Plano East’s Cole McBride pushes through to earn 35^th place in the open varsity boys race at the Rock Hill 2-Mile Opener on Aug. 15.  Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media

By David Wolman

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The Plano East cross country team entered last Friday’s Rock Hill 2-Mile Opener looking to continue building a good base.

The Panthers not only logged two miles of valuable race time but also turned in solid individual performances at Frontier Park in Prosper.

Reagan Noel turned in a top 10 finish for the Lady Panthers for the second straight meet, placing ninth in the elite varsity division with an 11:58. Meena Mulford had the next-fastest time for Plano East, finishing 24^th in 12:31. Dyan Tecuatl was just a few seconds behind Muflord, crossing 27^th with a 12:34. Brooke Tierney claimed 40^th with a 13:01. Reagan Diggs finished 47^th in 13:23, followed closely by Sarita Fino, who earned 48^th place with a time of 13:28. Louisa Christensen rounded out the efforts for the Lady Panthers, placing 49^th in 13:29. 

Plano East amassed 147 team points, good for fifth place. The Lady Panthers were one of five squads in District 6-6A that competed in Prosper. Plano East had the second-highest team score amongst the representation from their district. Only Prosper, which had 123 points, finished higher than Plano East.

On the boys’ side, Levi Rowe led the Panthers to a ninth-place finish. Rowe placed 16^th in the elite varsity race with a time of 10:11, followed closely by Isaac Updike, who clocked a 10:13. Deyan Bhakta placed 50^th in 10:50. Nahuel Moreno captured 55^th place with a 10:53. Ryder Glenn took 64^th in 11:06. Michael Sharp was 67^th in 11:11 and Grant Updike earned 70^th place in 11:15.

Plano East continues to have an open competition for the seven varsity spots – a competition that head coach Robert Reed said might not be decided until later this season.

Reed used the Rock Hill 2-Mile Opener to give the other male runners on the team an opportunity to see how they would perform in a varsity setting, but in the open varsity division. Cole McBride led the way, placing 25^th with a time of 11:35. Alex Castillo clocked an 11:31, good for 30^th place. Joshua Cruz was 36^th with an 11:40. Caleb Heise placed 40^th with an 11:54, followed closely by Ben Mangum, who placed 43^rd with an 11:58. Shloak Dhandi took 52^nd in 12:05. Trinabh Madadi placed 59^th with a 12:19. 

Plano East placed sixth with 174 points. McKinney North, with 30, won the team title.