TEMPLE — Hosting their annual season-opening meet at Lions Park, the Temple High Junior Varsity Boys cross country team got their 2026 campaign underway Friday morning. Under the timing of Pro-Fit Race Timing, the Wildcats placed sixth overall in a highly competitive 5A/6A JV Boys Three Mile Run field.

Leading the charge for the host Wildcats was freshman Raymond Velasquez, who clocked an impressive 20:32.40 to secure 13th place overall and capture 12 points for the squad. Junior Weston Ricks was the second Wildcat across the finish line, placing 33rd with a time of 22:19.33. Senior Hunter Filip Frank (23:02.28, 46th) and sophomore Louis Zapata (23:28.23, 50th) both delivered strong performances to place inside the top 50. Sophomore Anthony Ramos rounded out the Wildcats' scoring group, finishing 57th with a time of 23:56.13.

Also putting in hard-fought runs for Temple were junior Christopher Glass (26:07.53, 77th), senior Ricardo Soto-Juarez (27:15.00, 84th), and sophomore Ja'Varion Harris (29:10.96, 92nd). Overall, Temple compiled a team score of 164 points with a team average of 22:39 and a spread of 3:23.

Here is the complete list of Temple JV Boys performances:

Raymond Velasquez (FR) — 20:32.40 (13th overall, 12 team points)
Weston Ricks (JR) — 22:19.33 (33rd overall, 30 team points)
Hunter Filip Frank (SR) — 23:02.28 (46th overall, 39 team points)
Louis Zapata (SO) — 23:28.23 (50th overall, 40 team points)
Anthony Ramos (SO) — 23:56.13 (57th overall, 43 team points)
Christopher Glass (JR) — 26:07.53 (77th overall, 44 team points/displacer)
Ricardo Soto-Juarez (SR) — 27:15.00 (84th overall, 47 team points/displacer)
Ja'Varion Harris (SO) — 29:10.96 (92nd overall)

Killeen Chaparral, Patterson Take Top Honors

Behind Temple's hometown performances, Killeen Chaparral won the team title, compiling 40 points with an average team time of 19:35. Their stellar sophomore Damari Patterson captured the individual championship, finishing nearly a minute and a half ahead of the pack with a time of 17:24.82. Austin Anderson secured second place in the team standings with 54 points, led by individual runner-up freshman Ethan Herrera (18:42.19).

Team Standings

The final team scores for the 5A/6A JV Boys division:
1 - Killeen Chaparral — 40 points
2 - Austin Anderson — 54 points
3 - Killeen Harker Heights — 71 points
4 - Round Rock Stony Point — 90 points
5 - Hendrickson — 97 points
6 - Temple — 164 points
7 - Lake Belton — 208 points

Top 10 Individual Finishers

1 - Damari Patterson (SO, Killeen Chaparral) — 17:24.82
2 - Ethan Herrera (FR, Austin Anderson) — 18:42.19
3 - Liam Snyder (FR, Killeen Harker Heights) — 18:55.64
4 - Lukas Hadavi (SO, Austin Anderson) — 19:09.39
5 - Joshua Leon (JR, Killeen Chaparral) — 19:30.33
6 - Jacob Rosales (JR, Hendrickson) — 19:44.61
7 - Gabriel McPhee (SO, Killeen Harker Heights) — 19:54.51
8 - Vincent Nava (JR, Round Rock Stony Point) — 19:58.43
9 - David Watson (SO, Killeen Chaparral) — 20:04.53
10 - Nikko San Nicolas (JR, Round Rock Stony Point) — 20:10.59

Up Next

The Wildcats will seek to build on their season-opening times as they prepare for their next race. Temple will compete on Saturday, August 22, in the Coach Giese XC Meet at the College Station CTE Center.