By Greg Ford
Sports Editor
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The Wylie boys’ cross country team took first in the Elite Division during last Saturday’s Lake Highlands Invitational at Dallas’ Norbuck Park. The Pirates (52 points) finished comfortably ahead of the next closest competitor, Tyler Lee (64).

On the girls’ side, the Lady Pirates were sixth in Elite competition (115), a race that Lee won (67), followed by Frisco Independent (78).

In other races, the Wylie boys took second in the Open Division with 83 points, well behind first-place Rockwall (48), while the JV boys were fifth (123) behind Dallas Conrad (59), North Mesquite (66), Tyler Lee (75) and North Garland (111). The Lady Pirates took fourth in their JV race (107), finishing behind Frisco Independence (40), Rockwall (54) and Tyler Lee (97).

Freshman Luke Lambert (16:25.22) was the top Wylie Elite boys’ runner, taking fourth overall. The next four runners, who completed the scoring, were Samuel Abdellatif (10th at 16:57.42), Shimeles Abdellatif (11th at 17:08.34), Aidan Gardiner (12th in 17:11.67) and Samuel Espinosa (15th in 17:24.75). Tyler Lee’s Haftu Knight (15:56.95) was the top individual runner.

Katelyn Buckley (sixth in 20:54.79) led the Lady Pirates, with Ella Phillips (15th in 22:05.61), Makenzie Vega (22:34.17 for 22nd), Iman Baraso (33rd in 23:26.50) and Aubrey Bosse (39th in 24:11.64) rounding out the scoring. Alvarado’s Emily Garcia (19:31.13) won the girls’ race.

Aidan Carter (fifth in 17:43.08) was the top Pirate runner in the boys’ Open race, while James Cooke (16th in 19:44.64) was the best Wylie boys’ JV runner. The top Lady Pirate JV racer was Allie Wilson (13th in 24:39.55).