THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

Tracey Borchardt — the head coach of the Odessa High girls cross country team — knew her squad didn’t have its best performance during the Odessa Invitational on Thursday at UTPB Park. She called two separate post-race meetings: the first included solely members of the girls team, while the second was the boys and girls collectively. The Lady Bronchos finished third with 94 points and didn’t have a runner in the top 10. The Odessa Invitational was a final tune-up before the District 2-6A meet, which takes place next week over the same course. “I don’t really ever gripe much, but I blasted my kids twice today,” Borchardt said. “It’s mental from here and they have to have the confidence within. That’s where it comes from. They’ve got what it takes, but they have to dig deep and have the confidence to do it.” Despite the less than optimal performance from the Lady Bronchos, freshman Daena Brito — who led the team with a 12th-place individual finish — believes wholeheartedly that they can win a district championship. Odessa High finished 24 points behind runner-up San Angelo Central (70). All seven district teams were in attendance for the Odessa Invitational. “I believe in every one of my teammates,” said Brito, who finished with a time of 20 minutes, 49.44 seconds. “I believe in them. I feel like we can be champions, but we all just have to work together and show up next week.” The Lady Bronchos also received scores from freshmen Nathalia Escontrias and Odalis Lujan, senior Cameron Rodriguez and junior Cheyenne Diaz. Borchardt expects during the final week of the regular season that Rodriguez and the rest of the seniors will take on a large leadership role. The Lady Bronchos head coach said the biggest obstacle the team has overcome before the district meet is a mental hurdle. “Like I told them, we’ve put in 500 miles and we are ready, but you can’t let yourself get beat, because you start second guessing yourself,” Borchardt said. “If you think you are tired or you are beat at mile two (of a three-mile race), you are going to finish that way. We can’t let that get into our heads and slow us down.” Permian placed sixth with 162 points. Sophomore Sara Castro paced the Lady Panthers in 18th (21:26.22). Lubbock-Cooper won the event with 40 points as the team, claiming four of the top 10 spots. The Lady Pirates finished 12th as a team at the 2016 UIL Class 5A State Cross Country Championships. Nyia Sena, who placed 69th at last year’s state meet, took third at the Odessa Invitational with a time of 19:24.72. Mitzy Madrid of Hobbs (N.M.) claimed medalist honors after she won by more than 30 seconds. The freshman ended with a time of 18:40.41, while Macy Junell of Amarillo Tascosa was the runner-up (19:14.38). Brito said the team will start its preparations for the District 2-6A meet today. “We just have to work mentally and keep their minds strong,” she said. “Everything is possible. I believe. I believe we can win next week.” >> STRONG FIELD: Permian sophomore Josh Garcia knew there was a strong group at the top. Garcia wanted to be stride for stride with that company — which included Wes McPhail, a returning all-state runner from Amarillo Tascosa. McPhail claimed the top spot (15:30.28) by more than 25 seconds, but Garcia found himself five spots back in sixth during the Odessa Invitational. Garcia’s sixth-place finish of 16:21.62 lifted the Panthers to second with 80 points. The Panthers ended with four Top 20 placements, but Hobbs claimed the top spot with 40 points and three runners in the top 10. “I knew there was a couple of good runners, so I just strategized and went out with them,” Garcia said. “It helped me go out ahead. We train on this course, so it felt like muscle memory going through it. I knew a couple strides could make the other runners tired and that’s what I used to move out ahead. I just need to work on my kick.” Permian also received scores from Oscar Sotelo in 13th (16:45.84), Antonio Herrera took 17th (16:59.15), Jose Carrasco placed 18th (17:00.59) and Jose Araujo rounded things out in 26th (17:15.52). Odessa High ended in fifth with 152 points, while Andrews placed sixth (203) and Crane placed 11th (274). Adrian Lujan took the top spot for the Bronchos in 10th (16:41.31). The Panthers finished with the top score against their district opponents. Garcia wants to team to bring its same level of intensity with the hopes of winning the program’s third district title. “This is a good indicator on where we are at,” Garcia said. “We are here to make a run.” >> AREA STANDOUTS: During the 2016 UIL Class 4A State Cross Country Championships, the Andrews girls cross country team finished seventh. Cathy Lopez helped the Lady Mustangs take the top spot in the girls JV-1A-2A-3A-4A portion of the Odessa Invitational. The senior took third, while her teammate junior Elizabeth Garcia claimed fourth. Andrews had its top five runners place 17th or better and with that performance the team ended with 43 points and edged Presidio by one. “The goal that we’ve been wanting to do is close our gap times and stay closer to each other,” said Lopez, who ended with a time of 13:36.56. “We’ve been working on staying with each other in practice and pushing each other.” Kayla Grado of Fort Davis finished runner-up (13:34.22), while Selena Saldana of Presidio took first (13:04.18). Crane, Alpine, Fort Stockton and Wink placed third through sixth place, respectively. On the boys side, Jake Guthrie of Fort Davis placed runner-up (17:55.09) and broke up Presidio’s opportunity at a perfect team score. The Blue Devils won the boys JV-1A-2A-3A-4A portion with 21 points. Presidio finished one point away from the podium at the 2016 UIL Class 3A State Cross Country Championships. Oscar Moreno of Presidio won the medalist honors with a time of 17:29.59.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

LADY BRONCHOS ATTEMPT TO BUILD MENTAL EDGE AFTER ODESSA INVITATIONAL

ROYAL MCGREGOR

Odessa American | 10/5/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jacob Ford