Katy has had lofty goals all year.

The Tigers wanted to reach new heights, win district championships, get to state with both of their programs and continue building and getting better every week.

The team’s runners have worked towards that since before the school year, putting in hours in the mornings, taking tough coaching and working towards their goals even on days when it was hard.

That hard work and dedication showed up in the Tigers performance on Thursday at the District 19-6A cross country meet, as both the girls and boys claimed the team golds and clinched berths in the regional tournament after their first-place finishes.

“It didn’t start today or this month, it’s been years that all of these kids and the coaches have worked to make this happen,” said Katy head cross country coach James Pat Darcey. “There’s so many great coaches and athletes in this district and it just makes this an even bigger accomplishment. It’s something we’ll remember. Our kids have put so much into it and they deserve it, it’s hard to win this thing and I’m just proud of the way everyone ran and competed today.”

On the girls side, Katy had five girls in the top 10. Victoria Guerrero ended up on the medal stand with a third-place finish, while Lauren Acopa finished fourth, Abby Lester finished sixth, Avery Torrey finished seventh and Vienna Fish finished 10^th. The Tigers did this even with three freshman in their top five runners on the day. Katy lost five of its seven runners last year, but revamped and built right back up to claim another district championship.

“Those girls are tough competitive kids, none of them were the ones that won district championships in junior high, but they bought into his program, trained with us over the summer and they were ready for this thing,” Darcey said. “When they came in this year, it was like, ok, you aren’t junior high kids anymore, you are training to be varsity runners now. Halfway through the summer, we didn’t know if they would be ready, but the way they’ve responded has been amazing. They’re tough, they’re competitive and they are getting better every week.”

Katy’s girls won the district championship by over 30 points and while not as dominant, the boys team came out with a great day as well, winning district by five points over Tompkins.

Katy had the top two finishers at the meet and five in the top 17. Ryder Darcey led the way with his individual gold medal, while Joshua Perez came in second. Benjamin Robins finished 10^th overll, Evan Couture finished 13^th and Diego Mion finished 17^th to help Katy claim the district gold.

“I can’t say enough about any of those boys,” Darcey said. “It goes back to the work they put in over the summer and their training as well. It’s just a testament to all the work they’ve put in. Josh was someone we pulled out of PE class and convinced to join the team, Evan is another really tough guy. All of these kids, they weren’t the greatest runners in the world, but they all bought into this program and believed in what we were doing. When they do that, great things can happen.”

It’s exactly the kind of day that the tiger envisioned when training for the meet. But they aren’t focused only on district. Katy wants to continue pushing forward and find a way for both teams to claim a spot at state.

“We’re just going to keep pushing forward,” Guerrero said. “We know what we are training for and all of us are looking forward to regionals and the chance to compete at state. We are going to build towards that, work as hard as we can and be ready. It’s fun, every day matters from here on out and we just want to make the most of it.”

Other teams clinch regional berths

Katy had the best day at the meet, but weren’t the only ones to have strong performances. On the girls side, Mayde Creek and Jordan clinched regional spots and on the boys side, Tompkins and Seven Lakes made it to the regional tournament as teams.

On the boys side, Tompkins finished second, with 48 points, five points behind Katy, which 43. The Falcons were led by Diego Reyes, who finished fifth overall, while Carter Maloy finished seventh, Mathias Pitzel finished eighth, Jordan Wood finished 12^th and Aaron Ramshaw finished 16^th to complete the Falcons top five.

Seven Lakes finished third overall with a score of 73 points. Samuel Garcia Camejo set the pace for the Spartans, finishing sixth overall, while Jose Cedeno Barrera finished 11^th, Grayson Smith finished 14^th, Hrehan Aroroa finished 19^th and Keegan Pollard finished 23^rd to round out the teams top five.

On the girls side, Mayde Creek finished second with a score of 61, only trailing Katy’s score of 30. Jamie Klander won the individual gold to set the pace, while Ava Gonalez came in ninth, Claudia Klander came in 11^th, Sophia Ilagan finished 15^th and Denise Perez finished in 25^th.

Jordan finished third overall to claim the final team spot with a team score of 81. Brooklyn Allen led the team with a 13^th place finish, while Lilah Katz finished 14^th, Alice Frame finished 14^th, Claire Trykoski finished 18^th and Emmy Hardin finished 20^th to round out the Warriors top five.

On top of the team’s qualifying, the top 10 finishers qualified for regionals as individuals.

Following are the individual regional qualifiers.

Girls District 19-6A Individual Qualifiers

Boys District 19-6A Individual Qualifiers