BELTON — The Temple High Varsity Girls Cross Country team made their final tune-up on Tuesday morning at Heritage Park in Belton, participating in the Pro-Fit Last Chance Invitational. Serving as the final event before postseason competition begins, the Tem-Cats turned in strong individual performances on the 3-mile course.

Temple placed 6th overall in the team standings with 161 total points. Comal Canyon captured the team title with a dominant performance, scoring 22 points, followed by Liberty Hill High School (87) and Cedar Park (100).

Temple Standouts Claim Top-20 Medals

Leading the charge for the Tem-Cats were sophomore Azaria Staples and junior Ilana Desales, both of whom locked up top-20 finishes to bring home individual medalist honors.

Staples paced the Temple squad with a standout performance, crossing the line in 19:23.94 to finish 6th place overall (5th point-scorer). Desales followed close behind, taking 11th place overall (10th point-scorer) with a time of 19:47.47.

Complete Temple Individual Results

6th place: Azaria Staples (SO) – 19:23.94 (Medalist / Top Tem-Cat Finisher)
11th place: Ilana Desales (JR) – 19:47.47 (Medalist)
39th place: Sterling Griffith (SR) – 21:54.25
54th place: Bella Sahm (SO) – 22:54.96
75th place: Madelyn Krumnow (SO) – 24:31.37

Top Overall Individual Performances

The meet was led by individual champion Sophia Lopez of Round Rock Stony Point, who took 1st place with a time of 18:22.10. Comal Canyon placed five runners in the top 10 overall to claim the team title.

Sophia Lopez (SR, Round Rock Stony Point) – 18:22.10
Madi Molinar (SR, Comal Canyon) – 18:37.69
Leilana Maul (JR, Cedar Park) – 18:57.86
Caroline Tutt (SO, Comal Canyon) – 18:59.10
Scarlett Dusek (SR, Comal Canyon) – 19:06.55
Azaria Staples (SO, Temple) – 19:23.94
Allison Schoch (SR, Comal Canyon) – 19:28.89
Jadelynne "(JJ)" Arellano (SR, Leander Rouse) – 19:35.27
Paola Vargas-Llanos (SO, Comal Canyon) – 19:35.49
Mary Grace Peacock (JR, Comal Canyon) – 19:41.15

Team Standings

Comal Canyon – 22
Liberty Hill High School – 87
Cedar Park – 100
Legacy Ranch High School – 128
Lake Belton – 135
Temple – 161
Belton – 192
Leander Rouse – 198
Killeen Harker Heights – 255
Copperas Cove – 263
Killeen Shoemaker – 336

Looking Ahead to District Championships

With the regular season tune-ups now complete, the Tem-Cats turn their focus to championship season. Temple will compete next on Wednesday, October 15 in the District 12-6A Cross Country Championships. The championship meet will take place at the HOT Soccer Complex in Waco, with the first races scheduled to start at 9:00 am.