvarez - 12:14 - 9th – Medalist 

Luke Estrada - 12:21 - 15th – Medalist 

Chase Guevarra - 12:35 - 17th 

Antonio Castro - 13:15 - 32nd 

Tristan Lopez - 14:05 - 67th 

Diego Reyna - 14:06 - 69th 

Alex Rios - 14:11 - 70th 

Bryan Montez - 14:51 - 83rd 

Noah Merrell - 16:22 - 119th 

Tristan when he finished after racing Diego said he wasn’t going to be beat by a 7th Grader. Whatever a runner needs to make them faster. Noah Merrell at Bandera ran his first mile in 10:37. He is at practice and works hard every day. His first mile time at FEAST was 7:54. 

Thanks again to all who support these athletes. I appreciate the support of the bus drivers. We are trying to social distance by taking two busses. One for the High School and one for the Junior High. Saturday Ms. Cassandra drove us to the Meet. Thank you so much.  

“Let us, then, be up and doing, with a heart for any fate; 

Still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait.”  

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow