Centennial, Legacy qualify for regional XC meet; Summit, Legacy runners win titles
Burleson Centennial and Mansfield Legacy dominated the boys and girls District 8-5A cross country meet on Friday at Chisenhall Sports Complex.
The Centennial Spartan girls won the district title while the boys took home second.
The Legacy Bronco boys won the title and the girls finished second.
All four teams qualified for the regional meet in Lubbock on Monday. Due to COVID-19 limitations, only two teams from each race advance. During a normal year, it would be three.
“I talk a lot about running as a pack. Kids stepped up. I’m ecstatic for the boys,” Centennial coach Sarah Eden said. “I told them there’s a chance the girls could win it or the girls could get third, and the boys could get second or not go at all.”
Mansfield Summit senior Jackson Cichon (15.58.68) and Mansfield Legacy sophomore Ava Crisafulli (19:18.34) won their respected races. Both won for the second time. Cichon won as a sophomore.
“I came in expecting to win. I like to control the race. I had to make sure to get that lead so I could be comfortable during the last two miles,” said Cichon, who went to state last season.
Cichon won the title by 37 seconds.
“After the first lap, I looked back and had a 100-meter lead so I just had to keep that pace. I didn’t want to strain myself before regional,” he said.
Crisafulli won her second straight district title to start her high school career. She won the title by less than two seconds over Summit freshman Emerson Voldan, who had the lead at the halfway mark.
“I was a little nervous, but the last two miles, I had to tell myself I was capable, that I could win,” said Crisafulli, who was the only female Bronco to go to state last year. “The last stretch my legs were jello, but I had to dig deep and push through. I’m glad for Emerson, she’s been good competition this year.
“It’s been super fun and I’m excited that our team can go to regional in back-to-back years.”
Every runner from the qualifying teams also run at regional along with any other individuals that finished in the Top 10. The top three teams at regional and top 10 runners outside qualifying teams will advance to state.
Sophomore Clara Schwind and junior Hayden Whitehead both placed third for the Spartans.
Schwind, who went to regional last season, finished with a time of 19:57.73.
“Last year, I was nervous about it, being a freshman. This year, I’m more confident and running a lot more faster times,” Schwind said. “I just tried to keep first and second in my sight. I love going everywhere with my team. They support me and they make me run faster.”
Whitehead finished with a personal record 16:47.97.
“Woke up and knew I had to give everything I have because it was between four teams fighting for two spots. I had to show up and the team was mentally ready,” said Whitehead, who also went to regional last season. “I put in a lot more work this summer. When track got canceled, it just motivated me to work even harder.
“It’s a cool experience and we’re very grateful all of us can make it.”
Burleson junior Ace Garcia (16:35.39) and Voldan (19:20.28) came in second place.
“I wanted to win, but I’m very happy with my placement,” Voldan said. “The weeks leading up to it, I was just getting as ready as possible for district.”
“Jackson and Emerson have been performing all year long and we didn’t expect anything less. They’re fun to coach,” Summit coach Shannon Utley added. “Watching Jackson grow these last four years has been a pleasure. Emerson has been pretty incredible this season. We were hoping for a win, but it’s a good learning experience going into regional.”
Said Garcia, who’s going to regional for the third straight season, “It was a championship race. Run hard, do as good as you can and get in. I knew I had a guy behind me so I just wanted to get the best finish I could get.”
The Legacy boys won the title despite not having a runner in the top 3, but the Broncos placed five runners in the top 15 and all seven came in 22nd place or better. The Broncos beat Centennial by 12 points.
“They have a whole lot of heart. They’ve been group running the whole year and it’s a really competitive and deep team,” Legacy coach Jeff Lindsey said. “Ava’s experience stood out. She was able to stay strong the whole race.
“We wanted to win both. Centennial has been winning for a long time so it’s good to be in the conversation. It’s awesome to have two teams going for the second straight year. It’s a huge accomplishment.”
Added Legacy senior Ethan Elston, who ran a PR 17:14.66, “We knew we could get first, but nothing is for sure. Coach kept pushing us through and telling us we could win. We all came through during that last moment. When we all finished, I was pretty confident we were in first place.”
Yosef Abdulrazeq led Legacy with a fourth-place finish and a time of 16:54.42.
BOYS TEAMS
*qualifiers
1. Legacy 46*
2. Centennial 58*
3. Burleson 67
4. Summit 74
RUNNERS
1. Jackson Cichon, Summit 15.58.68*
2. Ace Garica, Burleson 16:35.39*
3. Hayden Whitehead, Centennial 16:47.97*
4. Yosef Abdulrazeq, Legacy 16:54.42*
5. Isaac Smith, Burleson 16:56.51*
6. Angel Gomez, Mansfield Timberview 16:57.61*
7. Luke Johnson, Centennial 16:59.30*
8. Toby Eaton, Legacy 17:01.35*
9. Ethan Elston, Legacy 17:14.66*
10. Eric Espinal, Summit 17:15.37*
11. Jabari Mitchell, Legacy 17:21.94*
12. Xander Garcia, Burleson 17:22.51
GIRLS TEAMS
1. Centennial 39*
2. Legacy 44*
3. Summit 66
4. Burleson 92
RUNNERS
1. Ava Crisafulli, Legacy 19:18.34*
2. Emerson Voldan, Summit 19:20.28*
3. Clara Schwind, Centennial 19:57.73*
4. Katelyn Matthew, Legacy 20:44.02*
5. Briyanna Barajas, Burleson 20:46.87*
6. Delainey Neal, Centennial 20:48.54*
7. Anastacia Copland, Legacy 20:58.86*
8. Nour Almasari, Summit 21:21.85*
9. Ann Badawi, Arlington Seguin 21:27.28*
10. Katelyn Moravec, Centennial 21:36.87*
11. Madylin Herrera, Centennial 21:37.62*
12. Katie Shue, Centennial 21:42.37*
13. Aza Nela, Everman 21:45.30
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 2:29 PM.
