Lady Wildcats second place finish highest since 2009; Boys finish third
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Brian Blansett • For The Madill Record From left to right: sophomore Destiney Adams, junior Valeria Calderon, junior Lala Flores, sophomore Joslyn Stumblingbear and freshman Mercedes Stumblingbear celeberate their team’s second place finish at the Class 4A Sttate Cross Country Meet on Oct. 26. -
Brian Blansett • For The Madill Record Madill junior Diego Ibarra (2071) runs in the 2019 Class 4A OSSAA State Championship Cross Country Meet at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee on Oct. 26 Ibarra finished 21st overall for a Madill team that took third place.
Both the Madill High School girls and boys cross country teams overcame challenging conditions to medal at the 2019 4A OSSAA State Championship Cross Country Meet in Shawnee on Oct. 26. The course at Oklahoma Baptist University was so waterlogged it was closed to teams for practice on Oct. 25, said Cale Eidson, head coach of both Madill cross country teams.
“The course was muddy,” he said. “I think at one point there was a creek that was knee-high in water. Weather-wise it was cool, but the course was its own challenge.”
For the Lady Wildcats, their race was 3200 meters long. The Lady Wildcats finished in second place with a total time of 1:06:39. Eidson said this was the program’s highest finish since 2009.
“They were 32 points behind Lincoln Christian,” Eidson said. “The girls ran really well. They exceeded expectations since the beginning of this year. I was really proud of them.”
Lincoln Christian High School edged Madill’s girl team for first place with a total time of 1:04:50. Meanwhile, Cache High School finished third with a total time of 1:07:57.
Eidson said his teams knew Lincoln Christian would be the team to beat coming in.
Leading the way for the Lady Wildcats was junior Valeria Calderon who finished fourth overall with a time of 12:24.7. Eidson said she will make All-State.
In twenty-fifth overall was sophomore Isabel Sanchez with a time of 13:27.5.
Eidson said each athlete who finishes in the top ten of their class is invited to the Meet of Champs, Saturday, November 9 at Carl Albert High School in Midwest City.
“Valeria has qualified for that and Isabel is an alternate,” he said. “The wild card is because not everyone who qualified goes since it is a volunteer event after the season is over. Both will continue training for two weeks.”
Close behind Sanchez at the State Meet was fellow sophomore Joslyn Stumblingbear whose time was 13:31.1; good for 27th overall. Freshman Mercedes Stumblingbear came in 30th overall with a time of 13:34.9.
Junior Lala Flores whose time was 13:41.0 finished 36th place overall.
The final two finishers for the Lady Wildcats were sophomore Destiney Adams who finished 53rd overall with a time of 13:54.5. and junior Cielo Gomez who finished 88th overall with a time of 14:20.8
A close race
Meanwhile, the boys team faced a pair of challengers in Lincoln Christian High School and Byng High School in the second event, the Boys 5K. Unlike their counterparts, a second place finish proved out of reach.
Eidson said he was proud of the boys team as well.
“Third place is still on the podium at state cross,” he said. “We did well. Our goals were a little higher than that, but we’re definitely proud of doing what we did.”
Lincoln Christian High School led the way with a time of 1:26:44. Byng High School pipped Madill to the runnerup spot with a time of 1:28:32. Madill’s time was 1:29:01.
The Madill boys were led by junior Miguel Duran, the defending state champion, who finished fourth overall with a time of 17:00.4.
“He’s an All-Stater for the third year in a row,” Eidson said.
Next was junior Diego Ibarra who finished 21st overall with a time of 17:38.6.
Finishing 31st overall was senior Chris Bennett whose time was 17:59.5.
Sophomore AnthonySanchez was 38th overall with a time of 18:07.9. Junior Brodie Tull came in at 43rd overall with a time of 18:14.7.
Rounding out the Madill Boys were senior Brandon Serrano (19:25.1) and junior Gael Salinas (19:26.4) who finished 91st and 93rd respectively.