Principal Cindy Furr said that she wanted to fill the trophy case at SEHS, and all five cross country teams made that happen! 

Varsity boys and girls, JV girls, and Jr. High boys and girls traveled to Plainview to attend the District 4-1A meet on Tuesday October 12th. All the teams brought home a district championship plaque! Besides the district championships, many runners received individual medals including Trace Goodman (2nd place Varsity boys), Gavin Gonzales (6th place Varsity boys), Rylie Furr (3rd place JV girls), Micaela Fuentes (4th place JV girls), Jaritza Sotelo (5th place JV girls), Sydney Furr (6th place JV girls), Jade Hill (7th place JV girls), Halee Toscano (9th place JV girls), Reagan Ethridge (2nd place Varsity girls), Emma Samaron (8th place Varsity girls), Luis Fuentes (1st place Jr. High Boys), Cohen Ethridge (2nd place Jr. High boys), Bryan Longoria (5th place Jr. High boys), Isaac Sotelo (7th place Jr. High boys), Robert Flores (9th place Jr. High boys), Aabriella Villanueva (1st place Jr. High girls), Chelsea Bridges (3rd place Jr. High girls), and Jessica Mendoza (9th place Jr. High girls). Sophomore Taytum Goodman (1st place Varsity girls), junior Jenna Bridges (2nd place JV girls), and senior Josh Samaron (1st place Varsity boys) were all top runners for the three high school teams. 

“I felt really good for all SE teams,” Taytum said. “Getting all of the plaques shows everyone who SE is.” 

At the beginning of this school year, Principal Mrs. Furr and Superintendent Dr. Denver Crum said that this year was the year of the Wolverine, and so far the cross country teams have represented that message perfectly.

“Receiving all three plaques really shows how hard our school athletes work both girls and boys as well as varsity and JV,” Josh said. “It’s one of the first stepping stones for the year of the Wolverine.” 

Taytum and Josh have been to district, regionals, and state before. In fact Taytum won state last year, setting a new record in the process, and Josh was even picked to win district this year. However, this was Jenna’s first year ever being on the cross-country team. Through hard work and dedication to the sport, Jenna ran a 15:30 at district, being the fastest girl on the JV team. She knew that she couldn’t have done it without her team by her side. 

“We definitely all deserved it. We couldn’t have done it without each other. The girls and boys have great sportsmanship,” Jenna said. “The whole time I was running I heard the rest of my team behind me cheering me on. That really does give you motivation to push yourself to your limit.” 

In any sport, a team is a team. When there is a team willing to stand together and give it their all, they can never lose. For SE, all five teams won in more ways than one. They lined up as a team on that starting line, and they finished strong together. The entire Wolverine nation is so proud of all the cross-country runners, and Coach Jeri Been Goodman couldn’t be prouder of her teams. 

“All 3 HS teams and 2 Jr High teams did their very best. I am VERY PROUD of EVERYONE,” Coach Been said. “I’m just so PROUD to say I’m the CC coach for SE. It is an honor to coach all of these kids. I love what I do, that’s why I keep doing it.” 

On October 25, both varsity teams will travel to Lubbock to compete at the Regional Meet. The whole SEHS community is rooting for the runners as they prepare to take on regionals and hopefully bring home the gold! 

“Best case scenario both teams place in the top 4,” Coach Been said. “If not, get as many individuals to Round Rock as possible.” 

Both Josh and Taytum are hopeful that the varsity teams can conquer district and make it to state this year.

“Getting to regionals with the girls and boys team that both have a chance to make it to state is exciting,” Taytum said. “I hope we stick together and take on regionals with an attitude that we can make it to state as a team.”