Schuyler boys cross country wins North Bend Invite, girls finish as runner-up
NORTH BEND — Schuyler cross country ran its second meet in three days at Thursday's North Bend Invite at North Bend Golf Course.
The Warriors featured six medalists as both teams took home trophies. The boys won their second title of the season scoring 37 points, eight fewer than Lakeview. The girls finished as the runner-up with 52 points, 10 more than Pender.
Schuyler junior Miriam Deanda led the Warriors with a bronze medal. Deanda crossed the finish line in 21 minutes, 39.82 seconds.
"I feel like I did pretty good. It was a better course than last time. I feel like I just did really good throughout the race," Deanda said. "I feel like I just started calmly and slow and then I started building up throughout the race. I feel like that's what helped me build a really good finish."
Thursday marked Deanda's second-highest placement of the season. The junior collected her fifth medal of the season and her fourth top-five finish.
Schuyler senior Alyza Arroyo added two more medals to her collection. Arroyo crossed the finish line at North Bend in sixth with a mark of 21:50.26. Two days earlier, the senior recorded a time of 21:09.04 for seventh.
Warriors seniors Gabby Rodriguez and Sinai Sanchez finished Thursday's race in 20th and 25th, respectively. Rodriguez recorded a time of 23:18.47 and Sanchez clocked in at 23:46.19.
Schuyler's runner-up trophy attained on Thursday was the team's fourth of the season.
"We've been running really good as a team because we have a new runner in Alyza (Arroyo)," Deanda said. "She's been helping us improve like throughout the season and just like been pushing us throughout the season."
On Sept. 24, Deanda placed eighth at the Bob Hoyer Invite at Branched Oak State Park with a time of 21:09.04.
The junior is seeking her third trip to state, but her first as a part of a state-qualifying team.
"We're hoping to make it as a team for state," Deanda said. "We just got to push each other every day in practice in order to make it to state as a team."
Schuyler boys featured four medalists. Freshman Erik Estayul recorded the fastest time on the team of 18:11.59 for fifth overall. Sophomore Boo Hernandez placed seventh with a time of 18:19.78.
Warriors junior Yojan Cruz rounded out the top 10 with a time of 18:36.91. Sophomore Miguel Mendez secured the final individual medal with a 15th-place time of 18:49.37.
"I did great. It was a tough meet. We had one team looking out for and I think I ran great," Cruz said. "My plan was to go out slow in the beginning and look out for the team that we're looking up at for. We were talking in the meeting and just set your pace and go one by one."
Cruz picked up his third medal of the season after placing seventh at the home invite and 11th at Logan View. The junior said he's improved a lot from last season.
"I've done very good. Last year I wasn't at my greatest," Cruz said. "I think the new coaches helped me progress more and work on things I wanted to work on."
The Warrior boys brought home their fourth trophy of the season. Cruz said it's been fun competing with his teammates.
"I think we've done great," Cruz said. "We just kind of keep working hard and support each other and never give each other up."
Schuyler ran at the UNK Invite on Monday at Kearney Country Club in Kearney. Its next competition is Thursday at the Aquinas Invite at David City Golf Course in David City.
