Cross Country running to State
The Wimberley Texan Girls’ Cross Country team is headed to the State Championship after finishing in third place at Regionals last weekend.
This is only the second time in Wimberley High School history that Wimberley has sent an entire cross country team to the state championship as opposed to individual competitors.
It was a close call too. In cross country, the place of the top five runners on each team is added up and the lowest total wins. The top three teams advance to state. Wimberley beat out La Feria by two points to hold on to third place.
It wasn’t a position the Texans were even expecting to be in as they went to the Regional meet. Wimberley placed second in district to Bandera. When the five Area track meets send three teams to Regionals, it is typical that the district champions fight it out for the top three positions.
“We knew we would have a hard time getting out of district,” Head Coach Lacey Lambert said. “It was a stretch for us to make it to Regionals as a team, so we didn’t think we had a chance to make it to State. Honestly, we didn’t realize we had a chance until we got down there.”
The talent of this team was also masked by a different unique twist. For the last four years, the girls’ cross country team was paced by Ashlyn Royal, who made it to the state championship as an individual multiple times. This year the difference is that the entire team is competitive from top to bottom.
“Its about getting as many finishers as you can to finish as close together as possible,” Lambert said. “We don have that stand out top runner, which is why we didn’t think we would make it to State. But because we have five runners that all finish within 45 seconds of each other and keeping our points low it gave us that opportunity to make it as a team.”
And that is exactly what Wimberley did. Jasmine Cante was the top finisher for the Texans placing 22nd with a time of 13 minutes, 7.35 seconds in the twomile race. Just about exactly 45 seconds later, the fifth Wimberley runner crossed the finish line as Madison Anderson placed 46th with a time of 13 minutes, 51.16 seconds. In between, Haley Hall placed 26 with a time of 13 minutes, 16.58 seconds, Isabella Franchione placed 38 with a time of 13 minutes, 38.96 seconds and Julia Rennels placed 44th with a time of 13 minutes, 46.49 seconds. Other finishers for the Texans were Sunny Jones with a time of 14 minutes, 57.35 seconds and Risa Espinoza with a time of 15 minutes 15 seconds.
While it was a true team effort to make it to state, it also took leadership from the upperclassmen. The team has three freshman and one sophomore and just two seniors.
“Jasmine Cante is our senior leader,” Lambert said. “She ran here freshman and sophomore year before she moved to San Marcos for her junior year. She came back for her senior season. She is our top runner, and has been running on Wimberley varsity since she was a freshman. She is a huge part of the team. When she was at San Marcos, they trained for a (five-kilometer race) but the girls in 4A (Wimberley’s level of competition) only run a two-mile. Her training, experience and ability to come back and help out our younger girls has been huge.”
And it wasn’t just the senior class either. Haley Hall is a junior that has specialized in running, either cross country or track, for her entire high school career.
“She is a pure runner,” Lambert said. “She has been a top runner in track and cross country and has gotten a lot of great coaching. She is a great resource and asset to our team with her knowledge and experience. We needed that leadership of Jasmine and Haley to be able to show the younger girls the dedication it takes to run and to have the quality times that we need.”
The State Championship will be held on Tuesday, November 24 at 11:45 a.m. at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.