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Clean sweep: Ladycats, Bearcats win District 4-5A cross country championships; both JV teams also take titles

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It was a clean sweep for all four Aledo High School cross country teams Thursday morning at the girls' and boys' District 4-5A cross country meet at Wichita Falls.

Both the Ladycats and Bearcats varsity teams took first-place in team competition, and later in the meet, both AHS junior varsity squads raced to victory.

Both the Ladycats and Bearcats varsity teams will advance to the regional meet in Lubbock.

Aledo High School history was made when senior Graydon Morris won his fourth consecutive district cross country race, and his twin sister, Gracie Morris, won her third district cross country meet in three tries. She missed last year's district cross country race due to injury.

Graydon Morris ran a winning time of 15:01.66, while Gracie Morris crossed the finish line first with a time of 16:58.34.

"This feels amazing. These kids have worked so hard," Aledo head coach Mike Pinkerton said. "This shows that hard work pays off. Everyone ran so well today, and we had many PRs (personal records) today.

"Graydon and Gracie did what they needed to do, and Gracie ran well. She ran a 16:58, and that was fantastic. Graydon kind of took it easy, and when I say that, he ran a 15:01. Both implemented and executed their strategy. They knew what they needed to do."

Aledo runners also took silver medals for second-place finishes in both races. Cooper Goggans (15:38.77) placed second overall in the boys' race, and Sarah Tillotson (19:38.27) finished second in the girls' race. The Bearcats also earned a bronze medal in the boys' varsity race as Isaac Hernandez (15:43.63) finished third.

"Sarah ran exceptionally well," Pinkerton said. "Incredibly, she PRed by about a minute. That is absolutely unheard of. Coop (Goggans) also ran really well. Coop opened his stride up and got his turnover down, and it paid off for him. But honestly, everybody ran well today."

Three other Bearcats earned medals for Top 10 finishes in the varsity boys' race. Townes Raulerson finished fifth (16:20.37), Rylan Shaffer placed seventh (16:57.02) and Steven Furlow finished ninth (17:14.17). Freshman Henry Zedler had a nice debut district meet with a 17th-place finish (17:54.93).

Ladycats senior Chloe Gatch also earned a medal with a 10th-place finish (21:23.58) in the varsity race. Other varsity Ladycats results include Ashley Canady (11th place, 21:35.54), Olivia Tregellas (13th place, 21:55.82), Arwen Wise (16th place, 22:26.72) and Olivia Caggiano (20th place, 22:34.67).

The Bearcats JV won its meet and was led by a first-place finish from Reece Harr (17:48.36). The Bearcats dominated, as Aledo had 10 runners placing in the top 13, including places 1-7. Seth Thomas (18:11.21) placed second, followed by Ryan Zarate (18:16.29), Chad Thomas (18:25.26), Cameron Ross (18:25.58), Kevin Kaldenbach (18:34.7) and Haddon Davis (18:39.63). Also earning a medal for a 10th-place finish was Jackson Bone (19:11.97).

Other JV boys results included Garrett Gooden (11th place, 19:13.08), Kyle Kaldenbach (12th place, 19:21.25), Carson Collins (13th place, 19:22.1), Thomas Eaton (16th place, 19:24.6), Jake Robbins (19:46.27), Colton Snow (19:55.03), Marcus Eaton (19:57.16), Nicholas Cordell (20:09.85), Andrew Gamez (20:13.33), Joshua Ybarra (20:14.43), Maverick Savage (20:16.99), Cristian Flores (20:40.4), Alan Barrientos (20:57.63), Zachary Attaway (21:02.66), Ryan Skaggs (21:03.18), Abe Fulsaas (21:12.18), John Cook (21:12.5), Noah Willis (21:17.56), James Benton (21:32.66), Caden Breito (21:42.54), Cole Clark (21:52.04), Tianqin Puyang (23:00.41) and Tate Jackson (24:58.03).

The Ladycats JV won its meet and was led by a first-place finish from Sidney Tillotson with a time of 22:01.79. Aledo captured the next three spots as Ava Bathurst finished second (22:15.33), Faith Emmitte placed third (23:00.19) and Alyson Hammond finished fourth (23:31.88).

Other Ladycats results include Anna D'Avino with a time of 24:24.45, and Emely Rodriguez with a time of 27:07.66.

For the complete story, and for more photos, see the Oct. 25 issue of The Community News.

The Aledo Ladycats pose with their trophy won Thursday at the District 4-5A cross country meet in Wichita Falls. Shown (from left) are Arwen Wise, Olivia Caggiano, Ashley Canady, Olivia Tregellas, Gracie Morris, Chloe Gatch and Sarah Tillotson. Photo by Tony Eierdam

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