The Princeton Panthers cross country team is sending two runners to regionals, thanks to two top 10 finishes at the district meet.

Lindan Jones finished ninth (17:09) overall for the Panthers in the boys’ cross country meet, sneaking into the top 10 five seconds ahead of the 11th-place finisher. The finish was Jones’ second-best time of the season and 13 seconds off of his personal record, which was also set at Myers Park at a meet earlier in the season.

In the girls’ meet, freshman Gabriella Trejo also finished ninth (20:23) at the District 13-5A championships, sending herself to regionals just three seconds ahead of the 11th-place finisher. Once again, it was Trejo’s second-best finish of the season, which she also set at Myers Park in McKinney at a meet earlier in the season.

The two runners advance to the Region 2-5A meet this Tuesday, Oct. 25, at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie.

Among the other runners at the meet, the Princeton boys team just missed out on a team qualification by placing fourth in the district with 109 points. They were just behind Melissa (88 points), McKinney North (52 points) and district champion Lovejoy (18 points).

Bryan Martinez finished 21st (18:09) for the Panthers, followed by top 25 finishes from Eduardo Olalde (18:16.1) and Anthony Ramirez-Millan (18:20.1). Aaron Molina, Sean McCarthy and Luke Phillips also ran in the varsity meet for the Panthers.

Similarly, the Princeton girls’ team placed fourth with 99 points, behind Melissa (85 points), McKinney North (54 points) and Lovejoy (19 points).

Zion Johnson (23:01.5) and Cadence Smith (23:03.6) finished 20th and 21st respectively for the Lady Panthers out of 36 varsity runners. Alexandra Bravo and Jaden Watson also ran for the Lady Panthers at the district meet.

For the full story, see the Oct. 20 issue of The Princeton Herald.