The Wylie girls cross country team poses for pictures with the first-place plaque at the Kaufman Run With The Lions Meet. Submitted photo

By David Wolman

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Last week was another productive one for the Wylie cross country team.

For the second time in as many meets, the Lady Pirates captured first place, this time at the Kaufman Run with the Lions, held last Friday at Kaufman Sports Complex. Paced by three freshmen, Wylie amassed 59 points between their top five runners, 15 points ahead of second-place Midlothian (74) and 42 ahead of third-place Princeton (101).

Fresh off a first-place finish at the Clay Minton Invitational, Annabelle Angeles turned in another strong performance at Kaufman, placing fourth with a time of 20:09.7. All seven Lady Pirates placed in the top 30. Vanessa Vazquez was 12^th in 20:51, followed by Tesnin Idris, who finished 13^th in 20:54. Alexis Lee placed 16^th in 21:13. Kyler Eiben finished 24^th in 21:56, just ahead of Kyndell Bacon (26^th, 22:03). Paige Orr ftook  27^th in 22:08, and Emerson Pierce placed 29^th in 22:19. 

The Wylie boys placed third with 93 points. Justin Northwest cruised to the team title with 30 points, while Midlothian finished second with 83.

Thorne Owen led the Pirates, placing ninth with a 16:54. Caden Zurita followed in 14^th at17:16. Luke Boruk showed the biggest improvement of any Wylie runner, placing 24^th in 17:43— a full minute faster than his previous week’s time at Sulphur Springs. Jaron Savage placed 29^th in 17:51, and Pedro Medina placed 39^th in 18:20. Lincoln Shumard ran 18:49 for 50^th. Jose Santiago (62^nd, 19:09), Karter Kekuna (63^rd, 19:13) and Michael Gonzales (65^th, 19:19) rounded out the Wylie effort.