Brownwood’s cross country teams delivered a strong showing Wednesday at the Heart of Texas Invitational hosted by Brady High School, with the Lions’ varsity boys placing second and both the JV boys and JV Lady Lions capturing team championships.
Varsity boys finish second
The varsity Brownwood Lions scored 67 points to finish behind San Angelo TLCA, which won the team competition with 32 points. Juston Burt paced Brownwood by placing sixth individually in 18:28.5.
Jonathan Skrhak followed in 13th place with a time of 19:16.7, while Bennett Windham finished 14th in 19:22.4. Maddox Butka placed 18th in 19:43.7, Brayden Musick was 22nd in 19:54.4 and Jonathan Solano finished 25th in 20:08.5.
JV Lions win team division
The JV Lions claimed first place in their division with 35 points, finishing ahead of runner-up Wall, which scored 57. Jovi Martinez led Brownwood with a second-place finish in 19:40.0. Sam May placed seventh in 22:40.7, followed by Brayden Munsell in eighth at 22:57.3.
Zackary Clawson finished 10th in 23:25.7, and Jago Nance was 11th in 23:28.3. Diego Villanueva-Cantu placed 13th in 23:55.9, Kip Havens was 15th in 24:12.8, Javier Garcia finished 17th in 25:10.1, Rowdy Lucas was 22nd in 25:22.8, Avery Solis placed 28th in 26:33.1 and Kyler Lavy finished 29th in 26:47.8.
JV Lady Lions take championship
The JV Lady Lions also won their team competition, scoring 15 points to defeat runner-up San Angelo TLCA, which finished with 45 points.
Ellie Lee won the individual race in 15:34.3, followed by teammate Linnie Thompson in second at 15:39.2. Brooklyn Bouldin placed sixth in 17:20.8, Bella Garza finished eighth in 17:29.6, Alayna Hernandez was ninth in 18:13.3 and Gale Balfour placed 12th in 18:53.0.
Next, the Brownwood Lady Lions varsity runners are scheduled to compete Friday at the Round Rock McNeil Invitational at Old Settlers Park. The park is also the site of the UIL Cross Country State Championships.