December 13, 2024

STATE CROSS-COUNTRY MEET COMPLETE | Tatum’s Oden, Eagles boys team, and WR’s Murphy finish well in second day of meet in Round Rock

West Rusk’s Adelaide Murphy (above), as well as Tatum’s Akeira Oden and the Tatum Eagles boys team, competed on Saturday at the UIL State Cross-Country Meet at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, wrapping up a weekend of several ETBlitz.com-area runners at the state meet. Congratulations to all of them on a great season! (Photo above, from Murphy’s run at regionals in Arlington, courtesy of WEST RUSK RAIDER ATHLETICS Facebook page; Photo below courtesy of TATUM HIGH SCHOOL Facebook page)

On day two of the University Interscholastic League’s State Cross-Country Championships in Round Rock, the East Texas region was represented by West Rusk’s Adelaide Murphy, by Tatum’s Akeira Oden, and by the entire Tatum High School boys team.

To even compete at Old Settlers Park in the state cross-country meet is a victory in and of itself, but all of the runners from the ETBlitz.com coverage area had good runs.

On Saturday, Oden represented the Tatum Eagles very well, with a final time of 12 minutes, 39.40 seconds, good enough to finish 41st out of 152 runners in the girls 3A state finals Saturday morning.

West Rusk’s Adelaide Murphy came in at 12 minutes, 54.70 seconds, closing out her high school cross-country career on the state’s biggest stage. She was 66th out of the 100 runners in the girls 3A final.

For the Eagles, in order of finish in the boys 3A state finals: Victor Cantellano crossed the stripe in 16:54.50, and Gabriel Cantellano, in 17:53.20. Victor’s time was good enough for 30th overall among the field of 149 runners. Gabriel was 84th.

Also for Tatum, Louie Chavez finished in 18:36.40; Alexis Ventura in 18:51.10; Faustino Sandoval in 19:00.60; Logan Guinn in 19:55.30; and Koby Bridges in 21:21.20.

Tatum was 14th out of 16 teams competing.

The best time in the boys 3A event was ran by Noah Strohman, of Holiday. Strohman finished in 15:24.80.

And to recap from Friday at the state cross-country meet, from the ETBlitz.com area:

  • Henderson’s Giselle Alejandro finished 10th overall in the girls 4A final, of 152 runners, with a time of 11 minutes, 43.10 seconds.
  • Kilgore’s Ruby Almanza finished the 4A girls final in 12:05.70, in 22nd place. Almanza went to the UIL state meet in all four years of her high school career as a Bulldog.
  • Gilmer’s Tanner Baxter ran in the 4A boys state final and finished in 17:24.90.
  • And Overton’s Vince Herron, only a 10th-grader, ran the 2A boys state final in 18:25.60.

Congratulations to all the runners in the UIL State Cross-Country Championships, especially those from our ETBlitz.com coverage area!

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