On Saturday, October 28, the weather was brisk and questionable at Edmond Santa Fe High School. It was the site of the 2023 state cross country championships of Oklahoma. The boys’ and girls’ programs of Madill High School, who had qualified for the meet by way of the Waurikaregionalqualifieron Oct 21, arrived ready to try their hand with the best competition class 4A Oklahoma cross country had to offer.
The girls’ race began at 11:45a.m.thatmorning,with 162 runners toeing the line for the 3200m course. Sophomore Yadira Barbosa led the way for the Lady Cats, as she had done all season, placing 9th overall with a time of 12:16.68, and securing an all-state finish. She was followed by teammates sophomore Onelia Stumblingbear (62nd, 13:37.70), senior. Korlee Cunningham-Martin (80th, 13:58.41), junior Kaia Henry (111th, 14:35), and seniorEsperanzaHernandez (123rd, 14:48.63) to round out the top five for the Lady Cats. The 6th and 7th displacers were senior. Ariana Espinoza (135th,15:14.90), and senior Yailin Serrano (138th, 15:25.13), finished to complete the team scoring for Madill. as a team, finished 11th place in their classification with 325 points, respectively.
At 12:15 p.m., the boys began their journey on the 5000m course, as part of a 163-runner field.
Junior James Valadez paced the Wildcats on his way to a 22nd place finish with a time of 17:00.95. Following Valadez was sophomore Triston Barnes (45th, 17:39.72), sophomore Sammy Duran (49th, 17:44.93), sophomore Jose Campos (53rd, 17:47.90), and senior Armando Gonzalez (59th, 17:54.19). The displacers for the Wildcats were.senior Ben Hernandez (84th, 18:22.27), andseniorAlanVeras(105th, 18:48.55). The Madill Wildcats finished 7th as a team in their classification with 203 points, respectively.
The state meet also means the relative end to the cross country season. These athletes have worked and toiled since the summertime to see the fruits of their labor come to fruition at the state contest. However, this does not mean they are done or satisfied, asthey look to come back next year with the mindset to build upon this season’s successes. Cross country is a simple sport, but extremely difficult to master.
Barbosa, with her 9th place, all-state finish, will be competing at the OCCTCA Meet of Champions on Saturday, November 4 at 10:30 a.m., at North Rock Creek High School in Shawnee, Okla. Complete state meet results can be found on ohstrack.com.