Both Bowie and Nocona cross country teams competed at the district meet in Holliday on Monday morning.
With only the top three teams and top 10 individuals moving on to the regional meet, three of the four teams qualified. The Bowie boy’s and the Nocona girl’s teams both finished second while the Nocona boy’s team finished third.
The Jackrabbits were led by Nathan Rogers who finished fourth overall with a time of 18:09. Teammate Sebastian Martinez joined him in the top 10 as he finished in sixth place. Bowie’s top five runners also included James Allison (14), Alex Castro (16) and Ignacio Saucedo (18).
Coach Andy Atkins was proud of his guys for edging out the Indians team by six points to finish in second place.
“Nathan and Sebastian had great races to get themselves fourth and sixth respectively,” Atkins said. “The real team race is where the rest of the runners end up. I could not be more proud of senior Ignacio Saucedo, and sophomores Alex Castro and James Allison. They ran great races and really helped our team get district runner-up and advance to regionals again.”

The Nocona Lady Indians were led by Allie Brown who finished fourth overall with a time of 12:30. Teammate Jayce Rose joined her in the top 10 finishing ninth. They were two of only three girls who finished in the top 10 not from Holliday.
The Lady Indians top five runners also included Graci Brown (14), Raylee Sparkman(19) and Jacie Pirkey (21).
It was Coach Kyle Spitzer fourth straight second place finish with the Nocona girl’s team, a great feat considering the Lady Eagles have been one of the best programs in the state during that time.
“We get to run against the best team in the region every year,” Spitzer said. “Sometimes two times a year. We know what it’s like to run with the best and it brings out our best so that definitely prepares us for the next one.”
The Nocona boy’s team top runner was Alex Stephens who finished ninth overall with a time of 19:07. The rest of the Indians top five runners finished within a minute of Stephens. Claudio Segura finished 12th, Freddy Duran 13th, Ivan Vera 15th and Ivan Hernandez 17th.
The third place finish is redemption as last year’s team came up one point short of qualifying for the regional meet.
“Last year was motivation for why we competed as well as we did this year,” Coach Colby Schniederjan said. “We were able to compete and advance and that is all I was concerned about. I was proud of the way our boys came out and ran.”
The Bowie girl’s team finished fifth overall. Top runner Samantha Clarke came up one spot and two seconds short of finishing in the top 10, missing out on qualifying for the regional meet.
Her teammate included Hadley Morris (23), Jojo Villarreal (24), Laisha Johnson (30) and Anye Perez (32).
Atkins was heartbroken for Clarke coming up just short of qualifying for regionals.
“Samantha Clarke ran so hard and so well on Monday,” Atkins said. “I was very proud of her work that she put in this year. She got better, stronger and her times got faster. She will be a regional runner as she gets older and competes over the next two years. We were heartbroken when she ended up 11th, but we also know that she really did her best and that’s all we can control. The rest of the girl’s team ran some of their best races of the year. Hopefully we can turn that result into a positive track season in the spring.”
The regional meet is scheduled for Oct. 25 at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock.

To see results from all of the varsity high school runners from Bowie and Nocona, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.