Arlington Martin senior takes Fossil Ridge Run

By John English Special to the Star-Telegram

The Fossil Ridge Run of the Panther cross country meet proved to be great for a Warrior as well, as Arlington Martin's Cameron Villarreal won the boys 5K with a time of 16:01.32.

While Martin coach Tim Mays said Villarreal's time was not quite what the Martin senior was hoping for, Mays believes it was right where it needs to be at this point in the season.

"He performed very well," Mays said. "He kind of started cross country season where he left off of track season. He had a great track season, setting the school record in the mile and two mile for our track team.

"He was not extremely happy with his time, but I think he ran a good race, and I'm excited about where he is at. I think he is setting himself up for a great season."

Villarreal finished eighth in the Marcus Invitational to start the year, and last year ran a 4:16 mile and qualified for the Congress Avenue Mile in Austin to end his track season.

Mays said that he attributes Villarreal's success to a couple of factors.

"He has a great work ethic," Mays said. "He is motivated, and he is the same guy every day. He comes every day with a great, positive attitude. He doesn't seem to have off days, or slow days or down days, and that adds up over the season and he is that much better."

Mays said that Villarreal has three goals for the the cross country season.

"He had a great year last year, and he wants to win a district championship, and to lead our team to a district championship," Mays said. "He is a great team player, and wants our team to be successful. The most important thing is that he wants a state championship. It's a lofty goal, but it is one that is there for him."

Mays said his Martin senior runner is in the top 10 percent of his class, and has been approached by Baylor and Tulsa for college.

2 in a row for Burleson runner

Burleson's Jessica Prickett made it two in a row this past weekend, with her second straight victory of the cross country season.

Prickett won the Fossil Ridge Run of the Panther cross country meet with a time of 18:24.00, nearly a minute and 20 seconds faster than her closest competitor.

The victory came on the heels of a first place finish in the Burleson Elk Run from the previous week, where her time was more than a minute and 14 seconds faster than the second place runner.

Keller wins meet

The Keller boys cross country team won the Fossil Ridge Run of the Panther cross country meet this past weekend, finishing with an average time of 17:13.76.

Runners Austen Dalquist, Derek Gutierrez, and Lawson Belcher finished second, 11th and 14th respectively at the meet to lift the Indians squad to victory.

Dalquist finished with a time of 16:18.81, Gutierrez ran a time of 17:10.67 and Belcher had a time of 17:18.23 at the meet.

Central girls win

The Keller Central girls cross country team won the Fossil Ridge Run of the Panther cross country meet with three runners finishing in the top 15 positions.

Samantha Ottman finished fifth overall with a time of 20:14.06, while Ashley Dush finished eighth at the meet with a time of 20:54.50.

Tracie Lee finished 15th at the meet with a time of 21:33.37.

Central finished with an average time of 21:22.09 in the 5K race.

Grapevine places 2 in top 10

Grapevine runners Daphney Stanford and Skyler Simon both finished in the top 10 for the second straight week, this time taking sixth and seventh place at the Boswell Pioneer Run.

Stanford finished with a time of 18:31.96 to take sixth place, while Simon was right behind her in seventh place with a time of 18:45.84.

The Mustangs girls once again finished fourth at their meet.

Timber Creek tops Marcus

The Keller Timber Creek boys won the Boswell Pioneer Trail Run with an average time of 16:02.94, scoring a major upset over perennial powerhouse Flower Mound Marcus.

Erik Wingfield finished fifth at the meet with a time of 15:52.00, Alonzo Pollum, Aaron Willingham and Blake Contreras finished seventh, eighth and ninth.

Pollum ran a time of 15:54.80, Willingham finished with a time of 16:03.60 and Contreras had a time of 16:05.00.

Marcus had three runners finish in the top six, but still placed second, five seconds behind the Falcons cross country squad.

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