By Bill Spinks, wspinks@waxahachietx.com
Posted Jan 31, 2020 at 2:48 PM
Updated Jan 31, 2020 at 2:48 PM
The Waxahachie Daily Light is proud to announce its second annual All-Ellis County cross country teams as part of its countywide celebration of high school sports all-stars.
These 60 student-athletes and three head coaches are featured in an all-color graphic on Pages A6 and A7 of this weekend’s paper.
The Daily Light staff began the All-Ellis County high school all-star awards program last year. These include awards for individual players and coaches of the year.
Finalists for superlative awards for cross country are being announced today; the winners will be announced at the 2020 All-Ellis County All-Star Preps awards banquet. This event will be held Thursday evening, June 11 at the Waxahachie Civic Center and will honor the top athletes from 14 high schools within the county.
The banquet will also feature keynote speaker Emmitt Smith, the legendary former Dallas Cowboys running back and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
For cross country, all state and regional meet qualifiers were selected. Rankings are based on placement in each championship meet with consideration taken to times posted throughout the season. In the case of the girls, in which Class 5A and 6A run 5,000-meter races and 4A and below run two-mile races, the times were extrapolated to provide a comparison.
This year’s All-Ellis County volleyball team will be announced in next weekend’s Daily Light, and the football team will be announced the weekend of Feb. 16.
Members of the All-Ellis County 2019-2020 Cross Country Teams are:
Coach of Year finalists
Joey Foster, Midlothian
Justin Burns, Life Waxahachie
Michael Chambers, Italy
Girls
Athlete of Year Finalists
Emma Curry, Waxahachie
Renee Elliott, Midlothian Heritage
Charzell Williams, Life Waxahachie
First team
Cori Morgan, Waxahachie
Keila Finnestad, Midlothian
Rachel Allen, Midlothian Heritage
Emely Salazar, Avalon
Evelyn Rodriguez, Life Waxahachie
Second team
Alyson Moore, Waxahachie
Keeley Hearron, Waxahachie
Avalon Mitchell, Midlothian
Autumn Tennes, Midlothian
Alexandra Schmidt, Midlothian Heritage
Kaylee Norwood, Midlothian Heritage
Kayla Moore, Midlothian Heritage
Caitlynn Freyman, Maypearl
Faith Adams, Maypearl
Morgan McAlister, Maypearl
Shaniaya Johnson, Italy
Kerri Scott, Italy
LaKota Townly, Italy
Lizzie Rodriguez, Avalon
Honorable mention
Charley Hearron, Waxahachie
Cheyenne Corbitt, Midlothian
Tkai Strickland, Midlothian
Faith Collins, Maypearl
Whitney Stansell, Maypearl
Jada Williams, Italy
Brooklyn Steinmetz, Italy
Boys
Athlete of Year Finalists
Tanner Henderson, Midlothian
Ethen Agreda, Midlothian Heritage
Brody Townly, Italy
First team
Sam Molina, Waxahachie
Seth Swick, Midlothian
Sergio Flores, Red Oak
Joseph Orndorff, Milford
Jordan Kiefer, Ovilla Christian
Second team
Julius Luna, Waxahachie
Wesley Wright, Midlothian
Sebastian Calderon, Red Oak
Malachi Klor, Midlothian Heritage
Garrett Garvin, Midlothian Heritage
Jackson Sibley-Maxwell, Waxahachie Life
Leo Morales, Palmer
Josh Meachum, Palmer
Andrew Leach, Palmer
Seth Ramsey, Maypearl
Brandon Cooper, Italy
Jacob Muniz, Italy
Prestyn Tuberville, Avalon
Mark Nicholas, Ovilla Christian
Ethan Pickrell, Ovilla Christian
Honorable mention
Caden Grisham, Midlothian
Trenton Blackerby, Midlothian
Brent Penwarden, Midlothian Heritage
Noah Wagnon, Midlothian Heritage
Jesus Rodriguez, Palmer
Adam Leach, Palmer
Kevin Rasberry, Italy
Evan Cunningham, Italy