Thursday, Oct. 13, was a great day for the Panther Cross Country Program. Liberty hosted the 20-4A District Championship races at the Liberty City Park.
Senior Patrick Flowers became the third-time District Champion with his 16:41 5K winning time. Fellow senior Matthew Morin grabbed the 5th spot with a 17:31 and along with runners Daniel Del Rio (19), Dalton Bishop (22) and Victor Urvina (24). The boys team secured a second place finish and a trip to the Regional Championships in 2 weeks. Chris Diaz and Jace Potez also contributed to the team effort.
Not to be outdone, the Lady Panthers made a splash as well. Led by senior Julianne Shivers (11th place), the girls team finished in 3rd and will be heading to Huntsville for the Regional Championships. Alissa Caruso (18), Julia Gerardo (19), Marina Bourgeois (22) and Melani Rangel (26) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Panthers. Brianna Sanchez (27) and Abbygail Colburn (28) completed the team finish.
The boys and girls team will be competing in the Regional Championships at Kate Barr-Ross Park in Huntsville on Monday, Oct. 24. The girls will race at 8:15 a.m. and the boys will follow at 8:45 a.m. If you choose to come and watch, then this is for you:
Parking is $10 per vehicle (cash only). There will be no cost of parking for school buses and clearly marked school vehicles (no passes needed). Unmarked school vehicles need to email Cutter Bernhard (cbb012@shsu.edu) prior to 5pm on Friday, Oct. 21 and your name will be placed on a pass list to allow you entrance to the park. Parking lots will open at 6:15 a.m. on the day of competition. In order to reduce traffic congestion, please do not enter the park until two hours prior to your scheduled race.
After a break from the morning races, the district championships resumed in the afternoon with the middle school competitions. The LMS Lady Panthers came out and showed out and are the 2022 District Champions.
Jayci Lackey (3), Krystena Pritchett (4) and Abril Ochoa (7) finished in the top ten. Journey Brown (11) and Bella Elliot (17) had top 20 finishes and the Lady Panthers pushed away from second place Huffman 40 to 50 for the top spot and the first district championship in at least 10 years. Kaylin Hewitt, Mia Chavez and Kendall Harper also contributed to the Lady Panther 1st place finish. LMS Panther runner Nathan Ramirez ran a 12:55 for a sixth-place spot.
