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Wildcats Cross Country Coach Talks Last Weekend’s Inaugural Wildcat Invitational

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Wildcats cross country coach Ross Hicks said last weekend’s Wildcats Invitational, the first ever meet hosted by Sulphur Springs, went very well.

Several runners recorded personal record (PR) times, with Coach Hicks calling the Sulphur Springs meet a success.

The cross country coach said the ground was really flat and hard, allowing several runners to record some extremely fast times.

It would not be easy though as the Wildcat Invitational brought stiff competition in Pine Tree, Lufkin, Kaufman, Wylie East, Hallsville, and Texas High.

The top two runners stayed the same for Sulphur Springs on the Lady Cats; sophomore Haylee Schultz was the first runner for the Lady Cats crossing the finish line at 19:52.5 which got her the tenth spot in the 5K meet.

Freshman Jaicee Jasmer was not far behind Schultz with a time of 20:14.3. The second runner for the Lady Cats Jasmer was able to medal at 14th.

Sophomore Jazmin Yanez and senior Jolene Carpenter were the next runners from Sulphur Springs to cross the finish line at times of 22:51.6 and 22:56.5, good enough for 31st and 32nd, respectively.

Junior Rebekah Stanley came in at 37th for the final placement from the Lady Cats team.

The women’s team had a good enough outing to finish fourth in the tough cross country meet, finishing only behind Hallsville, Kaufman and Lufkin.

Moving over to the boys team, senior Jose Mejia had his best race ever, bar none, according to Coach Hicks.

Mejia finished only four seconds behind the first place runner from Kaufman, with a time of 16:15.4 that gave the senior a second place finish at the first ever Wildcat Invitational.

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No other Wildcats would medal, but seniors Alex Flecker and Evan Patrick cracked the top-30 at 27th and 28th with times of 17:43.3 and 17:44.8, respectively.

Sophomore Erick Osornio finished at 40th with a time of 18:17 flat.

The last three runners to place for Sulphur Springs were Candelario Monsivais, Cristobal Torres and Jonathan Scott, who took the last three odd spots at the meet at 57th, 59th, and 61st.

The men did not fare as well as the Lady Cats, as the Wildcats placed seventh in a crowded field of stiff competition.

Regardless of how well his team performed last Saturday, Coach Hicks wished to thank SSISD administration for helping get the first ever Wildcat Invitational set up, and to all the fans who came out on Sept. 25 to cheer on the cross country squads.

Next up, Coach Ross Hicks and his program will no doubt look for similar or better results on Saturday when they travel out to Mt. Pleasant to take on the Tigers.

Races will have a rolling start come Saturday, Oct. 2, starting with the 5 and 6A women’s varsity runners, followed by the men in the same subdivisions at 8:30 A.M.


KSST is proud to be the official Wildcat and Lady Cat Station. We broadcast Sulphur Springs ISD games year round live on radio. When allowed, we also broadcast games via our YouTube channel.

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Author: Ross LaBenske

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