Montes, Vega pace Pearsall CC in Castroville

By Manuel Azocar III - Sports Writer/Managing Editor | August 30, 2023

MEDINA VALLEY INVITATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY MEET

Angelyna Montes.

Competing at yet another large and competitive event, the Pearsall Mavs cross country team finished 11th in a field of 18 teams at the Medina Valley Cross Country Invitational in Castroville last Saturday.
Romeo Vega led the team as he was 18th overall while Angelyna Montes was ninth for the Lady Mavs.
“This was another test for our squads in a competitive meet and a tough hilly course,” PHS Head Coach Ricky Medrano said. “I believe we are trending in the right direction as we go forward.
“We made a couple of key mental mistakes in the middle of the varsity boys’ race that cost us in the later end of the race. We didn’t get the end result we were looking for, but the competitiveness was there at the end.”
Medrano said his team’s inexperience is still showing but hopes that with each meet they will come together and execute at a level he thinks they could be at.
“Our boys team is still inexperienced and they are still learning how to execute racing strategies, once we get clicking and realize how great we can be as a team,” he said. “The sooner our performance is going to improve.
The coach was impressed by the continued improvement from his freshman Lady Mavs’ runner.
“On the varsity girls’ side, we were still short runners to score as a team, however we had another strong, impressive performance by freshman Angelyna Montes, leading the group,” he said. “I’m proud of the way she went out there and competed by running hard and smart, showing mental toughness at the end of the race.
“It’s just her second race into her high school career and she has proven she can hang with the top girl runners in our region and I only see her improving each and every week as the season progresses.”
Boys results are as follows: Romeo Vega, 18th place, 18:41.7, Dylan Ortiz, 47th, 19:49.0, Jonathan Viesca, 49th, 19:53.0, Jose Ortegon, 73rd, 20:28.9, Ayden Rodriguez, 84th, 21:18.3, Jevan Torres, 88th, 21:24.4.
Girls’ results are as follows: Angelyna Montes, 9th, 13:39.2, Sarah Brady, 53rd, 15:54.0, Izaely Ovalle, 78th, 17:12.5.
JV boys’ results: CJ Garza, 46th, 21:23.8, JJ Torres, 53rd, 21:40.0, Marc Ramirez, 70th, 22:17.1, Urijah Velasquez, 100th, 23:23.8, Aiden Lucio, 179th, 27:58.5.
JV girls’ results: Savannah Jasso, 169th, 19:48.5, Cora Rogers, 170th, 19:49.7, Carina Martinez, 180th, 20:24.5.
Pearsall will be in action at the inaugural Robert C. Salazar Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, September 2 at Dilley’s Gosch Field.
“I’m excited for this upcoming meet in Dilley,” Medrano said. “We will finally have a full girls team and will be able to see what we can do as a team in our first meet together.”