Roosevelt XC earns several honors at second home meet

By Melissa McCaghren

Slatonite GM

Roosevelt High School’s Cross Country teams competed in the second Acuff Cotton Field Trot Wednesday morning (Sept. 30) in Roosevelt.

Head Coach Kim Clemmons said the second meet hosted by the school was even better than the first. “We were so glad to get to run our original Acuff Cotton Field Trot course,” she said. “We hope to make this an annual event, with more teams in the future.”

Currently meets are limited to eight teams due to University Interscholastic League COVID precautions.

The girls’ team won first place, beating Slaton, Lorenzo and Hart, and with four individuals earning medals in the top 10.

Girls finishes were Joslyn Salazar, second, 14:07.04; Kass Benevides, third, 14:17.95; Lexi Gonzales, fourth, 14:34.49; Victoria Montes, eighth, 14:57.59; and Melody Allison, 12th, 15:28.30.

The boys’ team finished second behind Slaton. Hart and Lorenzo had individual runners.

Boys finishes were Javen Rojas, fifth, 19:48.52; Trace Weller, sixth, 20:15.27; Kevin Barraza, eighth, 20:55.80; Dakota Reyes, 14th, 22:34.31; Zak Gossett, 15th, 22:38.19; Josiah Garcia, 17th, 23:18.67; and Daniel Rivera, 18th, 23:24.27.

The teams will now compete in the District meet, which will be conducted Monday (Oct. 12) at Mae Simmons Park.

Clemmons said the team has a big goal set for this year’s competition.

“Last year we finished last as a team in both boys and girls. Our goal is to move up in the District and hopefully get some runners to Regional,” she said.

“I’d like to see some faster times, but Mae Simmons is a tough course and not as flat as others we have run on this year, so it will be a huge task.”

Anyone qualifying to Regional will race again in Mae Simmons Park Nov. 9-10, while State would be Nov. 23-24 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.