Several cross country teams from Montague County competed at the Endurance House Stampede meet in Wichita Falls.
Both boys and girls teams from Bowie and Nocona along with one runner from Forestburg competed against racers from six other schools in the boy’s heat and 11 in the girl’s heat.
The Jackrabbit boy’s team had the highest finish of the day getting second place. Nathan Rogers was the top runner for the team as he got fourth place with a time of 20:38.
The top five runners for Bowie also included Ignacio Saucedo (8), Sebastion Martinez (13), Brody Fesmire (22) and Alex Castro (26).
Coach Andy Atkins was proud of how his team competed, especially his top finishers.
“Nathan Rodgers and Ignacio Saucedo had great top 10 finishes and are pushing each other daily in practice,” Atkins said. “I’m very proud of all of our guys in how they are challenging themselves each meet.”
The Lady Indians team was the top finisher in the girl’s race, finishing just behind Breckenridge in third place. Allie Brown was the top runner for the team, finishing fourth with a time of 14:07.
The top five runners for the team were also Graci Brown (12), Jayce Brown (15), Melissa Segura (32) and Natalie Pirkey (48). Coach Kyle Spitzer was proud his girls were able to improve despite some circumstances outside of their control.
“The course ran a little slower than last week’s course, but most of the girls improved their time from last week,” Spitzer said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at Wichita Falls next week.”
The Lady Rabbits finished right behind Nocona in fourth place as a team. Samantha Clarke was the top runner, finishing 11th overall with a time of 14:47.
The team’s top five finishers also included Laisha Johnson (31), Hadley Morris (36), Jojo Villareal (40) and Kaylee Johnson (49).
Atkins was pleased with the progress the team was showing in the second meet.
“Girls are getting better everyday,” Atkins said. “Samatha Clarke finished just outside the top 10 and will compete for top finishes in every meet. Freshman Hadley Morris had her best run so far and looks to continue to make great improvement.”
The Nocona boy’s team finished seventh overall with Alex Stephens finishing first for the Indians in 21st place with a time of 22:04.
The top five runners for the team also were Ivan Vera (35), Claudio Segura (39), Frank Espinoza (40) and Freddy Duran (46).
Coach Colby Schniederjan thought it was a good competition day despite the course being slow overall.
“We were able to run against some higher level competition as well as a couple of district opponents,” Schniederjan said. “My top five runners shifted but, I was proud of how we competed and we will continue to up our conditioning over the next few weeks in preparation for district.”
From Forestburg, Justynne Roller finished 72nd with a time of 18:34 while competing with runners from mostly bigger schools.
The teams from Bowie are next scheduled to run at the Ponder Invitational on Sept. 17. The next race for the teams from Nocona is earlier on Sept. 13 at Bridgeport’s Runaway Bay Golf Club.

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