The GOAT's of El Paso Prep Cross Country (Boys)

Recently Milesplit came out with a top 50 runners of all time in TX list for track and XC. While I agree with the 3 picks they made from El Paso I'm not sure I'd agree on the order. My #1 in XC was not mentioned. As well,  unlike the Milesplit post , my list below is for XC ONLY.  I will attempt one for track at a later time.  In track it will be hard from a distance point of view to top the 1980 season of Sergio Oaxaca (Bel Air) who recorded 1:51 for 800, 3:51 for 1500, 4:08 for 1600, 8:23 for 3000 and 8:55 for 3200. For track and XC combined, I'd vote for Daniel Bernal who recorded an EP city record of 8:54.2 for 3200 and a 2 mile National Title (NBON) to go with a top 10 finish at NXN XC Nationals.

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

http://alltracktalk.blogspot.com/2008/11/bobby-aguirre-tx-high-school-cross.html

For my daily feed of El Paso greats please follow at :

https://www.instagram.com/elpasoareadistance/

Bobby Aguirre-TX High School Cross Country Great

As we head to the Texas State Cross Country Championships this weekend, I find myself wanting to give due to one of the all-time greats in TX Cross Country history, Bobby Aguirre of El Paso Riverside. Bobby had the misfortune of having a tremendous 4 year career in an era that doesn't have a lot of info online. If you visit the UIL website the archives start in 1984. Bobby's last championship was 1983. I'd like to add a little online history for this great runner. People often look back at Reuben Reina, Alan Culpepper, Brad Hauser and Colby Lowe as they should, but few accomplished in a 4 year span what Aguirre did.
Aguirre won the Dist 2-5a Title 4 years in a row. He won the Region 1 title 3 years in a row, after a 2nd place finish his Freshman year. His Region 1 Record at Mae Simmons Park stood for 24 years until Colby Lowe broke it last year. He was a 2 time State Champion (1981,1983) a 2nd place finisher in 1982 and finished 4th as a Freshman in 1980. The most impressive race to me was winning his Sophomore year over the great Carlos Quinones (Killeen). Quinones was a tremendous talent who finished his career with Track Pr's of 1:50, 4:08 and 9:10. Carlos was the 1981 State Champ in the 800 and the 1982 State Champ in the 3200. He had range. Bobby was coming off a 4th place finish as a Freshman (to Quinones' 3rd) . There is a story (reliable sources tell me it is true) that Bobby had a shirt made that said State Champ on it. Quinones approached him and asked him, "When were you State Champ?" Bobby replied, "I will be today" Quinones asked him, "What race are you in?" Bobby replied, "The one you're in!" Arrogant? A little, but he backed it up as he won the meet in 15:10. Quinones was 3rd.
His Junior year he finished 2nd to the great Jon Warren of Houston Cypress Creek. Bobby said he played the race wrong tactically , but losing to Warren was nothing to be ashamed of. Jon Warren later ran a sub-4 mile and was an Olympic Trials qualifier in the Marathon.
His senior year, 1983, Aguirre absolutely dominated the race. At the top of the first hill, he was dead last. He told us (my team at the meet) he was going to do this. He wanted to pass each and every runner. I was shocked when he went by me. He wasn't last long and took the lead at the 1st mile, he then backed off to save for the end. At the 2 mile mark he raced by Tony Martinez (SA Churchill) and Augie Flores (SA Burbank) and ran that last mile 25 seconds faster than anyone else as he defeated Martinez by that margin!! Tony (who later ran for Rice) was no jogger, he had a 9:02 3200 to his name.
Bobby never went to any of the post-season meets but I think he could have really made a name for himself at Kinney (now known as Footlocker). After losing to Aguirre at State, Martinez went to the Kinney Nationals finishing just a little outside 30 seconds of winner Matt Guisto. Bobby had so much left after winning that last State Title I think he could have beaten Martinez by the same margin at least.
His Track credentials were not on the same level as XC. He did finish 2nd in the 1983 State Meet in the 3200 (9:13) and he did not run Track in 1984 (Senior year). Real life responsibilities came way to young for Aguirre and he was never really heard from again after winning the 83 XC crown. Reuben Reina started his 3200/1600 meter title streak that Spring, but I think he would have had a real fight on his hands with Bobby. For the record,Tony Martinez took 2nd in that years 3200.
The runners who , over the years, had the same type of career as Aguirre usually went on to successful college careers and some even beyond college. It is worth noting that future Olympians Reuben Reina and Alan Culpepper (who both won USATF XC Championships) never ran as fast on the old Georgetown course as Aguirre. Reina's senior year he set a Footlocker (then known as Kinney) course record that stands to this day.
Bobby never had the opportunity to run in college. Some real heavy life changes at a very young age prevented that. I know of these, but certainly feel it is not my place to discuss them on a public forum. A lot of this information came firsthand as I was lucky enough to room with him at the 1983 Regional and State meets. I personally think he would have been great at the NCAA level, possibly moving up to the longer races in Track and running the 8 and 10K's in Cross Country. I hope at least 1 Texas Cross Country fan read's this and comes away knowing of a great runner they didn't know of before.