On Monday, Milano’s Kadance Koenig and Rockdale’s Jesus Bocanegra raced in two different parts of the state, but both ended the day with one thing in common: they each earned a trip to the state cross country meet to be held at Round Rock’s Old Settlers Park in early November.
For Bocanegra, an RHS sophomore who placed 78th at state last season, ended his race in 10th with a time of 17:09.6 at the Region III meet in Huntsville.
The Rockdale sophomore said that in order to earn a second trip to Round Rock, he had to shift his focus towards improving his pace during races.
“The road to state (this year) was a little bit tougher,” Bocanegra said. “My time bounced around a lot and leading up to district and regionals took hard work.”
“This year, I tried to change some of my training, pushing myself to get a better pace set in races. Coach (Cheryl) Meuth helped me out a lot on that by doing many workouts to keep my pace the whole time.”
The four-sport athlete also said that due to less COVID-19 restrictions, that this year’s race had more competition.
“I know the state meet will be a tough race,” he said. “I have a little advantage on others who haven’t run at it.”
“My goal for the state meet is to get in the top 20 or lower and get a new personal record.”
About 300 miles southwest of Huntsville in Corpus Christi, Milano sophomore Kadance Koenig finished 11th at the Region IV meet with a time of 13:24.73.
Although Koenig didn’t medal due to not being one of the top ten finishers, she qualified for her first trip to state due to three runners in front of her qualifying for the state meet as a part of a team.
“I’m very excited to be going to state,” Koenig said. “It’s my first year, so I’m a little nervous but I think I’ll be fine.”
The MHS sophomore said her goals are to beat her personal record and improve as a runner.
Bocanegra will compete on Friday, Nov. 5 at 10:30 a.m. and Koenig races on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 8:30 a.m
ROCKDALE—Other regional qualifiers from Rockdale High School were: 35. Cristo Hernandez, 18:08.7; 45. Yovanney Delgadillo, 18:29.5; 46. Chris Perez, 18:34.5; 52. Jose Tenorio, 18:46.4; 93. Seth Davis, 20:11.5; 156. Chris Miles, 22:03.6.
Lady Tiger sophomore Ciara Miles also competed in the Class 3A girls’ race, finishing 62nd out of 171 competitors with a time of 14:15.3.
MILANO—Other MHS athletes running in Corpus included freshman Itzel Carrillo, who placed 74th with a time of 15:30.66.
For the Eagles, other runners were: 46. Wyatt Koenig, 20:53.17; 78. Breyton Steinbecker, 22:50.47; 90. Oscar Yon, 23:30.2.
THORNDALE—T he Bulldog cross country team had six athletes compete in Corpus with: 24. Rowdy Casner, 19:52.27; 63. Ty Pesl, 21:59.26; 96. Braden Pickel, 23:49.66; 111. Everton White, 25:30.73; 122. A.J. Hernandez, 26:17.69; 144. Bryce Dickerson, 30:15.19
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