LHS Runners the Runner Up at Newton

The Redskin Cross Country teams competed in the Newton High School Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. Other teams in attendance were Andover Central, Buhler, Dodge City, El Dorado, Goddard, Hutchinson, Lawrence Free State, McPherson, Newton, Valley Center, Wamego, Wichita East, and Wichita North.

Liberal had runners competing in each of the four races of the day including Junior Varsity Boys and Girls races and Varsity Boys and Girls races. Even though it is a fairly flat course to run on, the many turns usually keep the times a little slower than expected. The course also endured almost two inches of rain in less than two hours on Friday night, making some sloppy footing on the course. The first race of the day was the Junior Varsity Boys in the 5K race. Marco Espinoza was the lone runner to receive a medal for the J.V. Boys with a 10^th place finish and a time of 19:03. The other Redskin runners were Greg McClurg 37^th place in 19:52, Alex Chance 20:07 and 45^th place, Omar Camacho 20:28 58^th place, Luis Marenco 20:39 65^th place, and Juan Carlos Ocampo with a time of 20:59 and 78^th place. The J.V. Boys finished in 8^th place, out of the 14 teams.

The Junior Varsity Girls had three girls medal. Adelina Parral was the first to cross the line in the 4K race in 19:22 and 18^th place. Abigail Rodriguez received a 22^nd place medal at 19:34 and following right behind was Madison Butler in 24^th place with a time of 19:37. The other runners were Angelica Rodriguez 20:16 and 35^th place, Neda Chuon 20:50 and 45^th place, and Alexandra Rin 21:56 and 57^th place. The Junior Varsity Girls placed 4^th as a team.

The third race of the day was the Varsity Girls who raced a 4K. Destyni Lucero was once again the front runner for the Lady Skins running a time of 16:33, good enough for a ninth place medal. Mercy Perez was just behind Lucero crossing the line 16:52 earning a 16^th place medal. The next Lady Skins runner was Janette Burunda with a time of 18:01 and in 40^th place. Vanny Diazdeleon and Lesli Mendoza were the next two finishers for the Lady Redskins placing 54^th and 57^th with times of 18:41 and 18:44. Kayla Tran ran a time of 19:30, as the 67^th runner crossing the line, while teammate Kim Francis ran a time of 19:53 coming in 71^st place. The Lady skins ended the day in seventh place in the very competitive girls’ race.

The Boys harriers also had a very competitive race, running against the 4A defending state champions, and current 1^st place ranking Wamego, as well as highly respected 6A teams of Dodge City and Lawrence Free State. The Redskins were lead by Angel Viveros along with Daniel Frazier in 3^rd and 4^th place and times of 17:04 and 17:12. Obed Quintana also came in the top 10 with his person record time of 17:21, good enough for an 8^th place medal. Sammy Obando was the 18^th person to cross the line running a 17:44. Luis Medina was the 5^th Redskin to cross the line 39^th turning in a time of 18:32. Emilio Tovilla placed 43^rd, and he also ran a person record time of 18:36, besting his last race by 30 seconds. Erving Altamirano came in 50^th place running a time of 18:46. After all team points were counted the Redskins finished in 2^nd place of the 14 teams with 72 points, beating the top ranked team in 4A Wamego by 2 points. Dodge City won the Varsity race with an impressive score of 40 points.
The Redskin runners have a short turnaround before making the Trip to Guymon for the 8^th annual Rattlesnake Run this Tuesday.