Girls’ cross country earns return trip to state

With+only+four+teams+qualifying+for+state+from+the+5A+Region+II+meet+in+Grand+Prairie+on+Monday%2C+the+Redhawks+team+of+Kaylen+Ruiz%2C+Kallin+Brown+and+Amelia+Jaurequi+%28front+row%29%2C+%0AKira+Robinson%2C+head+coach+Amanda+Zambiasi%2C+Gaby+Leyva-Montiel%2C+Carrie+Fish%2C+and+Kelsey+Holden+%28back+row%29+finished+in+4th+place+and+advanced+to+the+state+meet+on+Nov.+4th.+Finishing+51+points+ahead+of+the+5th+place+team+%28Prosper%29%2C+the+girls+team+finished+one+point+out+of+second+place+and+eight+points+out+of+first+place.+

Kirk Niekamp

With only four teams qualifying for state from the 5A Region II meet in Grand Prairie on Monday, the Redhawks team of Kaylen Ruiz, Kallin Brown and Amelia Jaurequi (front row), Kira Robinson, head coach Amanda Zambiasi, Gaby Leyva-Montiel, Carrie Fish, and Kelsey Holden (back row) finished in 4th place and advanced to the state meet on Nov. 4th. Finishing 51 points ahead of the 5th place team (Prosper), the girls’ team finished one point out of second place and eight points out of first place.

Kasey Harvey, Sports Editor

Since the girls’ cross country team first began practice back in summer, there was one goal on their mind: earning a return trip to the state meet. Monday at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie, the team did just that by finishing 4th in the UIL 5A Region II meet; just eight points out of 1st place.

“I’m feeling really good, I’m very pumped because our team did pretty well,” sophomore Amelia Jauregui said. “We made it to state which is very exciting. Carrie finished second and I finished sixth and we had people finish really well. It was really hot. We ran at 12 p.m. which is not normal because we usually run early in the morning at like seven or eight. Running at 12 was a really big change of pace and so it was just really hot and not what we’re used to but we all still pushed ourselves and did as good as we could.”

The team gets a little break with the state meet two weeks away on Nov. 4.

“This means we have some work to do this next week with the second and third place tied and us losing by one point to them we are right there with them,” head girls cross country coach Amanda Zambiasi said. “We just got to work hard and make sure that we are healthy this next two weeks before state. We’ll continue with our practices the way they are.The biggest things will be making sure everybody is healthy and that they are hitting their pace each day and training the way we want them to so that we are ready in two weeks.”