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By Art Dlugach

It seemed like old times. Well, not real old. Samantha Lopez was the first Lady Jacket to find the finish line at the Wimberley cross country meet, and twin Amanda was the second—and not too far behind. Samantha was eighth overall in a terrific field of 112, and her time for two miles was 13 minutes, 18 seconds. Nobody beat her from a Class-3A school.

"First race of the year, I was nervous," Sam admitted, "and there was a lot of pushing and shoving at the beginning, but that’s cross country."

"Her goal is to win," head coach Shaun Carter observed. "She works toward that every week." The twins are juniors now, and Samantha has been someone challenging to be a front-runner for two seasons.

Amanda’s journeys as a freshman were good ones, but leg injuries were painful physically—and to her psyche—as she struggled home Saturday after Saturday in the fall sport as a sophomore. She was much closer to a talented pace in track in the spring in the 400-and-800-meter runs, and at Wimberley she passed the much longer test. It seemed like Samantha—in admirable twin fashion—was waiting for Amanda forever at the finish line in cross country in 2009, but she only had to wait 23 seconds in the 2010 opener, and Amanda was a more than respectable 17th.

"I built up confidence in myself during track season," Amanda stated. "I wanted to come out and try my hardest; now I want to get my time down below 13 minutes."

"It’s nice to see her back," said Carter. "I saw her so often come in two or three minutes after Samantha last year. Didn’t happen at Wimberley. It’s rewarding for her and the team."

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Heide Forrister, the "veteran" as a junior, led a sophomore and freshman to the race’s conclusion, and those five contributed to Llano’s point total and standing.

Forrister stopped her watch at 15 minutes, 15 seconds, while Haven Mayberry wrapped up a morning’s work seven seconds later. Alyssa Reasoner, one of the new breed, added 16 minutes to her travels.

"I was fairly pleased," Heide disclosed, "but I know I have to do more in the workouts." She didn’t offer any excuses, but you may have seen Heide at the football game in Comanche Friday night. She wasn’t just a fan; she was a cheerleader and got home and got to bed after 1:00 a.m. Some might think that’s breaking curfew, legally, of course, and she had to catch the team bus before six.

"The girls are improving all the time," Carter mentioned. "They all did a good job, and one reason is they trained all summer.

"I know some of them were nervous at the beginning, but even the experienced athletes get nervous. They shouldn’t think of that as a negative. It shows you care."