Marietta’s junior high Indians and Lady Indians finished their cross country season strong, competing in two meets last week and coming home with three top-three finishes. The teams competed on Tuesday, October 12 in the Healdton Bulldog Bash, both winning top honors on the day.
In the junior high boys’ division, the top-ranking Indians were led by Tripp Lutkennaus in first place with a time of 12:04. Mayer Mansfield came in 12th in 13:23 and Justice Smith in 16th place in 14:11. Javion McCarroll finished 28th in 14:53, Jose Rodriguez 29th in 14:58, Andy Gomez 39th in 15:52, Slade Campbell in 41st in 16:23, Brody Bazor 42nd in 16:26, and Caleb Castenada in 51st in 20:06. Adan Andrade competed in the race, but his time and placement were not reported.
The Lady Indians also won their division, with Liliana Fernandez winning the race in 9:57, followed closely by teammate Jaden Peters in second place in 10:00. In fifth place was Abigail Garcia in 10:23. Arlette Andrade came in ninth in 10:37, Yulisa Gonzalez in 10th in 10:38, Izabella Fernandez in 13th in 10:52, Kashlynn Weatherford in 14th in 10:55, and Timber Campbell in 49th in 13:55.
“Healdton was a new course for us,” said Coach Tanica Anderson, “but our junior high team rose to the challenge of running somewhere different and excelled. It wasn’t an easy course, but they kept pushing forward and both came home with some hardware! Our junior high boys have been working hard and it really showed at Healdton.”
On just a couple of days’ rest, the team tackled the 3A Junior High All Star Cross Country Championships, which were run in Chickasha on Thursday.
In the girls’ 2400m run, consisting of 113 runners, the Lady Indians came in third in a very close finish. Oakdale-Ores was the first-place team with 75 points. Washington Middle School finished second with 79 points and the Lady Indians finished with 83 points.
Scoring for the Lady Indians were Liliana Fernandez in fourth place in 9:29.24, Jaden Peters in ninth in 9:55.64, Yulisa Gonzalez in 21st in 10:34.39, Abigail Garcia in 22nd in 10:35.05, and Izabella Fernandez in 27th in 10:55.66. Also running for the Lady Indians were Arlette Andrade and Kashlynn Weatherford.
“Chickasha is a great meet because it’s the equivalent of the state championship for junior high cross country,” Anderson explained. “Our girls ran well and ended their season by placing in the top three. Abigail, Yulisa, and Jaden are all eighth graders and will be an asset to the high school team next year.”
There were 150 runners in the boys’ 3200m run, and the Indians finished in 12th place as a team.
The Indians’ highest-placing runner was Tripp Lutkennaus in fifth place with a time of 12:23.82. Also competing in the race were Mayer Mannsfield, Javion McCarroll, Brylan Anderson, Caiden McCarroll, Adan Andrade, Andy Gomez, Kason Hicks, Brody Bazor, Slade Campbell, Caleb Castenada and Caiden Baker.
“The junior high boys didn’t place as high as we wanted, but they never quit,” Anderson added. “It’s not easy getting up and practicing every morning before the sun comes up. I’m so proud of the whole team for their hard work and effort.”