Diego Lara will be at Corpus Christi's Dr. Jack Dugan Stadium on Oct. 26 to represent Uvalde High School in the Class 4A Region 4 cross country meet.

The race is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Diego Lara shows off the medal he won for finishing among the Top 15 runners in the District 28-4A cross country meet held in Uvalde on Oct. 14. (Photo by Libby Gonzales ) "I am excited about competing," said the UHS senior.

"This fulfills something that was my goal last year. "Back then, my ultimate goal was to get to state, but my plan was to qualify for regional and then to do my best in an effort to possibly qualifying for state," said Lara. "It was a big disappointment not to get to the regional meet, but it motivated me to work hard in preparation for this cross country season." Lara gained a spot in the regional meet by finishing among the top 10 individual runners in the District 28-4A meet held Oct. 14 in Uvalde. He placed seventh overall with a time of 17 minutes and 30. 19 seconds. "I am happy to have qualified for the regional meet, but my goal still is to make it to state," said Lara. "If I can run a sub-17 minutes and 10 seconds time, I believe that would be enough to get me there." Lara's best time has been 17 minutes and 17 seconds, so he believes his goal is doable. "I have been running for a long time.