XC -while we can compare times on courses it is not as clear cut as the same course often runs different. One year it may be wet and muddy and another hard and fast. Place matters and here at the highest level is where I break it down. As well, this is based on the prep career. The NCAA/Pro level may be mentioned but is not factored.
This is my opinion and I welcome friendly debate. Other may beg to differ.
The GOAT's of El Paso Prep Cross Country.
1) Bobby Aguirre- The EP Riverside Ranger had a prep XC career that was unrivaled. He was the District 2-5A champion 4 straight years (1980,81,82,83). He was the Region 1 Champion 3 years in a row (1981,82,83) after a breakthrough 2nd place in 1980. His 14:39 in 1983 at Mae Simmons stood as the outright course record for 26 years and then as the fastest by an El Paso runner for 36 years. At the state level his career was incredible. Bobby first broke through with a 6th place as a freshman and then won 2 Golds (1981 and 1983) He was 2nd in 1982 in an epic battle with Jon Warren of Houston Cypress Creek. In 1981 he ran away from the great Carlos Quinones of Kileen who won state titles in the 800 and 3200 and later was a SWC champion at UT In 1983, he absolutely dominated. He broke from the pack with one mile to go and defeated the field by 25 seconds over the last mile! The 2nd place finisher who he ran away from was Tony Martinez of San Antonio Churchill who ran 9:02 for 3200 and was a FL/Kinney Nationals finalist finishing 17th at the national meet. While Bobby did not compete in the post season the resounding victories he had over such top notch competition in 81 and 83 leave no doubt he was amongst the best prep XC runners in the US.
2- Alan Culpepper- The Coronado T-Bird has definitely had the best POST prep career of any El Paso Track or XC athlete with not one but 2 Olympic Games on his resume. While at Coronado, Alan starred in XC. He was 3 times the District 1-5A and Region 1 Champion (88, 89 and 90) and twice the State Champion, (89 and 90). The highlight of his prep career in XC would be the 4th place finish recorded at FL/Kinney Nationals in 1990. He later starred at the University of Colorado and then as a pro for both Adidas and Nike. At the NCAA level he was a national champion at 5000 meters and as a pro he has won numerous USATF titles in both XC and Track. Twice an Olympian (00 in the 10,000 and 04 in the Marathon) he is one of the few select runners to record both a Sub 4 mile and a Sub 2:10 marathon.
3- Daniel Bernal- The Eastwood Trooper may have had the best combined XC/Track season of all in a great 2016/2017. In 2015 as a Junior he was the Region 1 champion in XC in a blazing 14:41 in an assault on Bobby Aguirre's long standing EP course record. He finished 36th at the NXN National meet, in 2016 despite finishing 3rd at the Region 1 meet he peaked at the right time to finish 10th at an extremely competitive NXN Nationals making Bernal and Culpepper the only 2 EP preps to record a top 10 finish at the National meets. Bernal is now starring at Furman University where his 54th place finish at the NCAA National Championships was the highest finish by an El Paso prep alum since Alan Culpepper in 1994. The future looks bright for Daniel.
(Bernal in blue at NXN)
4- Michael Abeyta- the Hanks star is the best EP runner ever to not win a State XC title or qualify for National Meet. What an incredible career he had, if not for one Graydon Morris of Aledo then Abeyta would be a multi State Champion in XC (as he was in track). Twice a state silver medalist he never finished worse than 6th at State in XC. His 2 silvers were about a split second behind one of the best ever from TX in Graydon Morris and he only missed a spot at Foot Locker Nationals in 2019 by the same margin. He also posted the fastest El Paso time ever on the Mae Simmons Region 1 course in Lubbock when he bettered Aguirre's time by 4 seconds with a blazing 14:35. With range from the 400 to XC it will be interesting to see him develop at the University of Oregon.
Morris (L) and Abeyta in one of many epic battles
5- Brian Barraza- the El Paso Franklin star didn't win the Region or State titles but ran at very high level for both in 2012. His 14:52 at Region 1 was, at the time, EP #2 and he ran a strong 5th at State. As well, he didn't run any of the 2 major post season Nationals in Foot Locker or NXN but he did finish 2nd at USATF Junior Nationals to Estevan De La Rosa who was a top 5 finisher at NXN. After a great collegiate career at the University of Houston he is now a professional runner for the famed Tinman Elite club and represents Adidas. Stay tuned as the best is still to come from Brian.
Brian as a pro- pic lifted from his Twitter
Honorable Mentions:
Edwin Gomez- the San Elizario runner qualified for the 2018 NXN National Finals after winning the 4A State title in XC as a freshman in 2017. He has a season to bump up here
Tony Zuiniga - The El Paso Tiger was the 1972 state champion and later an XC NCAA All American at UTEP
Ruben Dominguez- The Austin Panther was the 1973 Texas State XC Champ
Kenny Schmidt- The Austin Panther was the 1977 Texas State XC Champ
There are honestly so many others that could go in here, many are covered in my Instagram
National Finalists:
1980- Alfredo Trejo- Bowie-KInney/Foot Locker-20th
1988-Michael Lara- Ysleta-Kinney/Foot Locker-26th
1990-Alan Culpepper-Coronado-Kinney/Foot Locker- 4th
2015-Daniel Bernal- Eastwood-NXN- 36th
2016-Daniel Bernal -Eastwood- NXN- 10th
2018- Edwin Gomez- San Elizario- NXN - 84th
I will attempt the EP Girls list soon as well as the Track lists. For more on Bobby Aguirre please refer to my post from 2008
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