A delay to the start season did not detour the Fort Stockton cross country team from their path to success on Aug. 21 at the Tall City Invitational at Hogan Park in Midland.

The Panthers had their first scheduled meet at Pecos cancelled on Aug. 14 due to rain and lighting but with the work put in during the off-season, Fort Stockton showed they didn’t miss a beat.

Fort Stockton’s Fabian Perez earned a medal in the Division 1 boys 5K race while Ali Jackson and Leslie Esquivel each earned medals in the Division 1 girls 5k race.

The performances showed Fort Stockton head coach Sergio Guardiola that his team can compete with any school, no matter the size. The Division 1 race, both boys and girls, were largely made up of Class 5A and 6A schools.

“I was really pleased with how my team performed,” Fort Stockton head coach Sergio Guardiola said. “All the work they put in the two-a-days put us at a good beginning point for the Tall City Invitational.”

Fabian Perez improved his 5K time by over a minute from the times he posted in the final two meets of last season.

The junior placed sixth with a time of 17 minutes 29.04 seconds and was three seconds away from placing fourth.

Jackson and Esquivel finished ninth and 13th respectively in the girls Division 1 race. Jackson, a sophomore, crossed the finish line 12 seconds ahead of Esquivel, doing so in 22:25.26.

Guardiola said it was the first time his girl runners had competed in a 5K in at least two years since Class 4A and below run two miles for state.

“I thought it was good for everybody to experience that 5K. I wish we could get everybody to run a 5K at all our meets,” he said.

Fort Stockton’s Jesus Hernandez was the second-fastest Panther, placing 30th out of 74 runners (19:04.26)

Juan Vela placed 31st (19:04.80), Lakota Franklin finished a spot after in 32nd (19:11.42), Randy Sandoval took 67th (22:39.96), and Ezekiel Soto finish in 72nd (22:36.28).

The boys team placed sixth out of 12 teams.

In the Division I girls race, Natalie Molinar crossed the finish line in 42nd place (26:15.98).

Due to only having three runners, the Prowlers did not receive a team score.

Next up is the Wink Cross Country Meet on Saturday, Aug. 28.

Junior varsity, middle school squads have strong showings.

The five-team JV Panthers competed in the Division 2 race that consisted of 165 runners. Kian Iseli paced the squad, finishing 68th place.

The following were placements of the rest of the junior varsity runners: Khalil Jackson, 119th; Jayden Guevara, 143rd; Rylan Mata, 153rd; Jose Sarabia, 162nd.

Angel Mendoza and Summer Hinojos paced the Fort Stockton middle school squads at Saturday’s meet in two-mile races. Hinojos placed sixth out of 113 runners in the girl’s division in 14:54.73 and Mendoza placed 18th out of in the boy’s division in 14:01.61.

Other placers included Christian Soto (88th), Adelaide Franklin (24th), Madilyn Castro (39th).