For the first time in Franklin High School history, the varsity cross country boys team placed first place at their district meet on Oct. 14.

Seniors Diego Flores and Denovan Estrada placed third and fifth respectively, with junior Matthew Engle placing between them in fourth place. These wins greatly helped the varsity team pull through with the victory.

The varsity team then traveled to Lubbock for their regional meet on Oct. 22.

Nerves were high as this would be the last shot to qualify to state in this special season for the senior class.

For Junior Frank Lozano the pressure was on to make his team proud.

“I had to focus on my seniors. I didn’t want to let my seniors down knowing it was their last chance at being able to go to state,” Lozano said.

With high spirits, the boys team were hoping to go the distance and be able to qualify for state. They ended up placing second overall and qualifying for state with Engle landing in the tenth place with Flores placing 15th and Estrada coming in right behind him.

For the first time ever since becoming a 6A division school, the Franklin cross country boys traveled to Austin on Nov. 4 to compete in their biggest meet of the season.

Although the team had high hopes of placing in the top 5, the boys unfortunately fell short, and placed seventh overall out of 16 other schools, with Flores placing in 18th place, and Estrada placing 55th and 59th out of over 150 runners.

Although the varsity boys’ team may have hoped for an exceptional finish to an already notable season, their accomplishments that they have achieved this year should not be overlooked.

Winning districts alone is a cause for celebration but having the hard work that these boys put into their sport and it paying off with them placing second in regionals and being in the top 10 of all schools in the entire state is no easy task.

The exceptional 2022 season will undoubtedly be talked of within the Franklin cross country team for many seasons to come.