ROUND ROCK – Boerne Champion wrapped up its 2025 cross country season last Friday morning by having both its varsity teams place top 10 in the state.
Champion was seventh in the 5A boys race, while the Lady Chargers were 10th in the final team standings at Friday’s race held at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock on Halloween morning.
The future looks bright for Champion because the Chargers had 14 runners in both races combined, and only one was a senior, so 13 who participated in Friday’s race should return next fall.
Champion coach Sheila West said she’s excited about the future.
“We’re losing Adan Valdez, our one senior, but everyone else is coming back,” she said. “I think that’s going to be big for us, they learned what it takes to get here and have that knowledge.”
Varsity Boys
Champion’s top five finishers were juniors after Shawn Edwards placed 23 in 16:23.9, Sebastian Carvallo came in 33rd in 16:31.3, Brandon Martinez posted a 16:46.7 for 45th, Mason Nelson was two spots back in 47th with a time of 16:50.4 and Noah Moreno finished 49th in 16:51.3 after three Chargers were within six spots of each other.
“We made changes and talked about group running and what it was going to do for us, and they bought in and their consistency and teamwork has been what is clutch for them,” West said.
Senior Adan Valdez recorded a 17:11.9 for 68th and sophomore Abhiram Bhogireddy rounded out the team after he clocked in at 17:35.8 for 86th.
West said she was proud of their strong finish to end the 2025 season.
“They hadn’t been ranked in the top 10 in any poll all season and for us to end up seventh is amazing,” she said. “They definitely have overachieved, and they’re a young group too, almost an inexperienced group when you talk about varsity level experience.”
Grapevine won the 5A boys title with 63 points, McAllen came in second at 114 and Weslaco East took third with 129 points.
Austin Anderson’s Colby Huntress won the individual title after he posted a 15:06.8 for gold, Dayton’s Jaxon Asbill was second in 15:10.3 and Tyler Connelly of Aledo placed third in 15:10.8 in the field of 152 runners.
Varsity Girls
The Lady Chargers tallied 238 points for 10th overall, 15 points behind district foe New Braunfels, which finished ninth with 223 points.
There were no seniors running for the Champion girls on Friday, and three sophomores and three juniors finished the race.
“We’re very young, but they’ve had an amazing season,” West said. “We had an alternate step in within the last 10 minutes before the gun went off and she is a freshman and she did amazing. It’s been a great season.”
Sophomore Rebecca Bezerra paced the Chargers and was 14th overall with a time of 18:54.0 and junior Emma Radtke was one spot back in 15th at 18:54.5.
West said Bezerra and Radtke have been the backbone of this year’s team after they didn’t have two-time state champion Elizabeth Leachman available to run this year.
“Rebecca is very consistent and runs a great race and Emma has been clutch for us most of the season,” the coach said.
Sophomore Elena Duran came in 52nd with a time of 19:54.5, junior Luciana Zazueta Ibarra finished 68th after recording a 20:22.1, sophomore Abigail Alger clocked in at 21:03.2 for 89th and freshman Anorah Cerean placed 95th with a 21:21.5, while sophomore Addison Graham ran but didn’t finish the race.
Lucas Lovejoy won the 5A girls title with 63 points, Smithson Valley took second with 75 points and Aledo came in third with 155 points.
Eva Cragnolino of Austin LASA won the individual title with a time of 17:47.1, Aledo’s Molly Garrison finished second after posting a 17:53.5 and freshman Haylee Hughes of Lake Creek came in third with a 17:56.8 in the field of 149 runners.
Comment
Comments