Ryan Pavlich

Varsity Cross Country took I-10 east on Saturday, Oct 16th to take part in the Seguin Invitational in Starke Park.  Our top girls kicked in at the end of the race, with Shantel Swift finishing 6th in 12:07 and Glynnis Meade 9th in 12:08.  Lauren Porter was next to complete the 2 mile course in 14:25, followed close behind by Brittany Perez 14:28.4, Ariel Schmid 14:28.7 and Valerie Vacek 14:32.  Austin Wells medaled in the boys 5k, placing 10th in 15:58, with Ryan Pavlich coming in next for the Cougars in 16:50, then Aidan Pierce 17:49, Nicholas Moseley 18:18, JR Guajardo 18:29, Mark Pena 18:45 and Tyrell Lewis, 19:06.  The girls were 17th and boys 18th out of 41 teams.

Wells in the pack

In the dark of the night, Cross Country ventured north to Round Rock for the McNeil Invitational on Oct 2nd.  The boys team ran in the very competitive Gold Division – the winning time for the 5k was 15:05, with Austin Wells medaling in 14th place (15:48).  Next in were Nick Moseley in 18:21, Philip Ross 18:38, Tyrell Lewis 18:45, Harry MacTough 18:50, JR Guajardo 18:57 and Daniel Carcamo 19:53.  Glynnis Meade and Shantel Swift took part in the 5A/4A 3200m race – with over 500 runners, finishing 42nd (12:21) and 56th (12:30).  Both races were run on the same courses that are used for the State Meet, so valuable experience for all.

Swift takes silver

The Cross Country teams persevered humid conditions on Saturday,Sept 25th to take part in the SAISD meet on the grounds of the San Antonio State School.  JV Boys placed 6th, Varsity girls placed 7th, and Varsity Boys and JV Girls were both 8th with around 22 teams in each race.  Austin Wells celebrated his first victory over 3 miles in 16:42 with the next closest runner 12 second behind – way to go!  Aidan Pierce was in next for Clark (19:15), then Nick Moseley (19:41), Mark Pena (20:02), Harry MacTough (20:38), Philip Ross (20:39), and Daniel Carcamo (20:58).  Top Cougar in the 2 mile girls race was Shantel Swift in 2nd place (12:47) – well done!  Next in were Amanda De La Fuente (14:14), Katherine Ritchie (14:20), and Valerie Vacek (415:03), with Lauren Porter and Catherine Seifert nearly side by side at 15:42.  With September now behind us, Cross Country looks forward to cooler fall weather in October as we continue to prepare for the District meet on the 30th.

Meade and Swift lead pack

Wet weather this week moved the NEISD Cross Country meet on Saturday, Sept 11th to Blossom Athletic Complex, which meant running through the parking lots and surrounding streets with the finish in Comalander Stadium.  It was another big meet, with 28 girls teams and 33 boys teams competing, including many from NISD and NEISD.  Top 10 finishers for the girls were Glynnis Meade, 2nd place (12:03.6) and Shantel Swift, 7th place (12:17.2), followed by Katherine Ritchie (13:45), Amanda De La Fuente (13:45), Valerie Vacek (14:28), Catherine Seifert (14:57) and Lauren Porter (15:07).  Brandeis took the 1st place girls team spot, with Clark the next NISD team, placing 6th.

Roadwork for Austin Wells

Austin Wells placed 3rd overall for the boys (16:48.9), with Aidan Pierce next (19:56), then Harry MacTough (20:16), Nicholas Moseley (20:18), Tyrell Lewis (20:19), and Daniel Carcomo (20:40).  Both courses were slightly longer than the expected 2 and 3 miles.

Wells - Swift - Meade

The Cross Country season is off and running!  Rain canceled the Southwest meet last year, and the team wondered if Friday’s showers would cause a repeat as the course is below street level.  But Saturday dawned with clear, 70 degree skies – a beautiful day for early September in San Antonio.  Taking advantage of the situation were a trio of Cougars – Glynnis Meade was 3rd (11:05.3) and Shantel Swift, 4th (11:06.8) for the girls race (approx 1.9 miles), and Austin Wells, 4th(14:52.4) for the boys race (approx 2.95 miles).  The girls placed 7th out of 26 teams, with scoring added by Katherine Ritchie, Amanda De La Fuentes, and Valerie Vacek.  Lauren Porter and Catherine Seifert rounded out the Varsity team.  The boys team were 15th out of 33 teams, with Tyrell Lewis, Aidan Pierce, Harry MacTough, and Nicholas Moseley scoring, followed by Daniel Carcamo and JR Guajardo.  Both teams include several new runners, including a few Freshman running as Cougars for the first time.  It was an exciting day for all!

Wilkens running and serving

2010 Clark Cougar graduate Stacey Wilkens has been selected for the US Air Force Academy Women’s Cross Country team!  Congrats to Stacey!  See the full team roster which includes a few others from San Antonio at http://www.goairforcefalcons.com/sports/c-xc/mtt/afa-c-xc-mtt.html

Two Clark Cross Country Athletes received recognition from the website TXrunning.com. In District IV-5A Cross Country Previews, Austin Wells, sophomore, was recognized as a player to watch for the boys and Shantel Swift, Junior, was recognized as a player to watch for the girls. Congratulations to these mighty fast Clark Cougars! The link to the website .

Which reminds us: Cross Country practice is underway! Come join the team as they prepare for their first meet on September 4th. You do not need to be in the Cross Country class in order to participate, but must like early mornings! Come on out and see if you’ve got what it takes. See http://clarkathleticbooster.com/sports/crosscountry.html for practice times and the meet schedule. Physicals and other paperwork must be turned in before you can join in the running. Contact Coach Ager at anne.ager@nisd.net for more info. *** Parent meeting is Monday, Aug 16th at 7pm in the cafeteria.

Clark Cross Country

Cross Country – A great way to get in shape for soccer, basketball, track… or just be a runner.  Join us!  Optional summer practices are already underway – see updates on Assistant Coach.  Required practices start Wed, Aug 4th, but don’t wait until then to start running!  For more info, contact Anne.Ager@nisd.net.