Farmersville’s Dani Penaloza, left, overtakes Garland’s Alina Cervantes during the girls’ varsity race at the Plano ISD High School Invitational.  Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media

By David Wolman

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The Farmersville cross country team is coming off one of its best seasons in recent history.

Both the Farmer boys’ and girls’ teams qualified for the regional meet in the same year for the first time since 2018.

Beginning its quest to earn a return trip to regionals, Farmersville took on a tough field filled with teams from Classes 5A and 6A at last Saturday’s season-opening Plano ISD High School Invitational, held at Hoblitzelle Park in Plano.

Eleven runners from Farmersville competed in the varsity 2-mile races.

Landen Ware turned in the top performance for the Farmer boys’ team, running to 65^th place in the boys’ race with a time of 11 minutes, 36 seconds. Luke Lair was just five seconds off Ware’s pace, capturing 71^st place with a time of 11:41. Landon Green was 83^rd in a time of 11:54, and just behind him was Drew Crum, who took 84^th overall with an 11:55. Miller Meeks finished in 128^th place with a time of 12:48. Travis Chambers captured 142^nd place in 13:16. Kenson Briscoe was 151^st overall in 13:49. Brady Graham finished in 170^th place with a 16:07.

Farmersville placed 17^th in the team standings with 388 points. Home School Athletic Association, with 34 points, cruised to the team title.

In the girls’ race, Dani Penaloza led the Lady Farmers, placing 95^th in 15:26. Southern Sanders was 107^th in 16:08, and Daniella Jimenez was 124^th in 18:11. 

Farmersville is scheduled to return to competition this Saturday at Princeton.