San Saba Cross High School Country Team continues to get faster and stronger. They show up every morning for 5:45 am workouts and do extra running on their own in the evenings. This last week the 31 members of our Armadillo Cross Country (JH and HS) team combined for more than 808 miles of organized workouts and probably an additional 200 miles of afternoon additional training. What Is Wrong With These Kids? I feel the answer to this question is only obvious to their coaches and the parents who sacrifice time and sleep getting these kids to practice and supporting them at the meets. These young athletes are driven and dedicated towards meeting a goal of a District Championship and beyond. All this hard work paid off last Saturday in the Brownwood Invitational Cross Country Meet. The Boy’s team had personal best performances by all runners; met the goals the coaches set for them and made a giant step towards a district championship. With 90 runners in the Varsity Division, Hector Paez placed 5th, Vicente Vega placed 25th, Daniel Garcia gutted out a 34 place finish, essentially having to run on one leg and Ridge Smith returning from an injury finished 35th. Jantzen Bell displayed another courageous performance, rounded out the boy’s team. Our Varsity Girl’s finished 3rd overall out of 14 teams, but for the third time this season were the number one 1A team in the meet. Leading the way for the Lady Dillo’s was Liberty Lasley at 9th, Yicelle Cueves at 10th, Shea Scott at 18th and AJ Gamboa at 28th, both with personal best of 13:40 and 14:01 respectively. Alexa Maxcey, Gasella Rodriquez, Katie Ingram, Alexus Saldivar, Megan Rackley and Andrea Jimenez rounded out the Varsity Girls Team. The future is our JR. High. Not only can they run….they can dance. I am sure their post race dance session will go viral and will be available for your viewing pleasure on some major television network in the near future. Not too shabby runners either. The JH Girls placed 3rd, placing behind 3A Brownwood and a 5A JH from Abeline. The JH Girl’s were led by Abigail Ingram at 9th, Kimeri Moore, Bailey Williams, Baliegh Santefemia and Savera Vasquez at 16th, 18th, 21st, and 24th respectively. Kailtlyn Blackshear, Hannah Hibler, Juana Macias, Analyn Bohensky and Dynasty Saldivar rounded out the JH girls team. Daniel Rosales, the lone boy JH runner, ran a very smart and gutsy race, moving from 35th at the race midpoint (geometry term high school kids) to a 18th place finish. Our next meet is in Fredericks-burg on Sept. 29th at 8:00 a.m. (JH and HS) followed by a preview of this years State Meet Course in Round Rock on Oct. 6th. The McNeil Meet in Round Rock is the biggest meet in South Central Texas. Last year over 2000 runners competed, so it should be quite an experience for our High School runners. Come support the kids if you get the chance—Special Rewards Come To Those Who Give Specail Effort.