Ladycats third on tough course

The Aledo Ladycats enjoyed another strong performance on Saturday, Sept. 2 as they placed third in the prestigious Coach T Invitational, hosted by Flower Mound Marcus High School at Denton's North Lakes Park.

The meet is named after former longtime Marcus coach, the late Steve Telaneus. He passed away in April of 2020 after retiring following a career of more than three decades that put him in the National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Aledo teams competed in the Elite Division. The Bearcats were 16th, the junior varsity boys placed seventh and the JV girls were 15th.

"It was another good day for the cross country teams Saturday morning. All teams competed on a much tougher course than we saw last week," head coach Mike Pinkerton said. "Everyone did an amazing job."

Madison Larson led the Ladycats varsity with a fourth-place individual finish and a time of 18 minutes, 05.4 seconds over the 5,000-meter course. Micah Neal was 12th at 18:42.6 and Molly Garrison was 19th in 19:01.1.

Also running for the Ladycats varsity were Sophia Brandenburg, 44th, 19:34.2; Mykel Murry, 66th, 20:05.5; Elizabeth Griffin, 70th, 20:09.2; and Mayden Mitchell, 129th, 21:15.4.

Jack Fink paced the Bearcats, taking 42nd in 16:14.8. Layton Ybarra was 47th in 16:18.6.

Also for the Aledo varsity boys, Dominick Barrera, 123rd, 17:16.2; Luke Schabel, 127th, 17:16.8; Anderson Smith, 153rd, 17:40.6; Tyler Connelly, 160th, 17:43.9; and Lincoln Tuin, 215th, 18:43.2.

JV boys results included Ian Robbins, third, 18:08.9; Landon Eaton, 33rd, 19:24.9; Reed Murray, 41st, 19:34.0; Ethan Matthews, 51st, 19:48.0; Reese Copeland, 202nd, 22:05.2; and Isaac Brooks, 267th, 23:27.3.

JV girls results were Aubrey Connally, 11th, 22:06.1; Sadie Williams, 26th, 22:54.2; Maddy Shepard, 160th, 26:05.0; Giana Anaya, 222nd, 27:29.8; and Julia Bettencourt, 279th, 32:20.4.

"We will be taking next week off to rest and recover," Pinkerton said.

The varsity squads will next compete at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station on Sept. 15 and the JV teams will be at the Paschal Invitational on Sept. 16.

Lady Roos first at Burleson

Led by Rayla Castillo and Remington Boone, the Weatherford Lady Kangaroos took first place at the Burleson Elk Run on Friday, Sept. 1.

Castillo clocked a time of 19:28.7 on the 5,000-meter course, while Boone posted a 19:29.5. Also, Macayla Kopacz was 11th in 20:37.8 and Cheyenne Gorman placed 16th in 20:57.3.

The Weatherford boys were sixth, led by Gal Josh, who placed 21st.

The Weatherford JV boys were third with Andrew Scott taking fourth in 19:07.4. The JV Lady Roos were fourth as Paige Blake placed ninth individually in 23:17.9 and Mia Saldivar was 10th in 23:22.7.