Cumberland’s Abel Solorio, Royse City’s Emily Teal win Tyler Legacy Cross Country Invitational

Published 2:41 pm Saturday, October 1, 2022

Cumberland Academy’s Abel Solorio and Royse City’s Emily Teal took the top spots on Saturday in the Tyler Legacy Cross Country Invitational at UT Tyler.

Teal opened the day with a time of 18:59 in the varsity girls open race.

In the varsity boys open race, Solorio finished in a time of 15:40.5 to earn a first-place finish.

“The weather was pretty perfect,” Solorio said. “Coming into the week, I was really sick. I had a high fever. And I think I came out today just to kind of secure the win and I got it done. I wasn’t too stoked with my time, but I was still satisfied with a PR.”

Finishing behind Solorio were David Soto, Winnsboro (15:49.9); Ryan Porte, Eustace (15:53.2); Joseph Uc, Rockwall-Heath (16:17.8); Kevin Garcia Villa, Rockwall-Heath (16:19.1); Max Douglas (Rockwall-Heath (16:22.3); Malachi Gray, Pine Tree (16:22.8); Jayden King, Eustace (16:29); Evan Herrera, Rockwall-Heath (16:29) and Isaac Natera, Bishop Gorman (16:33.8) to round out the top 10.

Legacy’s top finisher was Brady Filla, who placed 14th with a time of 16:52.7.

“Going into it, I wasn’t too confident,” Filla said. “I knew it was going to be a tough course. But honestly, looking back, it felt good.”

Other Red Raiders finishers were Michael Peveto, 18th, 17:02.3; Mason Maldonado, 23rd, 17:23.8; Jonathan Rodriguez, 26th, 17:29.1; Miller East, 27th, 17:30.7; Warren Feldman, 36th, 17:59.5; Nick Valle, 40th, 18:07.9; Alejandro Angeles, 52nd, 18:35.3; and Cayden Boerger, 56th, 18:44.7.

Tyler High finishers were Ezra Perez, 34th, 17:48.3; Isaac Martinez, 63rd, 18:55.8; Kevin Miranda, 70th, 19:21.5; Oscar Cardenas, 76th, 19:33.1; and Anthony Palau, 84th, 19:58.3.

In the girls race, Teal and Royse City teammate Callie Godinez (19:29.2) finished in the top two spots. Hallsville’s Addison Hatchett (19:23.7) actually crossed the finish line second, but Hallsville was participating in the junior varsity division.

Tyler HEAT earned places No. 3 through 5 with Landry Lay (19:46.2), Lindy Stevens (19:50.4) and Lainy Stevens (19:52.4). The rest of the top 10 were Ava Neyra, Royse City (19:52.6); Mila Teuber, Tyler Legacy (20:23); Celeste Dominguez, Tyler Legacy (20:24), Mackenzie Robinson, Pine Tree (20:30.4); and Alyssa Jones, Pine Tree (20:36.4).

“It was a pretty good race,” Mila Teuber said. “It was better than I thought it would be. We’ve been doing a lot better than last year, and we had a lot of PRs today, which is good.”

Other Legacy finishers were Joselyn Bryner, 11th, 20:42.9; Lily Janis (on her 17th birthday), 20th, 22:07.6; Lilly Boulden, 21st, 22:10; Yuliana Mancilla, 29th, 23:15.8; and Molly Bryans, 31st, 24:05.7. Trude Lamb started the race and was near the front. She was feeling sick and stopped at the corner of Old Omen Road and University Boulevard. She eventually continued running but ultimately did not finish the race.

Tyler High finishers were Sulema Espinoza, 32nd, 24:21.3; Dayanara Villela, 38th, 25:10; Yoselin Bustamante, 42nd, 25:29.5; and Mya Crayton, 54th, 28:13.5.

The Legacy girls and boys both finished in third place.

“I was pleased for the most part,” Legacy head coach Dennis Teuber said. “Trude having to drop out wasn’t great. But overall, I thought the girls ran well, and the boys ran really well with some PRs. Brady broke 17 for the first time, so that was exciting to get them pumped up for district. We will look at the overall results, look at the other schools and just kind of evaluate and make sure we’re healthy going forward. We have a week and a half to focus for district. That’s what really counts. That’s what we’ve practiced for all year long. We want to get ready for that and qualify for regionals. That was our goal at the beginning of the season, and that’s still our goal.”

Legacy will host the District 10-6A meet at UT Tyler on Oct. 13, making Saturday a day of preparation.

“I think it helped knowing just kind of how to run the course, where to pick it up and where to slow down, just so how we know it’s going to be,” Mila Teuber said.

It also allowed District 10-6A members Royse City, Rockwall-Heath and North Forney to get familiar with the course.

Rockwall-Heath won the boys race, while Royse City took first place in the girls race.

“It was a good experience,” Royse City coach Zach Snow said. “We have never run this course before, and we are moving from 5A up to 6A, so everything is different, so them being able to come and run and have the experience they had here and experience that success is good. This is not an easy course, it’s a tough course. But we ran fast on it, so we get to take that away and begin our preparation over the next 11 days to really get ready for the district meet.”

Eustace was the second-place team in the boys race, and Tyler HEAT took second in the girls race.

In the Class 1A-4A varsity girls race, the top three teams were Quitman, Gilmer and Eustace.

Top 10 individuals were Braleigh Wood, Quitman (12:35.3); Madyson Pence, Quitman (12:49.1); Charlotte Freeman, The Woodlands Legacy Prep Christian (12:53.7); Emily Martinez, Jacksonville (12:59.1); Katie Degortiza, Quitman (13:01); Danna Requena, Kilgore (13:05.2); Ruby Almanza, Kilgore (13:20.6); Paige Row, Eustace (13:22.8); Olivia Hughes, Mineola (13:23.8) and Michelle Chavez, Gilmer (13:26.5).

In the Class 1A-4A varsity boys race, the top three teams were Tenaha, Kilgore and Henderson.

After winning his race, Solorio said he was ready to watch the other boys race.

“I’m really looking forward to the 4A race,” Solorio said. “Aaron Smith, a former Legacy runner, he’s going to put on a show, so I’m really looking forward to that.”

Smith didn’t disappoint as he won the 1A-4A race with a time of 16:01. The results said Smith was running unattached to a school.

Other Top 10 individuals were Grant Sims, Elysian Fields (16:35.5); Ryker Haivala, Miller Grove (16:46.4); Isaiah Colorado, Van (16:48.4); Andrew Morales, Henderson (16:51.7); Evan Plata, Tenaha (16:58.7); Misael Hernandez, Tenaha (16:59.5); Brayden Vining, Bullard (17:05.3); Zachery Gutierrez, Kilgore (17:06.9); and Trevor Boyer, Lone Oak (17:11.4).