Irion County girls, Menard's Danni Ruiz take 1A cross country state titles
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The Irion County girls cross country team won the Class 1A gold medal, while Menard’s Danni Ruiz won individual state title on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock.
Ruiz finished the 2-mile course with a time of 11-minutes and 35-seconds to earn gold in the Class 1A race, beating out Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard silver medal time by 13 seconds.
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The Lady Hornets won the Class 1A team gold medal with 52 points after having five runners place in the top 36. Their first-place finish was 62 points ahead of second place McMullen County.
This was the first state title in cross country for the Irion County girls team, and the first state championship for Menard.
Madeline Skelton led the way for the Lady Hornets with a fourth-place finish in 12:05, followed by Faryn Callaway (sixth, 12:06), Presley Parker (12th, 12:30), Reese Rey (20th, 12:50), Natilee Hernandez (36th, 13:05), Harper McDowell (52nd, 13:21) and Bradie Garza (111th, 14:36).
Menard finished fourth in the team standings. Taytum Chambless (26th, 12:58), Mackenzie Wright (72nd, 13:39), Channing Chambless (73rd, 13:40), Isabelle Devine (78th, 13:45) and Aerie Meddaugh (128th, 15:14) were the other runners for Menard.
Other West Texas, San Angelo-area girls competing at state included Eden’s Rylinn Robertson (46th, 13:16), Blackwell’s Addison Dove (49th, 13:17) and Sterling City’s Brooklyn Oleksiuk (84th, 13:51).
On the boys side, Irion County’s Parker Kramer won silver with a time of 16-minutes and 27-seconds on the 5,000-meter course. He only trailed Roby senior Camden Lummus by nine seconds.
Kramer led Irion County to a ninth-place finish in the team standings. George Sanchez (66th, 18:57), River Braddock (83rd, 19:22), Aiden Aldrete (89th, 19:34), Landen Aldrete (125th, 20:53), Nathan Garcia (133rd, 21:21) and Zane Jackson (142nd, 22:23) also competed for the Hornets.
Eden’s Jorge Mendez also had a top 10 finish by taking eighth place in 17:07.
Garden City was seventh in the team standings. Thomas Hilliger was the top runner for the Bearkats with a 19th-place finish in 17:44. Kannon Flores (37th, 18:10), Korbin Cervantes (60th, 18:46), Cooper Baker (108th, 19:54), Clayton Hillger (130th, 21:06), Cade Baker (142nd, 22:07) and Rene Cano (147th, 22:23) were the other runners for Garden City.
Other West Texas, San Angelo-area runners in the field included Bronte’s Colton Bilyeu (12th, 17:21), Eden’s Joseph Clarke (47th, 18:18) and Veribest’s Michael Beavers (57th, 18:39).
UIL State Cross Country Results
Old Settler's Park, Round Rock
Class 1A
BOYS (5K)
Team standings — 1. Tilden McMullen County, 60; 2. Garner, 123; 3. Comstock, 155; 4. Cumby Miller Grove, 161; 5. Clyde Eula, 164; 6. Graford, 207; 7. Garden City HS, 225; 8. Zephyr, 229; 9. Saint Jo, 230; 10. Mertzon Irion County, 235; 11. Rankin, 238; 12. Petersburg, 248; 13. Booker, 293; 14. Jayton, 299; 15. Hartley, 316; 16. Rocksprings, 341.
Individual results — 1. Camden Lummus, Roby, 16:18.10; 2. Parker Kramer, Mertzon Irion County, 16:27.10; 3. Jager Worrell, Cumby Miller Grove, 16:38.40; 4. Brett Macias, Port Neches-Groves, 16:39.00; 5. Jaden Boen, Clyde Eula, 16:50.10; 6. Gael Alvarez, Booker, 16:56.10; 7. Spencer Marwitz, Zephyr, 17:05.30; 8. Jorge Mendez, Eden, 17:07.20; 9. Jet Doyle, Tilden McMullen County, 17:15.00; 10. Graysen Serrata, Tilden McMullen County, 17:15.80.
GIRLS (2 miles)
Team standings — 1. Mertzon Irion County, 52; 2. Tilden McMullen County, 114; 3. Guthrie HS, 127; 4. Menard, 150; 5. Zephyr, 154; 6. Saltillo, 196; 7. Texline, 205; 8. Clyde Eula, 207; 9. Saint Jo, 234; 10. Cumby Miller Grove, 256; 11. Turkey Valley, 256; 12. Buena Vista, 262; 13. Rising Star, 274; 14. White Deer, 302; 15. Jonesboro, 320; 16. Moulton, 364.
Individual results — 1. Danni Ruiz, Menard, 11:35.20; 2. Mattie Broussard, Bellevue, 11:48.40; 3. Lulu Sanchez, Buena Vista, 11:57.60; 4. Madeline Skelton, Mertzon Irion County, 12:05.50; 5. Lynlee Deats, Jonesboro, 12:06.60; 6. Faryn Callaway, Mertzon Irion County, 12:06.80; 7. Harper Hunt, Guthrie HS, 12:08.30; 8. Kyla Slaughter, Happy, 12:21.90; 9. Laikyn Serrata, Tilden McMullen County, 12:22.70; 10. Saige Shanklin, Rocksprings, 12:24.70.
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Irion County girls, Menard's Danni Ruiz take 1A cross country state titles