Sachse’s boys cross country team poses for pictures after winning the District 9-6A meet for the second year in a row. Photo by Kim Dill Higginbotham / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Sachse senior Samuel Ledbetter said helping lead the Mustangs to the District 9-6A boys cross-country title last year was just a sign of even bigger things to come.
With an experienced roster returning five upperclassmen from last year’s team that won the district title and sent Ledbetter to the state meet, the Mustangs were confident they could contend for another 9-6A title and get over the hump by qualifying for the Class 6A state meet as a team.
Sachse took the first step toward accomplishing that goal, winning its second straight district championship in dominating fashion.
The Mustangs claimed four of the top five individual finishes, pacing Sachse to a team score of 31 points — 20 ahead of district runner-up Wylie (51) and third-place Wylie East (53). The Pirates and Raiders will also join the Mustangs at the Region II-6A meet in Fort Worth on Oct. 26 after earning automatic team berths for finishing in the top three.
Ledbetter won his fourth race of the season, capturing first place in 15:43. He and teammate Dominic Richardson, a junior, battled Wylie East senior Michael Price for the top spot, but Richardson separated himself from the pack with about a mile remaining. Richardson, last year’s district champion, finished second in 16:04, while Price took third in 16:23.
Ledbetter and Richardson were backed by strong performances from junior Sadiki Mburu (fourth, 16:36) and senior Ozzy Heredia (fifth, 16:43). Sachse also received contributions from junior Grayson Redden (19th, 17:53.78) and sophomores Brave Cook (23rd, 18:26.69) and Joseph Castaneda 25th, 19:07.39).
“This is probably the best top four that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Ledbetter said. “If we can get a good performance from our fifth runner at regionals, that could help us get to state. Overall, we ran well today.”
The Lady Mustangs will look to qualify for state after missing out by just one place a year ago.
Arora Ngo (third, 19:32.39), Alicia Payne (fourth, 20:00) and Kaitlyn Herrera (seventh, 20:34) helped lead the Lady Mustangs to a second-place team finish with 42 points.
Adeline Moss (12th, 21:00), Brisa Morales (17th, 21:41), Isabel Casas (23rd, 22:28) and Brighton Cook (24th, 22:50) also competed for Sachse at the district meet.
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