The cross country season started for four county schools on Wednesday at Nocona’s hosted meet at Indian Oaks Golf Course.
Along with the host school, teams and runners from Bowie, Saint Jo and Forestburg competed along with eight other schools.
The Jackrabbit boys had the highest team finish of the day sitting in third place. Sebastian Martinez finished first for Bowie in 14th place with a time of 19:26.
The Jackrabbits top five finishers also included Ignacio Saucedo (20), James Allison (27) Nathan Rodgers (28) and Tyler Malone (33).
Coach Andy Atkins was pleased with the team overall, but knows it is just the beginning.
“We are not near where we want to be, but I think we are actually further along than last year,” Atkins said.0 “It was good to get that first race under our belts.”
The Nocona boy’s team finished right behind the Jackrabbits in fourth place. Freddy Duran finished first for the Indians in 15th place with a time of 19:30.
Among the other top five finishers that scored for Nocona includes Alex Stephens (24), Frank Espinoza (30), Adam Meekins (36) and Claudio Segura (37).
Coach Colby Schniederjan was proud of his mostly young team, some competing in their first high school meet.
“We are getting back in the groove of race strategy and our conditioning is still a work in progress but all things considered, I am pleased.
“Our first meet times were competitive and a great starting point to build on,” Schniederjan said. “If the kids continue to work as hard as they have, I could see this team being very competitive late in the year.”
Saint Jo’s boy’s team finished seventh, though top runner Collin Thomas was the fastest runner of the day in the race. The two-time state qualifier finished fifth overall with a time of 18:28.
The Panthers top five runners also included Devin Stewart (23), Joshua Vogel (26), Jayden Curry (44) and Brice Durham (61).
In the girl’s race, Nocona finished sixth as a team. Top runner Allie Brown finished second overall with a time of 13:09.
The Lady Indians top five runners also included Graci Brown (15), Melissa Segura (38), Natalie Pirkey (61) and Honey Walker (64). Coach Kyle Spitzer thought it was a good starting point for his team as many of the runners this year are new to varsity.
The Bowie girl’s team finished seventh overall with Samantha Clarke finishing first for the team in seventh place with a time of 13:35.
The Lady Rabbits top five finishers included Laisha Johnson (43), Jojo Villarreal (48), Nye Perez (49) and Hadley Morris (51).
Atkins praised Clarke for her top 10 finish and has hopes she can advance past district this year.
Saint Jo and Forestburg both had one girl compete individually. The Lady Panthers Aubrey Morman finished 47th and had a time of 16:16 in her first high school race. The Lady Horns Justynne Roller finished 66th with a time of 17:30.
Bowie, Nocona and Forestburg will be competing in the same meet next week at the Endurance House Invitational at Lucy Park in Wichita Falls on Sept. 8.
Saint Jo is next scheduled to compete at a meet at Decatur High School on Sept. 11.

To see results for all runners from Montague County, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.