The Princeton girls cross country team will compete in the District 6-6A meet on Friday, Oct. 16 at Myers Park in McKinney. Photo courtesy Tanya McCormack

By David Wolman

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Princeton came into this season having to replace alumna Gabriella Trejo, who was a four-time regional qualifier and two-time state qualifier.

Trejo’s departure left a big void to fill, but head coach Tanya McCormack said Princeton is better prepared to handle the tough competition at the District 6-6A meet, set for Friday, Oct. 16, at Myers Park in McKinney. She cited more competition within the team compared to the last few years, which has pushed the Lady Panthers’ top runners to hold onto their spots.

Seniors and sisters Marian and Samantha Valdez have emerged as the top two runners. They ran to ninth and 10th place, respectively, at the Wylie Dub East Invitational on Sept. 25, with times of 19:26 and 19:29.

Junior Jillian McCarthy and senior Evelyn Escamilla have also shown leadership and experience, while freshmen Itzel Ramirez-Millan, Malia Dargel and Zailey Fillingham have filled key varsity roles. Fillingham has taken more than one minute off her time.

McCormack is proud of how the Princeton boys have come together, despite a majority of them being underclassmen. They are running within a minute of each other at most races, and four of the team’s top five runners are freshmen and sophomores.

One of the team’s underclassmen, sophomore Arturo Velez, had a team-high ninth-place finish at the Dub East Invitational with a time of 16:33.

Sophomore Josue Silva (17:00), senior Ashton Long (17:50), freshman Luke Bailey (18:01), sophomore Stephen Talley (18:09), sophomore Noah Loera (18:58) and senior Samuel Robles (19:16) all completed the 5-kilometer course in less than 20 minutes.

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