By Paul MacKinnon
Special to the Times
It was deja vu all over again, all over again. Ben Black led a pack of his Dallas teammates to the wire as Jesuit College Preparatory School won its third straight Texas Christian Interscholastic League cross country championship Saturday morning at the Socorro Student Activities Complex.
The senior, who finished fourth in last year's state meet, covered the hilly, sandy, 5-kiolmeter course in a time of 18 minutes, 2 seconds, best in the 28-runner field. Only Strake Jesuit's Brian Bravo (second pace, 18:18) clashed wih the green and gold team colors of Black and company at the finish line. Mike Karlseng (third, 18:27), Tony Corona (fourth, 18:28) and Rusty Meyer (fifth, 18:34) came across in a pack followed by David Steart (eighth, 18:41) as Dallas totaled a team-low of 21 points.
Cathedral sophomore Rufus Brijalva (18:39) and teammate Luis Rodriguez (18:39) slipped in between the Jesuits, finishing sixth and seventh. As a team, the Irish took runner-up honors, scoring 49 points.
"The kids were pretty excited, they were fired up about the course," Dallas Coach Steve Koch said. "They've never run a course like this will all the sand, the dirt and the hills."
For a guy who had never run Socorro's brand of course, Black, who has the top grade point average in his graduating class, felt right at home in the dirt.
"I don't pick my feet up a whole lot when I run," Black said. "so, the sand didn't hurt me in that respect."
Dallas Jesuit was certainly competition-tough coming into Saturday's meet, facing the likes of Arlington High, Arlington Lamar and Flower Mound Marcus, some of the state's top public schools in cross country.
"They were ranked seventh in the entire state last year," Cathedral coach Joe Castillo said of Jesuit College Prep, "and they have most of their runners back. Anytimewe can beat a Dallas Jesuit or a Strake, that says a lot about our program."
Dan Linton (ninth), Miguel Tapia (11th) and Dave Barron (16th) complemented Brijalva's career run as Cathedral held off Strake (70 points) for second.
"I wanted to win so much today," Brijalva said. "I wouldn't give up. I just hung in there."
Houston St. Thomas finished fourth with 91 points.
Team
1. Dallas Jesuit College Prep 21
2. El Paso Cathedral 49
3. Houston Strake Jesuit 70
4. Houston St. Thomas 91
Individual
1. Ben Black, Jesuit, 18:02
2. Brian Bravo, Strake Jesuit, 18:18
3. Mike Karlseng, Jesuit, 18:27
4. Tony Corona, Jesuit, 18:28
5. Rusty Meyer, Jesuit, 18:34
6. Rufus Brijalva, Cathedral, 18:39
7. Luis Rodriguez, Cathedral, 18:41
7. David Stewart, Jesuit, 18:41
9. Dan Linton, Cathedral, 18:53
10. Walter Nichols, St. Thomas, 19:03
Source: El Paso Times, Sunday, November 8, 1998
No comments:
Post a Comment