Tompkins, Cinco Ranch Boys Advance To State

By Terry Carter Tompkins cross country coach Walt Yarrow discovered how resilient his Falcon cross country team is on Monday when their top runner finished fourth among his teammates. Aiden Ramshaw is a standout, senior runner and sets the pace for Tompkins teams that have qualified for state the last seven years, Yarrow said. Running at the Region III-6A 5K meet at Kate Barr Ross Memorial Park in Huntsville, Ramshaw — like every athlete — simply endured an off-day. Yet her persevered. “Aiden is our normal number one runner. He had a rough finish at district, and he struggled some at regional. To qualify when your no. 1 finishes fourth — our depth really helped us. And Aiden is running better. As a coach, running can be a mystery — that’s high school. It’s more art than science sometimes.” His teammates showed the depth and determination of the Tompkins cross country program to qualify the Falcons for state. The Falcons (123 points) finished third behind Strake Jesuit (71) and Atascocita (75), and Cinco Ranch (4th@138) qualified for state.  Seven Lakes (6th@152) just missed a top-4 team finish in a deep, talented pool of Region III runners. Cross country runners are a special group, immensely dedicated, disciplined and driven. When they run by you, sometimes you can see the confidence, the aggressive hunter in their look, their stride. Other time you can see their pain, their struggle. It’s a battle to be your very best each time you compete. But even at total exhaustion, some rare athletes unlock a hidden gear or surge that wins awards and surprises coaches. The UIL Cross Country State Championships will be held at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock on Nov. 4-5. The 6A 5K races for girls is 10 a.m. with the boys’ run going off at 10:40, according to the UIL website. Tompkins top finishers include: Parker Wood (17th@16:23.90), sophomore Mathias Pitzel (21st@16:32.80), Austin Garcia (22nd@16:33.10), Aiden Ramshaw (30th@16:47.10), Juan Perez Salas (35th@16:57.10) and Aaron Ramshaw (36th@16:57.10). Cinco Ranch senior Adrian Hahn Vadstein (2nd@15:51.90) was 1-of-3 runners to break 16 minutes on this brutal, 5,000-meter run. He led a strong Cougar squad to fourth place and a state qualification. He will be joined by Cougar pack members Adam Elbanna (20th@16:29.00), Alex Hahn Vadstein (27th@16:43.00),  Ryan Du Plessis (42nd@17:09.70) and Clarence Walker (55th@17:26.20). Seven Lakes senior Reese Sullivan (8th@16:05.60) and junior Matthew Montgomery (10th@16:11.80) will advance to state as individuals. Other top individual finishers were: Seven Lakes’ Hector Cruz (29th@16:46.60), Mayde Creek’s Anthony Perez (33rd@16:55.10) and Katy’s Even Couture (40th@17:05.00). [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="large" ids="378052,378051"]