Both Bowie and Nocona cross country teams got a preview of the district course running at Holliday on Friday.
While both teams were there, Bowie and Nocona ran in separate heats and were not directly competing with each other.
The Jackrabbit team won their heat as the top five runners all finished among the top nine. Sid Mayfield finished first for Bowie in fourth place with a time of 18:35. Nathan Rogers, Ignacio Saucedo, Alex Castro and Andrew Sandoff finished sixth through ninth.
Coach Andy Atkins was thrilled with how his team ran overall, but singled out Rodgers and Saucedo for taking more risks in the meet.
“They took a couple more chances and Nathan Rodgers and Ignacio Saucedo led the race for a while which was great for them to see how long they could hold that pace,” Atkins said. “Boys are running with a lot of confidence right now.”
The Lady Rabbits finished second in their heat. Samantha Clarke finished first for Bowie in fourth place with a time of 13:52. Kaydee Jones joined her on the medal stand finishing 11th. Other teammates Hannah Craddock finished 18th, Madison Hartin 20th and Naomi Enriquez 33rd.
Coach Joe Crabb praised Clarke and Jones for not only getting on the medal stand, but running personal best times this season despite the chilly morning.
The Lady Indians were missing three runners, but still finished third overall in their heat. Kylie Rose led the team finishing fourth with a time of 12:25. Raylee Sparkman joined her with a medal in 11th place, Jayce Rose finished 17th, Cobi Womack finished 25th and Natalie Pirkey finished 29th.
Coach Kyle Spitzer thought his team ran well overall, but knows the team was hurting with three runners missing. He is looking forward to what his team will look like this week with the district race a week away.
The Nocona Indians finished fifth in their heat as Hank Ulbig led the team finishing 15th with a time of 19:02. The other top five runners for Nocona saw Alex Stephens finishing 21st, Arturo Garcia finish 24th, Miguel Oliveras finishing 28th and Andrew Johnson finishing 38th.
All teams are next scheduled to run at Nocona’s hosted meet at Indian Oaks golf course on Oct. 21, the final regular meet before the district meet a week later.

To see results for all Bowie and Nocona high school runners, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.