Cardinal CC teams rule own meet

[KFDM COOP]

Cardinal CC teams rule own meet

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

VIDOR — It was quite another banner day for the Bridge City cross country teams at their own 19th Annual Cardinal Classic at Claiborne Park Saturday morning.

Both the Cardinal boys and girls captured the first-place team trophies in the 3A-and-Under Division and Cardinal Tim Cude won the individual title and Lady Cardinal freshman Mary Nguyen won the girls division. Bridge City senior standout Ryan Kelly competed in the 5A-4A Division and finished a solid second.

Cude won his division by covering the three miles in 18 minutes, 28 seconds. He was followed by teammates Kirby Shepherd (fifth, 19:21.7), Sawyer Hogan (11th, 20:17.5), Hunter Stevens (13th, 20:23.2) and Mark Virva (16th, 20:31.8.

The Cardinals finished with 29 points, easily outdistancing second-place Pollok-Central, which had 54. Tarkington was third with 60 points followed by Deweyville (105), the Bridge City ‘B’ Team (119) and Beaumont Kelly (156).

“Tim ran a tremendous race and I think that’s the first time he’s finished first in any race,†said Cardinal coach Cody Knight. “I was real pleased with everyon’e effort. They got to run over some hilly spots today and fought off some muddy conditions.â€

Joe Dooley paced the Deweyville squad, running a 19:19.9. He was followed by teammates Michael Chalambaga (26th, 22:47.3), Jacob Hopson (32nd, 24:02.4), Brady Williams (33rd, 24:06.8), Ronnie Anglin (35th, 24:28.8) and Caden Thompson (36th, 25:07.8).

Armanda Chavez placed 17th for the BC ‘B’ Team with a 20:33.2. He was followed by teammates Jacob Worthington (24th, 22:16.0), Brian Godwin (30th, 23:28.2), Aaron Hodges (3th, 25:18.8) and Eric Chesson (39th, 25:35.3). Community Christian’s Brandon Burns nabbed seventh in 19:44.5 and West Orange-Stark’s Leon Mendizabel placed a solid 10th in 19:56.4. Kellen Free placed 34th for Orangefield with a time of 24:22.0 and teammate Ben Walles was 42nd with a 26:33.0.

Lady Cardinal freshman Nguyen was certainly queen for the day, scorching the muddy two-mile terrain in 14:27.1 to easily capture the first-place medal. She was followed by teammates Shae Garriga (fourth, 15:01.3), Jessica Franklin (sixth, 15:05.7), Melissa Pittman (seventh, 15:06.0), Ariel Chesson (ninth, 15:16.5), Lisa Huynh (11th, 15:30.8), Lon Vu (18th, 16:11.9), Kim Truong (34th, 17:59.3) and Sarah Fontenot (37th, 18:23.0).

The Lady Cardinals (26) held off Liberty (35) for the team title. Lufkin Hudson was third with 91 points followed by Pollok-Central (92) and Orangefield (122).

“Mary just ran an awesome race today,†Knight said. “She has a tremendous work ethic and her times keep getting lower and lower. I’m so thrilled about our whole girls team. We have several freshmen and sophomores that have really stepped it up and they’ll just continue to improve.â€

Abby Ludwig led the Orangefield Lady Bobcats with a time of 17:20.0 to place 27th. She was followed by teammates Elena Newell (40th, 18:41.9), Samantha Fukuda (42nd, 20:14.2), Angi Biri (43rd, 20:16.9) and Megan Jerrel (44th, 20:17.3).

Community Christian’s Angela Royer was 29th, running a 17:22.7.

Kelly ran a strong time of 17:20.2 to place second in the boys 5A-4A class after winning the Dayton Invitational the week before. Lufkin’s Hunter Russell captured the race in 17:06.08.

“Ryan would’ve won the 3A Division pretty easily, but he loves a tough challenge,†Knight said. “He ran really well again today against some good competition. Ryan really wants to go out his senior year and have a great season and I know he can do that.â€

Lufkin won the 5A-4A Division with 44 points. Lufkin Hudson was second with 55 points while Barbers Hill was third with 89.

In the girls 5A-4A Division, Little Cypress-Mauriceville’s Reanna Edgerton earned a medal by placing eighth with a swift time of 13:46.8. Other Lady Bears included Megan Isaacs (16:06.5), Ellen Williams (16:16.5), Shelly Conn (17:00.5) and Kaitlin White (17:58.3).

[cardinalcc]

Congrats to all.

[dav-joel]

Good coaching, Good athletes, and plenty of training partners for those long runs. -BC has all the above.