BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
DONNA — After the first day of action Tuesday during the District 32-5A track and field meet at Bennie LaPrade Stadium, the Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets find themselves at the summit of the team standings in both boys and girls competition.
“Things worked out really well for the most part,” Edcouch girls coach Annalisa Limas said. “I would say almost all of our girls who competed (broke their personal record). They’re really young and they handled all of the pressure.”
The Lady Yellowjackets earned 47 points on the day thanks in part to a pair of gold medal performances. Leslie Alvarado set the tone for Edcouch early by winning the 3200-meter run in 12 minutes, 6.23 seconds. Freshman Marisol Segovia placed first in the pole vault with a height of 8 feet, a new personal best.
“I was scared. I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Segovia said. “I touched (the bar) a little bit, but it stayed there and I was so happy.”
Segovia, along with all other top-two finishers from the meet, automatically qualifies for regional competition next month in San Antonio. Track finals are schedule to take place at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the same location.
The Yellowjacket boys amassed 62 points behind first-place efforts from Alexis Galarza in the pole vault (13-00) and Alex Segura in the triple jump (49-09.25). Though Edcouch only struck gold twice, the team saw five podium performances during the day’s seven events – including a second and third-place finish in the shot put.
Behind Edcouch in the boys standings are the Donna Redskins with 50 points. Donna tallied three gold medals, a meet best, and set themselves up for run at a district title on Saturday.
“We had talked about competing and being strong,” Donna coach Hugo Cervantes said. “Every body came out and did what was expected of them. We’re where we thought we would be after (Tuesday).”
One athlete who exceeded expectation was senior Ruben Rivera, who placed first in the high jump with a mark of 6-0 despite making his debut in the event.
“I usually compete in the long jump and triple jump,” Rivera said. “But the coaches told me they wanted to do the high jump to get the team more points. I’ve only been doing this for a week. I’ve had to learn a lot, like arching your back.”
Donna’s other victories occurred in the throwing events, which they swept. Brandon Cardenas rounded into regional form in the shot put with a distance of 49-03 while teammate Cesar Villegas won the discus throw with an attempt of 160-08, breaking his previous personal best of 154.
“I didn’t even feel (the discus) when it left my hand,” Villegas said. “It just came off my fingers. As soon as I looked over, the discus was already on the ground. I didn’t see when it landed.”
The girls throwing events were swept by Brittany Vielma of PSJA Southwest. Vielma won the discus with a throw of 124-9.5 and the shot with a try of 40-9. Though Vielma won, she failed to meet a personal expectation.
“I didn’t do my usual,” Vielma said. “I usually throw around 134 (in the discus). Today was just an off day. It was just me. I was just too into my head.”
Vielma’s teammate Victor Pedraza won the boys 3200-meter run in 9:55.13.
The Mercedes Tigers also showed well on the afternoon, including Jacklyn Flores winning back-to-back gold in the long jump and triple jump. Flores, a sophomore, won the long jump with an effort of 17-2, a new personal best.