JASON CHLAPEK | PCE Big Sandy senior Bali Mitchell finishes fifth in the District 24-2A cross country meet last week. The Lady Cats finished second as a team and will compete in the Region III-2A Meet on Tuesday in Huntsville.

BROADDUS — Big Sandy junior Seth Beene Williams won the varsity boys race at the District 24-2A cross country meet on Oct. 28 at Jackson Hill Marina in Broaddus.

Beene finished the race with a time of 17 minutes, 23 seconds in frigid, rainy conditions and beat runner-up Jose Jimenez of Spurger by 26 seconds (17:49). This season also is the first time Beene participated in cross country.

“Never ran in weather like this,” Beene said. “A lot of people told me I’d be good at it and I tried it out. It’s pretty nice. I’m very competitive and I like anything that I can try to win.”

The top two teams and top 10 individuals qualified for the Region III-2A Meet on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at Kate Barr Ross Park in Huntsville. Despite Beene’s first-place finish and a fifth-place finish from Jordan Martinez, the Wildcats finished third and will miss out on competing as a team.

Broaddus won the boys crown with 47 points, while Spurger took second with 48. Big Sandy had 49 points — two shy of first and one shy of second.

Beene and Martinez will compete in the region meet as individuals. Despite winning the individual title, Beene believes his best is yet to come.

“I could’ve run better,” he said. “I’m coming off of a cramp injury, but I think I did well overall. I stretched, iced it and and rested as much as I could.”

Although this is Beene’s first season to run cross country, he has been a member of the Big Sandy basketball program. While basketball is his first love, he is open to participate in college cross country or track and field.

“Basketball is my first love, but I could see myself running in college,” Beene said.

While the Wildcats missed out on a region team berth, the Lady Cats did not. They finished second to Tyler County rival Colmesneil.

Big Sandy had top-10 finishes from Lauryn Hoffman (second), Bali Mitchell (fifth) and Lauren Hulin (eighth). Rounding out the Lady Cats’ score of 43 points was Lillian Fultz (16th) and Corynn Kaleh (22nd).

Colmesneil won the district crown with 38 points. The Lady Bulldogs are coached by Big Sandy alumnus Trey Bullock.

“I’m not sure if this is our first team title or not,” Bullock said. “We have very hard-working girls here at Colmesneil and I knew that they had good effort. Every coach would like for their athletes to give their best effort. I feel that’s what the boys and girls at Colmesneil do — give their best effort. A lot of these kids do volleyball or football as well. It’s a challenge dealing with injuries or running the day after a volleyball match or a football game, but through hard work they were still able to practice early in the morning. I think that’s all a coach can ask for is the best effort.”

In addition to being the head boys and girls cross country coach, Bullock also is the head boys basketball coach and a football assistant at Colmesneil.

JASON CHLAPEK I PCE Onalaska senior William Boyce was the first runner to cross the finish line in the Class 3A boys state cross country Meet on Monday, Nov. 23, in Round Rock. The new state champion finished the race with a season-best time of 15 minutes, 38 seconds.

ROUND ROCK – William Boyce had a trio of goals in mind going into the 2020 cross country season.

The first goal was to win a district championship – check. The second goal was to win a region championship – check.

The third goal was to win a state championship. Check.

Boyce ran a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 38.72 seconds to win the Class 3A boys state championship Monday afternoon at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock. The Onalaska senior completed his cross country career with four trips to the region meet, four trips to the state meet, three district championships, a district runner-up, two region championships, a third-place finish in state and a state championship.

“During the whole race, everyone was staying in a pack and I was a little scared to be honest because I know the guys here are just as fast as I am,” Boyce said. “But on that last corner, I was digging deep and I had all of these people here supporting me so I wanted to bring home a gold medal for them. I thought about my family during that last portion of the race and I didn’t want to disappoint them so I gave it my all. My legs were burning at the end, but it was worth it.”

Boyce defeated race runner-up Marco Rey of Presidio by 13 seconds (15:51.78). Despite missing gold by 13 seconds, Rey and his Presidio teammates claimed the team state championship.

Now that Boyce completed the triple crown of cross country – district, regional and state championships – he'll be gunning for a quadruple crown in track and field. He competes in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs in track.

“I have to go do the same thing in track – win district, area, regionals and state in the mile and two-mile,” Boyce said. “I think it’s an amazing goal that I set this year and the fact that I accomplished it means a lot to me. I’ve been here four years and decided this was the year I could do something and win the gold.”

Boyce was not the only Onalaska runner who participated in Monday’s state meet. Fellow senior Brady Neuman completed the race with a personal-best time of 17:15.78.

“I was hoping to run a sub-17, but it didn’t quite happen,” Neuman said. “I’ll take what I can get. I felt good and this is a beautiful course. This was a lot of fun. This gives me good motivation going into track and field season.”

Like Boyce, Neuman also competes in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs in track and field. He broke down how his times would be beneficial in track.

“My first mile was 5:10, which is close to my PR in the mile,” Neuman said. “I was about an 11-flat in the two-mile mark, which would be a PR. If I PR on a cross country course, I should do well on a flat track surface. My goal for every meet is to PR, but this was my last cross country meet so I was definitely swinging for the fences. I’m satisfied with what I did.”

In addition to qualifying for state, Boyce and Neuman led the Onalaska boys cross country team to its seventh consecutive district championship on Oct. 29 in Anderson. Neuman also participated in his second straight state meet on Monday.

Goodrich senior Joacxi Garzon competed in the Class A boys meet Monday morning and finished 23rd with a personal-best time of 17:23.32. He competed in his third consecutive state meet.

“I felt like I ran my best,” Garzon said. “I had a pretty good race and left it all out there.”

Garzon also had some motivation Monday morning. His older brother, Isaiah Garzon, was there to cheer him on.

“Isaiah told me that it wasn’t my first time running out here and I know what to expect, so focus and give it all I have,” Garzon said. “My main focus was to stay up with the pack when I ran and keep a good pace.”

JASON CHLAPEK | PCE Goodrich athlete Aralyn Angel finishes third in the District 28-A Meet last week in Lufkin. Angel will compete in the Region IV-A Meet Monday in Corpus Christi.

LUFKIN — Frigid, rainy conditions were not enough to slow down Goodrich senior Joaxci Garzon, who won the boys race at the District 28-A cross country meet in Lufkin.

Garzon and teammate A’Maereion Bookman finished 1-2, respectively, in the meet. Garzon finished with a time of 17 minutes, 50 seconds, while Bookman had a time of 18:33.

“It’s been a few years since I’ve run in weather this cold,” Garzon said. “I think I could’ve run better. I have to keep working, keep running and try to improve.”

Garzon was the individual district champion last year as well. In addition to him and Bookman, the rest of the Goodrich team will participate in Monday’s Region IV-A Meet in Corpus Christi.

The Hornets took second with 47 points and edged Chester (50) for the runner-up spot, while Zavalla scored 30 points to win the team title. The top two teams and top 10 individuals qualified for the region meet.

Rounding out the Goodrich roster was Exzavier Henderson, Tilde Guzman, Jose Reyes and Marcos Machuca. At the region meet, the top three teams and top 10 individuals not attached to a qualifying team will earn berths at the Class A state meet Nov. 23 in Round Rock.

“We’ve been working out as much as we can,” Garzon said. “We just have to keep running to make ourselves better.”

In the girls race, Goodrich finished third and missed out on team qualification. Zavalla and Chireno finished 1-2, respectively.

However, a pair of Lady Hornets will compete in Corpus Christi on Monday. They are Aralyn Angel and Daisy Stutts, who finished third and seventh, respectively.

JANA RAYBURN | TCB Lady Jacket Olivia Gilzow goes up for a kill in recent action. The Lady Jackets are currently 11-1 for the season.

TYLER COUNTY - The Chester Lady Jackets went two for two last week, defeating both Kennard and Apple Springs. These two wins bring the Lady Jackets to 11-1 for the season.

The Lady Jackets defeated Kennard in three sets last Tuesday, Oct. 6. Brianna Kort and Jasmine Mitchell led the team in kills. Kort had seven kills and Mitchell had eight kills during the match.

The Lady Jackets played a home game on Oct. 9 against Apple Springs. The Lady Jackets won in three sets. Linzie Romo led with six blocks. Kinsley Barnes had three blocks, and Olivia Gilzow had two blocks.

The Lady Jackets will be at home on Friday, Oct. 16 as they face the Goodrich Lady Hornets at 4:30 p.m. Then on Tuesday, Oct. 20, they will travel to Kennard to take on the Lady Tigers for a 4:30 p.m. match.

The junior high volleyball teams played against Groveton on Monday, Oct. 5 in Groveton. The Lady Jacket B team lost, but it was a very close game. The A team won in two games.

The junior high teams will play their last game of the season on Monday, Oct. 19 at home against Latexo. The game will begin at 4 p.m.

Yellowjacket Football
The high school football team had a bye week to allow their athletes to participate in the Tyler County Fair.

The Yellowjackets will travel to Buckholts on Friday, Oct. 16 to face the Badgers in a 7:00p.m. game. This game against Buckholts will be the last game before district play starts for the Jackets.

The junior high football team have had a few weeks off, but will get some action on Friday, Oct. 16, as they travel to Buckholts for a 5 p.m. game against the Badgers. This game will be played prior to the high school game.

Yellowjacket cross-country
The high school cross country team competed in the Lufkin Coca-Cola Invitational on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Even though no one placed, they all competed well.

The high school and junior high cross-country teams will travel to West Sabine on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Then, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, Chester will host their own invitational meet at The Gathering Place in Chester. For more information, contact Charlotte Barnes at Chester High School.

LARRY LAMB I HCC Onalaska seniors Brady Neuman (left) and William Boyce will compete in the Class 3A cross country meet Monday afternoon in Round Rock. Boyce is aiming for the state championship, while Neuman, the front-runner for OHS’s Class of 2021 Valedictorian, is aiming for his personal-best time.

ONALASKA – William Boyce and Brady Neuman have a few things in common.

They’re both members of Onalaska High School’s Class of 2021, the OHS cross country program, OHS track and field program, and OHS FFA, to name a few. Speaking of cross country, both Boyce and Neuman will represent OHS at the state cross country meet Monday afternoon in Round Rock.

Boyce and Neuman each want to be at the top of their field, but this is where things begin to differ. Boyce wants to be the top male runner in Class 3A and has plans on winning Monday’s race, but Neuman wants to be the top student in OHS’s 2021 senior class.

“I’m currently ranked in the top of the class,” Neuman said.

Neuman plans to go to Texas A&M and major in biomedical and become a physician. During district FFA competition on Nov. 12, Neuman and his ag issues team finished first and his public relations team finished second.

Boyce also finished third in job interview at the district FFA competition. Onalaska finished second overall in district FFA, and the top two finishers in each category advanced to the area competition which took place Thursday.

Neuman also won the FFA wildfire competition last month for the third year in a row. He earned a belt buckle and scholarship money.

Neuman qualified for the state cross country meet by finishing as the eighth competitor not attached to a top-3 finishing team. The top three teams and top 10 individuals not attached to a top-3 team qualified for state.

“This is my second trip to state,” Neuman said. “Last year we went as a team. If we hadn’t qualified as a team, I actually wouldn’t have advanced. I knew I had to run for my life this year if I was going to make it to state.”

The Onalaska boys cross country team won its seventh consecutive district championship in October as well. Boyce and Neuman were the top finishers for the Wildcats in both the region and district meets.

“The state course is my favorite course that I’ve run on,” Neuman said. “I’m going to show up and run my best race. I don’t go in there to race everybody else, I go in there to race myself. I worry about myself instead of the people around me or the people in front of me.”

Boyce has one goal in mind Monday afternoon – first place. He is a three-time district champion and two-time region champion individually, and won both titles this year.

“When I look at the Round Rock course, I think of Texas as a whole,” Boyce said. “There’s all sorts of terrain on that course. Each region has different soil textures. With Austin being smack-dab in the middle of Texas, I feel like you have all of Texas in one spot. The course itself has hills, sand, rocks, holes, ditches, everything. It’s definitely an all-terrain course and it represents Texas terrain.”

Boyce plans to attend college on a track and field or cross country scholarship. He wants to become a teacher and coach with plans to enter into administration.

Boyce believes the courses he and his teammates ran on in district (Anderson) and regional (Huntsville) will have him ready for Old Settler’s Park’s course in Round Rock. He also has it in his mind that he will be the first one to cross the finish line.

“I have to have self-motivation and go in there like I know I’m going to win,” Boyce said. “If I go in there thinking I’m going to lose, I’ve already beaten myself. I feel like cross country as a whole is a mindset game. You have to push yourself to your limits.”

JASON CHLAPEK | PCPC Spurger Pirates Colton Fredieu and Luis Jimenez cross the finish line.

HUNTSVILLE – Tyler County was well-represented at the UIL Region 3 Cross-Country Regional Meet.

The meet, for the 2A through 6A conference schools, was held Nov. 9-10 in Huntsville at Sam Houston State University, and found teams from Spurger; Colmesneil; Warren and Woodville competing in the 2A and 3A events, respectively.

For the Spurger Pirates, the boys placed in eighth, overall, with 223 points.

In the girls’ two-mile run, Katy Curry came in 55th place with a time of 15:36.60 and Jillian Leasman placed at 111th with a time of 18:34.50.

The boys had six runners compete in the three-mile run. Jose Jimenez placed at 24th with a time of 19:26.80. Luis Molina Jimenez came in 53rd place, with a time of 20:26.70, and Colton Fredieu came in right behind at 54th with the same time. Nicholas Wilson got a 65th place finish with a time of 21:12.20; Bryce Oseguera got the 100th place finish with 25:01.80 and Coby Anthony got the 104th place with 25:32.90 on the clock.

The Colmesneil Bulldogs’ cross-country runners put a team of six girls in the two-mile run and Treston Horton running in the boys’ three-mile event. Horton placed 66th with a time of 21:20.20.

For the girls, Katherine Vargas-Martine placed 18th, with 14:39.40; Alyssa Mabry came in 37th with 15:04.70; Bernice Pittman placed 87th with 16:47.30. Erin Frazier got 97th place with a 17:05.20; Karen Vargas-Martinez got 113th with 18:41.20 and Katelyne Guerrero placed 115th with a time of 18:48.

The Warren Warriors cross-country boys had a team consisting of Jerrod Yeagin (#42, 18:21.70); Eli Carrell (#105, 20:46.40); Arturo Bustamante (#118, 21:26.50); Jonathan Lee (#126, 22:02.80); Jerry Don Brinkley (#133, 23:01.30); Juan Lianes (#137, 23:45.90) and Corley Dilbeck (#138, 24:03.70.) They placed 15th in the three-mile event with a total of 378 points.

Abby Carroll from Warren also ran in the 3A girls’ two-mile run and finished 24th with a time of 13:57.70.

The Woodville Eagles were represented in the 3A girls’ two-mile run with a ninth-place finish for a team of seven Lady Eagle runners.

Here are the results for Woodville individual runners at the meet: Kristina Nash (#60, 14:55.50); Brittany Lilley (#63, 15:00.30); Raegan Frantz (#71, 15:23.30); Ryleigh Stewart (#85, 15:23.30); Aubrianna Torres (#96, 15:50.40); Ashley Davis (#118, 16:35.30) and Kenadi Frauenberger (#129, 17:28.20.) The Lady Eagle runners accumulated a combined 258 points.

JASON CHLAPEK | PCE Onalaska athlete Kierra Anstee finishes third in the District 23-3A cross country meet last week in Anderson. Anstee will participate in the Region III-3A Meet Monday in Huntsville.

ANDERSON — For the seventh year in a row, the Onalaska boys cross country team is a district champion.

The Wildcats accomplished this feat last Thursday at the District 23-3A Meet in Anderson. Onalaska finished with 47 points, while runner-up New Waverly had 56.

“I think individual commitment from each runner and making sure we were playing it safe, wearing our masks and maintaining social distancing helped us maintain our streak,” Onalaska coach Terri Boyce said. “We’ve also been very dedicated and we were determined to win come heck or high water. I’m very proud of them.”

The top two teams and top 10 individuals qualified for the Region III-3A Meet on Monday at Kate Barr Ross Park in Huntsville. At the region meet, the top three teams and top 10 individual finishers not attached to a qualifying team will earn berths in the 3A state meet Nov. 23 in Round Rock.

Leading the charge for the Wildcats last Thursday was three-time district champion William Boyce — the coach’s son. Running in chilly, windy conditions on a hilly course, Boyce finished the race with a time of 17 minutes, 37 seconds — nearly a minute faster than runner-up Hutton Edney of New Waverly (18:30).

“This was my first goal (to win district),” Boyce said. “I ran on my own and made sure I was faster on my times. I made sure I ran faster and longer in practice. I also conditioned myself on hills because there’s a bunch of hills on this course. Over the summer, I hit the hills really hard. We have a lot of hills in Onalaska that I ran on. This is the coldest I’ve run in a district meet. I’ve run in mud and slush for district, but never something this cold. I feel like that helped with breathing.”

Boyce also is the defending region champion and finished third in state last year. A runner-up finish in district his freshman year gave Boyce all the motivation he needed to make sure he never took home a silver medal in a district meet again.

“In junior high, I won both years — seventh and eighth grade — so I thought I was going into it pretty good my freshman year.,” Boyce said. “That’s what it’s been since then (first place).”

Now that the first goal is complete, Boyce is aiming for the second one — a repeat region championship. With this being his senior season, Boyce also hopes to complete the triple crown by winning gold at the state meet, and that his team will qualify as well.

“I’ve been to state every year,” he said. “I hope we can get there again. I won region last year and finished third in state. I hope to take him gold in both regionals and state this year. I need to put my head down and put the work in. There’s a bunch of guys real close and I hope to use them to push myself to run my best.”

Rounding out the boys scoring was Brady Neuman (fourth), Cy Turner (12th), Jason Arnold (14th) and Canyon Holley (16th). Derek Winkle (21st) and Jaykob Lowrie (25th) also participated for Onalaska.

On the girls side, the Lady Cats were 13 points shy of returning to the region meet. New Waverly and Anderson-Shiro finished 1-2, respectively, in the team standings.

This ended Onalaska’s streak of four consecutive district championships. However, Kierra Anstee and Emily Kirkley qualified for the region meet as they finished third and 10th, respectively.

“We’re very young and had three freshmen running,” Terri Boyce said. “We have a really good eighth grader coming up who’s going to run next year and help us out quite a bit. She’ll bring some speed to our team. We have one senior girl — Kierra.”

While Boyce will just have to replace one spot on the girls side, she’ll have three holes to fill on the boys side. Among those are Boyce and Neuman.

“We have three senior boys, including my top two finishers,” Boyce said. “We’re going to be struggling a little bit next year, but I’ve got two eighth-graders who can come in next year who could easily fill those shoes.”

Which could lead to an eighth straight title.