Cross-country meet sees seven Bulldog finishers

WESTSIDE — Under new head track coach James Ortiz, the boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams traveled south to Magazine for the Rattler Invitational Cross-Country meet at Magazine High School Sept. 6. Schools from all over Arkansas participated in this oneday event.

Ortiz took over the track and cross-country program from longtime head coach Shane Holland, who retired in May after 29 years of coaching, 11 of which were for the Decatur program.

In that 11 years in Decatur, Holland led the junior high boys and girls track teams to several district track championships (the highest junior high teams can go) as well as two back-to-back varsity girls state championships and numerous individual state championships. So Ortiz had big shoes to fill when he took over the program.

Ortiz is no stranger to Decatur High School, having coached the first eight-man football season in 2017.

The first event, the junior high girls, left the starting blocks at 4:30 p.m. The 2400-meter course (1.5 miles) took the group of 79 runners on a closed course around the Magazine football field and onto land surrounding the school itself.

Ortiz had four runners entered in this event. Finishing in 26th place was Sydnie Brooks with a time of 12:40, followed by Alondra Phi finishing 46 with a time of 14:36. California Herrington placed 50th with a time of 14:57. Rounding out the Decatur girls was Gisele Medel, who finished 60th with a time of 15:46.

Up next was the high school boys’ event which launched at 5: 30 p.m. Out of the 37 runners entered in the event, Decatur had three that finished in the top 25 runners, two in the top 15.

Running the same closed course as the girls, Jayden Gonzalez finished in eighth place with a time of 8:58. Brian Ruiz finished the event in 14th place with a time of 9:21, followed by Anthony Herrera finishing 23rd with a time of 11:10.

This is the start of the new season under coach James Ortiz who is pleased with the results of the Magazine crosscountry event.

“It was a good course for the cross-country team to begin the season. Magazine does an excellent job hosting events for cross-country,” Ortiz said. “The meet ran smoothly, and the teams were more than ready to run. Both the guys and girls seemed in high spirits before the race. I am very proud of the effort the teams put forth. We have room for improvement and have a better understanding of what we need to work on to get to the next level. Overall, I was very happy with their performance and look forward to the cross-country meets in the future.”