Cross country: Marching on: Marcus, Flower Mound qualify both boys and girls teams for regionals

Throughout the regular season, Flower Mound and Marcus' cross country teams jockeyed for the top spots at the respective meets they competed in.

Saturday's District 5-5A Championships at North Lakes Park in Denton proved to be no different with the Lady Marauders (36) edging out the Lady Jaguars (37) by a mere one point for first on the girls side. The margin wasn't much wider on the boys side, with Marcus claiming the district title (48) ahead of Flower Mound (56). Hebron finished in third in both meets.

The top three teams and individuals from non-qualifying teams that placed in the top 10 advanced to the Region I Championships, which took place Saturday at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock (results not available as of press time).

"I was very pleased with how the kids came together for the meet," said Steve Telaneus, Marcus head coach. "If you look at the results, all of our runners were very packed in. They did a great job of working together and inspiring each other. They were accountable, pushed each other hard and executed well."

The win was the second consecutive district title and 20th overall for the boys. The Lady Marauders took first after placing third last season.

"Both of the races were very close," Telaneus added. "And both [Flower Mound] and us knew we would have to have our best performances to get the results we desired. I talked to coach (Andrew) Cook and he thought his kids ran well and ran hard, too. Fortunately, we were able to squeak it out."

On the boys side, Marcus took top honors despite missing the services of No. 2 runner Luke Hendrix (injury) and having just one runner place in the top nine. Logan Hendrix led the way with silver (15:37.98) but the strength of Marcus' pack, which produced finishes of 10th (Evan Durrill, 16:13.34), 11th (Jacob Babbidge, 16:21.77), 12th (Luke Page, 16:24.27), 13th (Adam Steele, 16:24.84) and 15th (Ben Reed, 16:34.08), proved to be the difference. Hebron's Robert Domanic took the gold medal (15:21.12).

Zach Hamstra paced the Jaguars (15:49.50) in fourth and was followed by teammates Wesley Ward in seventh (16:05.80), Andrew McRae in eighth (16:06.21), Matthew Schleder in 16th (16:35.85), Drew Sanderson in 19th (16:50.47), Adam Tremonte in 20th (16:55.72) and Erich Lanz in 24th (17:07.22).

"The guys ran well, we just came up a little short," said Andrew Cook, Flower Mound head coach. "It was a close race and now we're preaching on running better in a pack and maybe that can make the difference."

Marcus decided to withhold Luke from district in an effort to get him healthy for regionals and potentially state. The move paid off as Marcus still won first and Luke is making the trip for regionals Saturday.

"We wanted to get as healthy as he could and not put too much stress on the injury by rushing him back," Telaneus said. "But our guys didn't panic because our No. 2 guy wasn't there. They worked together and knew that if everyone just stepped it up a bit, then it wouldn't require anyone having to be amazing and that's what happened."

The girls were at full strength but needed every bit of their strong running to outlast Flower Mound.

That was the case at the top of the race as well, where Marcus' Sydney Brown (17:52.84) won gold ahead of Flower Mound's Safiya Belbina (18:02.96). Last year, it was Belbina who crossed the line in first just ahead of Brown in third.

"We knew that Sydney was an exceptionally talented young lady," Telaneus said. "It was just a matter of her believing she could do it. Throughout the year, you could see her confidence continue to grow. As she matured in her training and matured as a person, she really started to believe she could beat anyone. That's what was most notable about the race was the confidence she just didn't have before."

Following Brown for Marcus was Maddy Reed in fourth (18:18.34), Payton Brown in eighth (18:52.83), Emily Jeacock in 11th (19:09.03), Devon Cruz in 12th (19:10.86), Michiah Derenzo in 15th (19:35.58) and Natalie Polei in 20th (20:00.24).

"Our girls hadn't finished ahead of Flower Mound in a couple of years," Telaneus said. "We picked a good time to do it and hopefully that will give us even more confidence heading to regionals."

Crossing the line after Belbina for the Lady Jaguars was Rebecca Jacobson in fifth (18:22.58), Catalina Uriarte in seventh (18:31.62), Brittany White in 10th (19:08.73), Kirsten Zeller in 13th (19:26.17), Anna Grady in 21st (20:06.85) and Allison Esposito in 22nd (20:15.34).

"The girls ran tough, they just got us by one point," Cook said. "You just have to take your hat off to Marcus for running a great race."

Flower Mound actually led the race late but saw its first, second and third runners get passed in the final mile.

"They ran past me with about 600 meters left and I thought we had it won," Cook said. "I was really surprised when someone told me that we didn't win. You could say finishing better is our focus heading to regionals."

Lewisville was also in action last week in Denton and finished sixth. Lewisville's boys included Wesley Townsend in 22nd (16:59.41), Andrew Cobos in 30th (17:31.93), Elias Barona in 31st (17:49.11), Brandon Long in 35th (18:12.66), Edwin Courtney in 38th (18:21.44), Jonathan Enriquez in 39th (18:26.89) and Carter Wilson in 42nd (19:48.41).

The Lady Farmers placed fifth and ran well as a pack. Lewisville's girls included Abby Reinhart in 29th (21:06.33), Susanne Forbis in 30th (21:46.12), Lindsey French in 31st (21:52.44), Anayeli Calixto in 32nd (22:09.27), Miriam Calixto in 33rd (22:16.01), Kim Pina in 34th (22:48.25) and Manijeh Rustomji in 36th (23:06.65).

Both Marcus and Flower Mound, however, continued Saturday in Lubbock.

"I think we have a good shot at getting out," Telaneus said. "On the girls side, I think it may come down to the three teams from our district and Southlake Carroll. There is always a chance of others sneaking up and I've been surprised before. But those look like the top contenders.

"On the boys side, I think there are seven teams that could possible be in the top 10 in the state. You have the three from our district and Carroll, and then teams like Mansfield Timberview and Amarillo Tascosa that are running well. And El Paso Eastwood has been generating a lot of buzz."

"We're healthy and are ready to go," Cook added. "I think at district, the goal is to try and be the champion. At regionals, you just want to be in the top three to move onto state and be happy with that."

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