Note: The Top 3 Teams and the Top 10 Individual Finishers Qualify For the State Meet

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Arlington (Vandergriff Park)—Saturday, November 8, 2008 will most likely go down as the greatest day in Forney High School’s cross country history.

On this day, both of the varsity cross country teams qualified for the State Meet. They qualified for the State Meet by producing their best performances of the 2008 season when it mattered the most.

Overall, the Forney women finished 1st and the Forney men placed 2nd at the Class 4A Region II Meet. The Forney women will be making their 2nd consecutive trip to the State Meet. In 2007, Forney placed 5th at State.

The Forney men will be making their 2nd trip to the State Meet in the last 4 years. In 2005, Forney placed 10th at State.

The State Meet is scheduled to be run on Saturday, November 15 at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock, Texas. The 4A Girls is slated to start at 12:30 p. m. while the boys’ race is set to start at 12:50 p. m. If you can, come out and support the Jackrabbits. It should be noted that the Top 3 Teams receive trophies, and the Top 10 individual finishers receive medals at the State Meet.

Now let me talk about the Regional Meet races.

In the women’s race, Forney was one of the favorites to qualify for the State Meet. Some of the other teams that had legitimate shot to qualify for the State Meet were Highland Park, Frisco, McKinney, and Midlothian. Coming into the meet, Forney was ranked 3rd  in the State by the Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas. Highland Park, Frisco, and Midlothian were ranked 5th, 8th and 10th  in the State respectively. McKinney also had spent some time in the State Rankings this season.

Forney knew it was going to be a tough meet, but they were ready for the challenge.

At the gun, the Forney team exploded from the start line and raced to the front. The start is always crucial in a cross country meet, because if you can get to the front you can control the pace.  As they started to climb a hill in the first mile of the race, I could tell from where I was standing at the finish line that the Lady Rabbits were in fact near the front and that they had taken charge of the race. Martha Romero, who has had an outstanding freshman season, was running right with the leaders, Gabbie Corletto and Tyler Blacklock, who have had All State caliber seasons, were the next two Lady Rabbits I saw and they were running terrific races. A few minutes later, Kara Hyde came bursting into view. She was running hard as well.  Jessica Boudreau was close behind Hyde and she was running a strong race. Then,, I saw Melaney Ortega and Samantha Amendson and they were producing  excellent races too. As I watched Forney dominate the race, all I could think of was the Tom Hanks line from A League of Their Own “We’re going to win!

Gabbie Corletto and Tyler Blacklock  made the final turn together and headed for  the finish line. Blacklock and Corletto, with their completive fires burning, raced each other to the finish line. Then, Martha Romero , Forney’s fabulous freshman, came into view and she was charging hard toward the finish line. It should be noted that Corletto, Blacklock, and Romero finished the 2-mile race in under 12 minutes. Corletto ran the race in 11:57.16 while Blacklock and Romero finished  the race in 11:57.49 and 11:58.74. For the record, Corletto finished 7th, Blacklock came in 8th, and Romero placed 9th. These ladies picked a great time to run their best races of the season. According to Coach Posey, this is the first time in Forney cross country history that 3 Lady Rabbits have finished  in the Top Ten at the Regional Meet.

Soon after Corletto, Blacklock, and Romero finished,  Kara Hyde finished the race in a time of 12:16.78. Jessica Boudreau finished the race in a time of 12:19.39; Melaney Ortega finished the race in a time of 12:24.99; and Samantha Amendson finished the race in a time of 12:35.00.

Hyde, Boudreau, Ortega and Amendson finished in 15th, 18th 22nd, and 33rd place respectively. The Forney ladies proved to everyone on this day that they were the best team in Region II.

When the final totals were posted, Forney had won the Regional meet with a score of 45 points.  Highland Park was 2nd with a total of 73 points, and Frisco was 3rd  with a total of 92 points.  Forney, Highland Park, and Frisco will be the teams that will represent Region II at the State Meet.

At the awards ceremony, Corletto, Blacklock and Romero received medals for finishing in the Top 10,and then  the team along with Coach Posey and Coach Cook accepted their Regional Championship trophy. They had big smiles on their faces. The Forney supporters cheered enthusiastically as they watched the girls celebrate their achievement.

“Our kids really ran well at the Regional Meet,” Head Coach James Posey said. We knew Highland Park had a  good team and they would be tough. We got out fast and pushed the pace and it worked out for us.

“We had three on the stage to represent the Top Ten. That has never happened at Forney High School. We take a lot of pride in the Girls Cross Country  Team. We work very hard and expect that hard work to pay off. We dealt with injuries and a lot of adversity  during the season, but our kids always battled back or someone new stepped up.”

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In the men’s race, two of the favored teams to reach the State Meet were Mesquite Poteet (ranked 1st in the State by the Cross Country Association of Texas) and Frisco Centennial (ranked 5th in the State). The third and final berth to the State meet was considered to be wide open.

After seeing the Forney team run so well at the District Meet, I thought the Rabbits could have a shot at making the State Meet.

Along with Mesquite Poteet and Frisco Centennial, some of the other  powerful teams that had qualified for the Regional Meet were Highland Park (Ranked 4th in the State), Waco Midway and Midlothian. The battle was on.

As the runners ran right by me in the first mile of the race, I could see Josh Taylor running right with the leaders. Then, I saw Tommy McIntire and Isac Valdez making their presence known in the race as well. The other members of the varsity team (Jose Chavez, Blake Withrow, Nick Arnold and Joseph Doornek) were running very strong races too., Forney was showing everyone that they were determined to make State.

Josh Taylor was the first Rabbit man to make the final turn His long legs were eating up the ground in front of him as he ran hard to the finish line. Taylor, who placed 4th in the race, crossed the line in a outstanding time of 15:45.76  A short while later, Tommy McIntire (12th in a time of 16:15.51) came down the home stretch and he was running with a purpose.  In fact, he accelerated past another runner before he hit the finish line.    Then Isac Valdez (17th in a time of 16:24.24), Jose Chavez (24th in a time of 16:39.08), Blake Withrow (27th in a time of 16:41.63), Nick Arnold (61st in a time of 17:13.77) and Joseph Doornek (74th in a time of 17:23.97) came charging toward  the finish line. As the Forney team finished the race, I kept thinking that the boys had run some good times and that we had a shot at the State Meet. In fact, the entire varsity boys’ Cross Country team set new personal records at the Regional Meet.

When  the results were posted, Forney had indeed made the State Meet. Overall, Mesquite Poteet  won the Regional Meet with a score of 51 points, Forney was 2nd with 78 points and Frisco Centennial was 3rd with 123 points. Mesquite Poteet, Forney, and Frisco Centennial will be the teams that will represent Region II at the State Meet. When it was determined that the Forney men had made the State meet, the joy among the Forney faithful was evident as there were hugs and high fives exchanged.

At the awards ceremony, Josh  Taylor received a medal for finishing in the Top Ten, and then the team was recognized for finishing 2nd.

“We scaled back practice a little bit last week, so that their legs would be fresh for the Regional Meet,” Head Coach Jeff Pruitt said. “The guys responded perfectly. They were enthusiastic and full of energy Saturday morning. Once we started warming up, I felt good about our chances to finish in the Top 3. We drew a bad box to start in, but the guys worked very hard to position themselves during the race. I couldn’t be prouder of the way they performed. To finish 2nd in a tough region is a nice accomplishment. We’re going to get after  it again this week and see if we can get on that stag at Round Rock.”

It was a great day to be a Jackrabbit.

Class 4A Region II Team Results
(Top 3 Teams Qualify for State Meet)
Women’s Standings

Forney - 45 points
Dallas Highland Park - 73 points
Frisco - 92 points
Rockwall Heath - 135 points
McKinney - 160 points
Midlothian - 163 points
Frisco Liberty - 182 points
Longview Pine Tree - 221
Cleburne - 227
Mesquite Poteet  - 268

Top 10 Individual Finishers
(These Runners Qualified for State Meet

Carly Kitts, Midlothian - 11:18.24

Sara Sutherland, Dallas Highland Park - 11:22.28

Chelsey Dillon, Mabank - 11:40. 64

Jessica Rodriguez, Frisco - 11:53.80

Megan Shea, McKinney - 11:54.46

Amy Long, Nacogdoches - 11:55.44

Gabbie Corletto, Forney - 11:57.16

Tyler Blacklock, Forney - 11:57.49

Martha Romero, Forney - 11:58.74

 Megan Siebert, Richardson  Pearce- 11:58.93

Men’s Standings
(Top 3 Teams Qualify for  State Meet)

Mesquite Poteet - 51 points
Forney - 78 points
Frisco Centennial - 123 points
Waco Midway - 155 points
Midlothian - 191 points
Dallas Highland Park - 194 points
Dallas Adamson - 198 points
Rockwall - 203 points
Frisco Liberty - 217 points
McKinney - 283 points

Top 10 Individual Finishers
(These Runners Qualified for State Meet)

Kyle Garcia, Frisco Centennial - 15:34.77

Eduardo Rodriguez, Dallas Adamson  - 15.40 89

Andy Ortiz, Mesquite Poteet - 15:42.60

Josh  Taylor, Forney - 15:45 76

Tyler Chappell, Cleburne - 15:50.06

Jorge Ziesk, Mesquite Poteet - 15:51.52

Neal Ellis, Midlothian - 15:56.71

Elias Murrillo, Mesquite Poteet - 16:00.47

Jonathan Tijerina, - 16:01.61

Louie Cook, Waco Midway- 16:01.65