Season of success in Cross Country

Javelinas look to the future with a young team

The Javelina cross country team ran through this season fnishing in the top 10 or in the top three in their regular season meets before fnishing 13th at the Lone Star Conference championship meet this past Saturday.

With a young team, four freshmen, a sophomore and graduate student, this season seemed to be the step in the right direction and the start of something great for the cross country team.

“I feel pretty good about the team; they made a lot of progress, and I am happy we were able to have a full team this year and they have made signifcant progress,” cross country coach Zachary Hall said.

When it comes to building a team and preparing them for the sport of cross country it is always best to have a full team and get them ready to be up against anything. “Our main goals were to make sure we were able to have a full team and get them ready for the upcoming years, so just getting a training program ready and then focusing on getting them ready for the season,” Coach Hall added.

With the season now concluded, Coach Hall refected on what the takeaway was from how his team has changed from the beginning to now.

“The biggest takeaway from our season would have to be the development of our athletes and how much their relationship with running has changed,” Coach Hall said. “Many of our ath- letes came in with a bad experience in running from poor coaching or from high school and the fact that they are excited to train and compete is defnitely the direction we want to go.”

With this, the runners are excited for the future of the program.

“I am excited for the future of the program since we are all young and with a new coach, we are gonna develop nicely in the coming years,” sophomore runner Cody Fountain said. The team also learned many things about themselves when it came to what they are capable of doing out on the course.

“I learned I can push myself to higher extremes than I previously could’ve and for the team I think they have learned a lot, especially since for most of them this was their frst time running in college,” Fountain said. Looking ahead to next season the expectations are expected to be higher.

“Next year we have a good shot at improving even more and being better than previous years,” Fountain added.

With the bulk of the team being freshmen, many of them had to make the transition from running high school cross country, where the varsity boys run fve kilometers, to college cross country, where the men’s team runs eight kilometers.

“Coming from high school cross country, it was a lot of under coaching,” freshman runner Nicolas Torres said, “but coming into college cross country and be surrounded by people who want to run and want to perform it really changes how you preform.” erans and ensure that they know that we are part of their family and will continue to honor them for the days and months and years to come.”

Overall, the Javelina cross country team is in high spirits as they begin to shift their focus to next season and the coming future.

Veteran graduates included David Pete Rubio who served in the United States (U.S.) Army from November 2008 to August 2016, Jonathan William Earwood a Marine Corps veteran who served from October 2012 to October 2017, U.S. Air Force Veteran Fernando Macias who by TAMUK are approved in the undergraduate course inventory of the university. TAMUK ofers a cadre of only freshmen and sophomore (1000 and 2000) level courses to eligible students. Based on availability each semester, these courses consist of core curriculum and foreign language dual enrollment courses as outlined in the approved course equivalency crosswalk. The crosswalk equates high school courses with college courses and identifes the number of cred- able to attend a poster presentation to showcase their research on social justice.

“Our research poster is the impact Roe v. Wade is having on our students, or just women in general,”

Social Work major Jacqueline Holliday said.

Only 10 percent of students in college think about condoms Holiday said of research done at a served from June 2001 to December 2004, and Jorge Luis Rivera Jr. an Air Force veteran who served from May 2014 to May 2018. its that may be earned for each course completed through the program.

Veterans Day, a federal holiday, is an avenue to honor the men and women who have and continue to serve the country. The holiday takes on a diferent meaning for each veteran and family member. For Silva, the day is special. His father was killed in action during the Vietnam War, weeks before his father was set to meet him for the frst time.

“Our university is proud to partner with an outstanding district like Tuloso-Midway—a district with excellent leadership and dedicated educators,” TAMUK President Dr. Robert Vela said. “It is our mission to provide educational access and opportunity for the students of our region, and this agreement allows us to extend our reach to the students of TMISD.”

Students must be enrolled in grades nine through 12. The student

Detroit college.

The rest of the symposium consisted of speeches from a keynote and invited speaker and breakout rooms attendees had the opportunity to attend.

Dr. Enrique Alemán, the Lillian Radford Professor in Education at Trinity University, directs the Trinity Tomorrow’s Leaders Program and co-directs the Center for Educational Leadership. His must meet the minimum college readiness standards on a state-approved assessment relevant to the course(s) they are requesting. Juniors and seniors from TMISD will take their dual enrollment classes on the university campus.

“To me it is very personal and then I also remember that the freedoms that we have is… because of these veterans who are brave - the women, the men who put on a uniform and stand on the front lines so that we can do what we’re doing today. I’ll never forget that and that means quite a bit to me,” Silva said.

Veterans on campus in need of assistance can contact the Military and Veterans Resource Center at veterans@tamuk.edu or (361) 593-4421.

Freshmen and sophomores will take their dual enrollment classes at Tuloso-Midway High School. Additionally, some students will also take online courses through the university.

“The instructors do an amazing job in truly preparing students for the ac- areas of research include Critical Race Theory in Education, Social Justice Leadership and Educational Policy. Alemán was the keynote speaker invited to the Blanks symposium and spoke about “Remembering Our Past to Create Our Future: Racial Consciousness in the Building of Educational Pathways.”

“My main message is to share ideas about how ademic rigors of college,” Joiner said.

Participating students earn college credit while also meeting the requirements of their high school curriculum. This program also ofers the opportunity to shorten the time needed to earn an undergraduate degree by providing afordable access to university courses. TMISD will be covering the cost for their participating students.

“We know that dual-credit programs ofer high school students the chance to begin earning college credits with little we can learn from our past and hopefully inform the kinds of pathways communities, like Kingsville, can learn from,” Alemán said. “A lot of the work I do focuses around studying educational equity and creating more pathways to college.”

The second speaker invited to the symposium was NBA career veteran ,team executive, representative and former pro- to no cost to them,” Vela said. “These courses can then transfer and be applied toward their degree programs as they pursue their higher education goals.”

The frst cohort of students from TMISD will be on campus for the Spring 2023 semester. Then, a much larger group of more than 100 students will be on campus for the Fall 2023 semester. Students enrolled in dual credit courses are considered college students and will have access to college resources such as academic/counseling support, fessional basketball player and son of Sid Blanks, Lance Blanks. Blanks is also the current ESPN and The Longhorn Network College Basketball color analyst and spoke about “The Legacy of Sid Blanks.”

“It’s important to discuss my dad today because he took part in advancing society with the university, key people in the community and throughout career planning services, library materials and tutoring services.

“We are really impressed with A&M Kingsville. It is an honor for TMISD to be given the opportunity to not only take classes online, but to also send students to campus,” VanMatre said.

“It gives them the chance to check the university out to see if they want to call this their second home after they graduate high school. We are so appreciative; this could not have happened without A&M Kingsville allowing it to.”

Texas, at a time that was tumultuous for our nation,”Blankssaid. Blanks’ speech conveyed the message of the importance of social justice, while also using his father’s legacy and experience with social justice as an example for others to hopefully follow. Sid Blanks passed away on Dec. 12, 2021, leaving an impact on civil rights and the sports world.