Big Spring cross country teams qualify to regionals after finishing second at district meet

Don “Diego” Rios wins individual district title, Luna Jimenez finishes 3rd setting a new PR

LUBBOCK – Both the Big Spring Steers and Lady Steers cross country teams are headed to regionals once again after competing in the District 5-4A meet that was held on Thursday at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock.

The Steers finished second in the team standings scoring 48 points overall. On the girls side, the Lady Steers finished third in the team standings scoring a total of 73 points. Levelland won both the boy's and girl's team titles.

The Lady Steers were led by sophomore Luna Jimenez who finished third individually. Jimenez ran a new personal best of 13:57.23 over the two-mile course at the district meet.

Fellow teammate Kandace Gonzales and Dorcas Jones followed behind Jimenez. Gonzales finished eleventh overall with a time of 14:58.65 while Jones finished twelfth with a time of 15:02.53.

Rounding out the rest of the Lady Steers were Lilly Lively – 16th (15:29.56), Alysandra De La Cruz – 31st (17:44.66), and Leila Franco – 35th (18:29.91).

On the boy's side, the Steers were led by junior Don “Diego” Rios who won the individual district title. Rios completed the 5K course with a time of 17:57.43 to win the race. Teammate Jacob Marquez finished second overall finishing with a time of 18:05.09.

Senior Michael Perez also finished in the top ten in the race as he claimed the final individual qualifying spot. Perez finished with a time of 19:11.38. Rounding out the rest of the Steers team were David Villagrana – 16th (19:39.25), Evan Medrano – 19th (19:56), Thomas Sooter – 21st (20:05.88), and Eddyson Quezada – 36th (22:44.91).

Both the Steers and Lady Steers will now get ready for the Class 4A Region I Meet that will be held on Tuesday Oct. 24 at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock. The Lady Steers are set to run at 12 p.m. while the Steers will run shortly after at 12:30 p.m.

Luna Jimenez (top) and Don “Diego” Rios (bottom) recently competed at the District 5-4A cross country meet held at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock on Thursday. Rios won the boy's individual title, while Jimenez finished third overall setting a new PR. Both the Steers and Lady Steers will compete at the Class 4A Region I meet on Oct. 24 in Lubbock.