RESILIENT - For People and Systems: The capacity to bounce back, adapt, and remain successful or mentally well after experiencing stress, illness, trauma, or a setback

Resilient...that is what your Lytle Pirate Cross Country (XC) team was on Oct. 27 at the UIL Region IV Cross Country Championships at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. We knew the weather would not cooperate...but it was not going to cooperate for anyone. I told them before we ran that we would fall down...the question that they would have to answer is how fast you can get up and get back in the race. We fell...along with everybody else on that course, but we held our composure for the most part and accomplished what we set out to do. Make it back to State for the fifth time in the last six years for the girls and the ninth straight trip for the boys.

With only five, the minimum for a team, the girls accomplished a huge goal of advancing to State after having many setbacks through the year and wondering if we would even have a team in the first place.  After finishing as the fourth best 3A school at the Islander meet in Mid-September, I knew that if we did have a team, that we would be good enough to get there. I told them this is what we train for, that we are built for this! And that not only can we make it, but that we were more than capable of getting on that medal stand if they all would just stay calm, push through and use our experience. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY DID! Annalise got a great start, but about a ¼ mile out she struggled through the mud and fell about six times in the same spot, which obviously would get to you a bit, but she eventually shook it off to finish a courageous 26th place. Now...everyone else had to step up, and Elyse Cortinas took the first step as she finished 12th (ALL-REGION-Top 15th) to begin filling that gap. Then I knew we were in a good spot when I saw the other three (Sophie, Kaycee, and Addison) all running together looking calm.  They stayed together for most of the way and EARNED that spot on that medal stand. It was a GREAT TEAM EFFORT, and I am so proud of them for learning that no matter what happens, as long as they stay strong and remember who they are, they can get through anything.

The boys got one step closer to achieving their ultimate goal of trying to 3-PEAT as STATE CHAMPIONS.  They got out quickly through the mud to get away from the traffic jam that would occur in the beginning of the course, and they positioned themselves nicely to capture their FIFTH STRAIGHT REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AND SEVENTH OF THE LAST EIGHT.  Jacob Cantu battled one of the best runners in the area in all classifications, Jayce Love (Marion), to capture second. Not far behind him was Adrian Reyna who finished fourth, and joined Jacob on the medal stand, Nathan Garza 13th and Jaden Castro 14th all finished as ALL-REGION (Top 15). It is the fourth consecutive year that we have had four boy athletes finish in the top 15. Two other schools had multiple athletes in the top 15 as both SA Cole and Progresso each had two with both those schools advancing as well. All seven boys (Frank Cantu-18th, Sebastian Garcia-23rd, Shawn Robinette-28th) finished in the top 30 to comfortably run away with the title.

Both teams now have one week left to get themselves ready for the one race we have trained all summer and fall for...the UIL 3A STATE XC MEET.

BUILT FOR THIS

Thanks to Mrs. Wagner and Mrs. Reyna for providing the pictures in the link below:
REGIONAL XC PICTURES 2026

Official results in link below:
Uil-3a-region-4-2026/results

Lytle Team Results below:
Varsity Girls 3rd/23
12th Elyse Cortinas (All-Region)
26th Annalise Quintanilla
31st Sophia Herrera
32nd Kaycee Galindo
44th Addison Wagner
169 Runners

Varsity Boys 1st/24
2nd Jacob Cantu (All-Region)
4th Adrian Reyna (All-Region)
13th Nathan Garza (All-Region)
14th Jaden Castro (All-Region)
18th Frank Cantu    
23rd Sebastian Garcia
28th Shawn Robinette
175 Runners

- Coach Ruiz