Fast start for Lady Apaches

GONZALES — As been the tradition in recent years, Gonzales started off their season with their Apaches Relay at Independence Park, where teams of three competed against each other all Saturday morning. However, this year, the Lady Apaches cross-country group were able to show off the gains they made over the summer, taking third place in the varsity girls’ race behind St. Michaels and Tuloso-Midway.

“I was really impressed with our girls’ program,” head coach Cully Doyle said of the race. “we got a solid group of girls.”

“It was fun to see the hard work this summer pay off.”

Eighteen schools were registered for the meet, including area teams like Luling, Cuero, Shiner St. Paul and Shiner High as well as district contender Navarro and other top teams such as Pflugerville Henrickson.

St. Michaels took first in varsity girls with a time of 35:07, Tuloso-Midway finished at 35:21 and Gonzales’ team of Romy Cantu, Haley Garza and Veronica Moreno placed third with a time 35:55.

“We ran a whole lot faster than we did last year, this time of year,” Doyle noted.

The Lady Apaches also took the top two spots in the JV relay race, with the trio of Maura Garcia, Krystalynn Buesing and Hannah Rowland finishing at a time of 18:45. The second place team finished at 19:04. Luling took third at 19:12 and Tuloso-Midway placed fourth at 19:24.

“Hannah Rowland is doing really well,” Doyle said. “This program needs Hannah Rowland; I expect a big year out of her.”

“We got Maura Garcia who is also returning as a varsity runner. She’s a sophomore this year who’s doing really good.”

Doyle continued to give praise to runners like Buesing and Mariah Mathis, who he called “key components” to the cross-country program.

“They’re very good runners if they believe,” he said. “I need those two to run with our top group [and] I think they can.”

Confidence is the key for this group of runners and starting out the year strong is just one step toward getting to regionals and then state.

“Confidence is key right now,” Doyle explained. “We got the talent. We’ll run faster if we have more confidence.”

On the boys’ side, Gonzales didn’t reach top marks in the varsity race, with Luling taking first and third and Henrickson taking second. But Doyle has runners he’s looking to lean on that are doing well.

“Keisey Ramirez and Antonio Hernandez are running really well,” Doyle said. “If we can keep them going, I’m expecting big things out of them. Then we got Fabian Cardoza and Juan Jordan and a few others who are stepping up. It’s going to be fun to watch.”

The Apaches JV squad did take fourth in their race behind Henrickson, Tuloso-Midway and Karnes City.

Gonzales will travel on Saturday for the Comfort Invitational. But the Apaches have their eyes set on regionals.

“We’re 10 weeks away from regionals,” Doyle said, “and we’ll run our best race that day. That’s our goal.”