BROCK – The Brownwood Lady Lions defended their District 6-4A championship, and Kate Tindol captured the girls individual championship Monday morning. The Brownwood Lions also earned another Region I-4A berth with a second straight third-place district finish – by a single point – for the league’s berth final to Lubbock.
All seven Lady Lions runners placed in the Top 11 as Brownwood garnered 23 points – compared to 51 by runner-up Brock – led by Tindol’s championship time of 12:13.48. Sidney Windham finished fourth in a time of 12:39.86 followed by fifth-place Talia Craff (12:43.55), sixth-place Kylea Karnes (12:51.27), seventh-place Rebekkah Delgado (12:52.38), 10th-place Braycee Lee (13:04.98) and 11th-place Haylee Adkins (13:05.74).
“I am so proud of how our girls competed today,” said Lady Lions head coach Chelsey Lipsey. “Winning another district championship has been one of our main goals since day one and every one of the girls on this team has been bought into making that happen. These are some of the best girls you could ask for as a coach and they work so hard every day so I’m so happy for them and so happy to see all that hard work and sacrifice pay off for them.”
The Lions produced 58 points, just ahead of Stephenville’s 59 to secure the league’s final regional berth. The Brownwood boys placed behind 6-4A champion Mineral Wells (40 points) and on the heels of runner-up Brock (56) to reach regionals for a third straight year.
Leading the way for the Lions was Bennett Windham in sixth place (17:24.12) followed by Noah Lambert (8th, 17:34.26), Aidan Pena (10th, 17:37.9), Stephen Rodriguez (11th, 17:46.46), Ross Strasner (23rd, 18:31.85), Hayden Mair (31st, 19:37.39), and Valente Cardenas (35th, 20:26.39).
“I’m extremely proud of our guys,” said Lions cross country head coach Will Parker. “They’ve continued to improve each and every week, believed in each other and overcame a lot of obstacles along the way. Three consecutive years of qualifying for the regional meet, out of an extremely competitive district, is an outstanding achievement for this group of young men. We’re looking forward to a few more weeks of practice and another trip to Lubbock.”
The Region I-4A meet will take place at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 21 at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock, where the top four teams advance to the UIL Cross Country State Championships at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock Friday, Nov. 1.
In subvarsity action, the JV Lady Lions came in third with 46 points, behind Brock (38) and Stephenville (42). Meanwhile, the Lions finished fourth with 87 points, trailing Mineral Wells (32), Stephenville (43) and Brock (82).
Lyndi Biasiolli led the JV Lady Lions with second-place time of 13:59.91, while Jose Rodriguez was the top finisher for the JV Lions with a third-place effort of 19:55.69.